Charlotte Symphony Presents 90th Birthday Concerts, March 11-12

The Charlotte Symphony will celebrate its 90th birthday with a concert led by Music Director Christopher Warren-Green, a live broadcast on WDAV 89.9, the launch of a free virtual archive, and an archival exhibit on the founding of the Symphony on display at the Belk Theater. The Charlotte Symphony joins the international community in standing with Ukraine and will dedicate the concerts on March 11 and 12, 2022, to the courage, strength, and resilience of its people.

The Charlotte Symphony, the longest continuously operating symphony orchestra in North Carolina, presented its inaugural concert 90 years ago, on March 20, 1932, in the Carolina Theater on Tryon Street.

Music Director Christopher Warren-Green will lead the Charlotte Symphony in its 90th-birthday program, featuring Holst's Walt Whitman Overture; Arnold's Four Scottish Dances; and two works by Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Dona Nobis Pacem, with soprano Christina Pier, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch, and the Charlotte Master Chorale. The program will take place Friday, March 11, 2022, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, March 12, 2022, at 7:30 p.m. at the Belk Theater.

Vaughan Williams's experiences from WWI affected him profoundly, shaping his views on war and the human experience. His Dona Nobis Pacem captures the anxious mood in Britain in the years leading up to WWII and served as his own personal warning against an escalation of violence. Texts for the work were taken from three poems by Walt Whitman, a quote from a speech by politician and orator John Bright, and liturgical quotes. During the war, British ensembles performed it across the country to help with morale and assure the people that they, and humanity as a whole, would endure.

"I truly feel honored to preside over the Charlotte Symphony's 90th birthday concert and to help mark this impressive milestone," said Christopher Warren-Green. "We also need to acknowledge that it is a time of great strife in Eastern Europe. Dona Nobis Pacem was Vaughan Williams's brave and heartrending plea for peace at a time when the world was facing yet another devastating war. My hope is that this performance will serve as a powerful reminder of music's extraordinary ability to unite, and of the strength and fortitude of the human spirit - a spirit which yearns for freedom and autonomy."

The Saturday performance will be broadcast live on WDAV 89.9 (wdav.org) beginning at 7:30 p.m. WDAV's own Frank Dominguez will host the broadcast live from the Belk Theater.

Kenney Potter, Artistic Director of the Charlotte Master Chorale, will lead a discussion about the evening's repertoire and composers an hour before each performance in the Mezzanine Lobby of the Belk Theater. These pre-concert talks are free and open to all ticket holders.

As part of the Charlotte Symphony's season-long 90th-birthday celebration, the CSO is launching a free virtual archive, showcasing items from its history, including original handwritten scores, photos, program books, and first-person interviews. Through four exhibits, launched over the next few months, the Symphony explores its founding, the history of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras and education programs, the lives of the Symphony's eleven Music Directors, and the first-person account from Leroy Sellers who, along with Dr. Samuel Davis, was the first Black musician to be hired by the Charlotte Symphony.

Visit charlottesymphony.org/history to explore the virtual exhibits.

The Charlotte Symphony will present "An Orchestra is Formed in Charlotte," an archival exhibit outlining the inspiring and unique story of the founding of the Charlotte Symphony. The exhibit will feature original hand-written scores from the first concert in 1932, program books, photos, the first LP recorded by the Symphony, and more. It will be on display in the Belk Theater March 11-12, 2022, and will be open to concert ticket holders.

Tickets

Tickets for Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem start at $19 and are available now at charlottesymphony.org.

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