Featuring the world premiere of composer Adolphus Hailstork and librettist Herbert Martin’s Requiem Cantata in memory of George Floyd.
The National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale, in partnership with The Washington Chorus, will present America's Requiem - A Knee on The Neck. The long-awaited season program features the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork and Herbert Martin's A Knee on The Neck alongside Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem. Offered as a tribute to George Floyd, this presentation marks almost two years since his untimely death with two poignant works that create space for remembrance and reflection.
America's Requiem - A Knee on The Neck
Piotr Gajewski, conductor
Eugene Rogers, chorus master
with National Philharmonic Chorale and members of The Washington Chorus and The Howard University Chorale
Janai Brugger, soprano
J'Nai Bridges, mezzo soprano
Norman Shankle, tenor
Kenneth Overton, baritone
Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 8:00 pm at The Music Center at Strathmore
Monday, March 28, 2022 at 7:30 pm at Capital One Hall
America's Requiem commemorates the life and tragic loss of George Floyd with the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork's A Knee on The Neck, composed around the backbone of the poetry of Dr. Herbert Martin and performed by The National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale under the direction of Maestro Piotr Gajewski, members of The Washington Chorus and The Howard University Chorale, and featured vocalists J'Nai Bridges, Norman Shankle, and Kenneth Overton. The program concludes with Mozart's seminal Requiem in D Minor, also featuring soprano Janai Brugger. Program:Adolphus Hailstork, A Knee on The Neck (World Premiere)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Süssmayr), Requiem in D Minor, K. 626
Tickets ($45-$99) are available online at nationalphilharmonic.org for the concert at Strathmore and capitalonehall.com for the concert at Capital One Hall. Kids 17 and under can attend National Philharmonic performances for free through the All Kids. All Free. All the Time. initiative.
All guests at any indoor National Philharmonic events at any location will need to be fully vaccinated with the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and must show proof of vaccination with their ticket upon entry to the theater. These policies will be evaluated regularly based on updated community health data, public safety best practices, and government guidance.
Unvaccinated patrons without medical exemption, including children not yet eligible for the vaccine, will not be permitted to attend National Philharmonic performances. National Philharmonic will not accept proof of negative test. Please note that this may differ from the policies of individual venues.
In addition to vaccine protocols, patrons will be required to wear masks in the venue and through the duration of National Philharmonic performances.
Herbert Woodward Martin, born in 1933, served as professor of English and poet-in-residence at the University of Dayton for more than three decades where he taught creative writing and African American literature. He has devoted decades to editing and giving performances of the works of the poet and novelist Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). He is also the editor of four books as well as the author of nine volumes of poetry.
Adolphus Hailstork, born in 1941, received his doctorate in composition from Michigan State University, where he was a student of H. Owen Reed. He had previously studied at the Manhattan School of Music, under Vittorio Giannini and David Diamond; at the American Institute at Fontainebleau with Nadia Boulanger; and at Howard University with Mark Fax.
Dr. Hailstork has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, various chamber ensembles, band, and orchestra. Recent commissions include Rise For Freedom, an opera about the Underground Railroad, premiered in the fall of 2007 by the Cincinnati Opera Company; Set Me On A Rock (re: Hurricane Katrina), for chorus and orchestra, commissioned by the Houston Choral Society (2008); and the choral ballet, The Gift Of The Magi, for treble chorus and orchestra (2009). In the fall of 2011, Zora, We're Calling You, a work for speaker and orchestra was premiered by the Orlando Symphony. I Speak Of Peace, commissioned by the Bismarck Symphony (Beverly Everett, conductor) in honor of (and featuring the words of) President John F. Kennedy was premiered in November of 2013.
Dr. Hailstork's newest works include The World Called (based on Rita Dove's poem "Testimonial"), a work for soprano, chorus, and orchestra commissioned by the Oratorio Society of Virginia (premiered in May 2018); and Still Holding On (February 2019), an orchestra work commissioned and premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is currently working on his Fourth Symphony, and A Knee on The Neck (tribute to George Floyd) for chorus and orchestra.
Dr. Hailstork is a retired professor and a much-commissioned composer. He and his wife Jin reside in Virginia Beach. VA.
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