Branford Marsalis Joins Detroit Symphony

Celebrating the contributions of African-American composers and musicians to classical music, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra continues one of Black History Month's most high profile Detroit events in February with its annual Classical Roots concerts and Classical Roots Gala. Joining the DSO for this year's concerts and gala is the DSO's Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair, Branford Marsalis, performing with the DSO for the first time in 13 years.

As part of the Gala festivities, the DSO will recognize the Sphinx Organization, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and will bestow Lifetime Achievement Awards to Sphinx founder Aaron P. Dworkin and, posthumously, to composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson whose work, Symphony of the Sphinx, will receive its major orchestra premiere at the concerts. The awards will be given at the Classical Roots Gala 2007 on Saturday, February 24, which begins at 6 p.m. at the Max M. Fisher Music Center. The elegant black-tie event raises funds and awareness for the DSO's African-American educational and musical programs.

The Classical Roots concerts, led by Resident Conductor Thomas Wilkins and featuring the Brazeal Dennard Chorale, will present three works for alto saxophone and orchestra: Gustav Mahler's Ich bin der welt abhanden gekommen (I Am Lost to the World), Darius Milhaud's Scaramouche and Jaques Ibert's Concertino da camera. Other works on the program include Duke Ellington's Three Black Kings and the DSO premieres of George Antheil's A Jazz Symphony and Jeffrey Mumford's "within a cloudburst of echoing brightness." The concerts take place on Thursday, February 22 at 8 p.m.; Friday, February 23 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, February 24 at 8:30 p.m. at Orchestra Hall at The Max.

The seventh annual Classical Roots Gala has become one of the DSO's top fundraising events, attracting many of the Detroit area's most ardent supporters of classical music and advocates for increasing recognition of African-American classical composers and musicians. The evening begins with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. in The Max's four-story atrium lobby. Dinner is served at 7 p.m. in The Music Box, the building's second performance space, transformed into a lavishly decorated banquet hall for the evening. Epoch Restaurant Group, the house caterer for The Max and the owners of such esteemed restaurants as Tribute and Forté, will cater the gourmet meal. A special pre-concert "Young Friends Reception" will simultaneously take place on the third floor atrium, where patrons ages 25 to 45 can meet and mingle. The concert takes place in Orchestra Hall at 8:30 p.m. and a dessert-and-dancing afterglow, also in The Music Box, immediately follows. Classical Roots Gala 2007 is generously underwritten by JPMorgan Chase. Composer Jeffrey Mumford will attend the Gala along with a "who's who" of Detroit's most esteemed corporate and civic leaders.

Grammy Award-winning classical and jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis makes his second classical music appearance with the DSO in these concerts, the first occurring in 1994 under former Music Director Neeme Järvi. Though best known for his numerous Grammy-winning jazz recordings, Marsalis has regularly explored classical music during his remarkable career, including the 2001 album Creation, which features the music of 20th century French composers. As the DSO's Erb Jazz Chair, Marsalis will also be soloist for the DSO's National City Young People's Concert, "Partners in Time," on February 24 and will return to Detroit in April to participate in a jazz symposium and lead master classes with the DSO's Civic Jazz Youth Orchestras and the Detroit School of Arts Jazz Ensembles. On May 17, he returns to Orchestra Hall with his quartet, as part of the LaSalle Bank Paradise Jazz Series, performing selections from his vast jazz repertoire.

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's Symphony of the Sphinx was commissioned by Nikki Giovanni, who wrote the text for the piece. One of the renowned African-American composer's final works before his death in 2004, the piece had its premiere by the Sphinx Organization in 2002 in a performance by the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra at the Annual Sphinx Competition. The internationally renowned Sphinx Organization is a national non-profit based in Detroit whose mission is to increase the participation of African-Americans and Latinos in classical music. In addition to standard audition and performance experience, Sphinx students take part in master classes, coaching and seminars with well-known musicians and music professionals. "We are thrilled to be celebrating ten years of building diversity in classical music," said Aaron P. Dworkin, Founder and President of Sphinx. "We truly appreciate the DSO's commitment to working with us to create a world in which classical music reflects the communities in which we live."

A former student of composer Elliot Carter, Jeffrey Mumford has received commissions from such illustrious institutions as the Library of Congress, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Guggenheim Foundation. Inspired by the movement of clouds, "within a cloudburst of echoing brightness" was premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra in 1995. "I'm interested in cloud movements and I tried to incorporate some of their quality in the music," said Mumford. "The way clouds forms always change - it's a continuing interruption or even drama."

Co-chairing this year's Classical Roots Steering Committee are Sherman Barton of Oak Park and Dr. Algea Harrison-Hale of Franklin Village. The Committee also boasts an esteemed group of more than 30 Detroit-area citizens and corporate leaders who are committed to the Classical Roots mission including DSO Chairman Emeritus Peter Cummings, Dr. Robert Perkins, Alice Thompson and Dr. Lorna Thomas. The Classical Roots Gala 2007 Honorary Chairs are Governor Jennifer Granholm and First Gentleman Daniel Granholm Mulhern, the Honorable Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and First Lady Carlita Kilpatrick; the Honorable Judge Damon J. Keith; and Dr. Arthur and Chacona Johnson. -- www.detroitsymphony.com