In recognition of the significance of February as Black History Month, the University of Michigan Symphony Band shares a program by Black composers and artists. Featuring the music of brilliant creators both past and present, the narrative of this concert honors the community, tragedy, injustice, and celebration inherent to Black history in this nation and beyond. With works by luminaries such as Florence Price, George Walker, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and works by living composers – including a consortium premiere by the talented young composer Quinn Mason – the concert aims to convey the everlasting hope for what Abraham Lincoln called a "New Birth of Freedom."

Louise Toppin, narrator
David Jackson, trombone soloist
Jason Fettig, conductor
DaJuan Brooks, student conductor
Quinn Mason, guest composer

PROGRAM
Florence Price, orch. Still, trans. Darrell Brown, Dances in the Canebrakes
Quinn Mason, trans. by composer, Trombone Concerto "Sonorous"
Adolphus Hailstork, American Guernica
George Walker, arr. Luci Disano, Lyric
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, trans. Patterson, Ballade, Op. 33
Randol Alan Bass, A New Birth of Freedom