Joe Blog

Saturday, 24 May, 16h00 | Linder Auditorium, Wits

Conductor, Kenneth Kiesler, brings his award-winning University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra on tour to South Africa With Soloists Karen Slack, Goitsemang Lehobye, and Daniel Washington

PROGRAM with Orchestra and Soloists On the Waterfront Suite Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990)Porgy and Bess George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) Summertime Goitsemang Lehobye, soprano I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ Daniel Washington, bass-baritone My Man’s Gone Now Karen Slack, soprano Bess, You Is My Woman Now Karen Slack, soprano | Daniel Washington, bass-baritone

— Intermission —

Negro Folk Symphony William Dawson (1899 – 1990)Deep River Carl Davis (1936 – 2023) Daniel Washington, bass-baritoneWitness Hale Smith (1925 – 2009) Karen Slack, soprano | Goitsemang Lehobye, sopranoBawo Thixo Somandla arr. Sidumo NyamezelePlea for Africa Karen Slack, soprano | Goitsemang Lehobye, soprano | Daniel Washington, bass-baritone

The University Symphony Orchestra (USO), considered one of the world’s finest student orchestras, has been conducted by its music director, Kenneth Kiesler, since 1995. Its reputation was affirmed in 2005 when it received the Grammy award for “Best Classical Album” for the premiere recording of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience; in 2011 when named the recipient of The American Prize for Orchestral Performance; as two-time recipient of the Adventurous Programming Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP); and in 2014 when its premiere recording of Darius Milhaud’s L’Orestie d’Eschyle was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of “Best Opera Recording.” Under the auspices of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, the USO serves as a training ground for gifted young musicians, many of whom go on to significant careers in major symphony orchestras, opera houses, and chamber music ensembles, and as leading educators. The USO has also been at the core of U-M’s highly competitive and sought-after graduate program in orchestral conducting, ranked number one in the US by U.S. News and World Report since 1997. USO tours have included performances in Carnegie Hall and at the festivals of Salzburg and Evian. The USO has premiered dozens of new works by contemporary composers and has played the American premiere of James P. Johnson’s The Dreamy Kid, as well as the first performance since 1940 of the same composer’s De Organizer. The USO also played the American premieres of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and music by the Czech composer Viteslava Kapralova. The USO has several recordings currently available, including first-ever recordings of music by U-M composers Leslie Bassett, Michael Daugherty, Evan Chambers, Kristin Kuster, Stephen Rush, and William Bolcom on the Equilibrium label. Audiences are invited to watch and listen to USO performances, conducted by Kenneth Kiesler, on YouTube.

Learn more here: www.classicalmovements.com/umso-sa-tour/