CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra: “American Roots”

CityMusic Cleveland is a professional chamber orchestra dedicated to making music accessible through free concerts and innovative programming. Since its inception in 2004, CityMusic has built partnerships with communities across Northeast Ohio, bringing exceptional performances to longtime music lovers and first-time audience members alike. 

CityMusic is committed to representing the full diversity of the canon, showcasing well-known composers alongside newly commissioned works and overlooked historic treasures. Programs intentionally highlight pieces by BIPOC composers and women, groups historically underrepresented in music. By presenting music of diverse composers and performing contemporary works that fuse classical and popular styles, CityMusic aims to make concerts relevant and exciting for all audiences.

For today’s performance, CityMusic presents its program “American Roots.” Centered on George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, performed by Piano Cleveland Artistic Director Yaron Kohlberg, this program explores the common roots of American music in ragtime, Broadway, and jazz. Also, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth, CityMusic is premiering a new arrangement of his seminal work A Love Supreme, commissioned by CityMusic from David Balakrishnan of the Turtle Island Quartet. William Grant Still’s The Black Man Dances, commissioned by Paul Whiteman contemporaneously with Rhapsody in Blue, receives its second performance at these concerts, which are rounded out with selected rags by Scott Joplin and Gershwin’s Overture to Girl Crazy. Grammy-winning conductor John McLaughlin Williams leads these concerts.

Program:

Scott Joplin, “Maple Leaf Rag” and “Sunflower Slow Drag”
George Gershwin, Overture to Girl Crazy 
John Coltrane, A Love Supreme (arranged by David Balakrishnan, CityMusic commission)
William Grant Still, The Black Man Dances 
George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue (Yaron Kohlberg, piano)

More information about CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra can be found on the organization’s website (opens in a new tab).

The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.