Tribute

TOWER – Red Maple for bassoon and strings RAVEL arr. JONES – Le Tombeau de Couperin for wind quintet COLEMAN – Portraits of Langston for flute, clarinet, piano and narrator with special guest Regie Gibson Plus a new work by the winner of the Pappalar

In 1914, Maurice Ravel started planning a suite honoring the memory of the composer François Couperin, but after the war the significance shifted, and each movement of Le Tombeau de Couperin was dedicated to the memory of a fallen friend. Langston Hughes was a descendent of slaves who rose to become a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance and one of America’s great poets. Composer Valerie Coleman interweaves music with selections from Hughes’s poetry in Portraits of Langston. Regie Gibson narrates. Joan Tower’s Red Maple is scored for bassoon and strings, a lyrical work bursting with color. Plus,Woodscrossing, a trio for oboe, cello, and piano by Stephany Svorinić, winner of the Pappalardo Composition Competition.