Health & Safety updates from your Charlotte Symphony >> CLICK HERE

News

Charlotte Symphony Set To Debut New Piece On City's History

Sep 24, 2018




The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra launches its season tonight with famed violinist Joshua Bell playing Braham's Violin Concerto. But before that, there will be a piece that has never been performed for an audience.

It's called "Charlotte Mecklenburg" and was commissioned to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the city's founding. You can hear parts of Charlotte's past and present in the music with a nod to the city's location in the Bible Belt and its native son Billy Graham. It begins with a reimagined hymn.    

The piece alludes to the region's textile history by capturing the motion of the mills and the songs of the mill workers.  

It's the work of Nkieru Okoye. She composed "Charlotte Mecklenburg" following a visit to the city that included interviews with people from a range of backgrounds. She spoke with WFAE's Morning Edition host Marshall Terry.

Read the full story here.