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Branford Marsalis Helps Bring Charlotte Symphony and Subscribers Back Together at Last

By Perry Tannenbaum, CVNC 

More than 15 months had elapsed since my wife Sue and I had sat together at Belk Theater and enjoyed a Charlotte Symphony concert exactly 15 months since we had seen Gabriella Martinez with the orchestra on Valentine's Day at Knight Theater. Needless to say, much had changed since our last night out in Uptown Charlotte. Until we turned off the I-287 innerbelt onto College Street, we had no idea what a solemn concrete canyon the Center City has become because the explosion of new buildings, high-rises, penthouses, and parking garages has hit us while foot traffic on a Friday night remains nearly extinct. Fortunately, we had allowed for extra travel time as we made our way to the landmark "Branford Marsalis Plays Ibert" concert, for the capricious Saturday night traffic was as heavy as usual, doubling our surprise when we left I-77. There wasn't a Hornets basketball game scheduled that night, so we were among the first to enter the Bank of America parking garage, with hundreds of spaces to choose from.

Thwarted by travel restrictions that kept him on the other side of the Atlantic, Christopher Warren-Green was unable to preside over our auspicious reunion, so resident conductor Christopher James Lees was called into action, acquitting himself quite brilliantly. Attendance for the concert was capped at 500, about 24% of capacity, and our tickets had been channeled to the Apple Wallet app on my iPhone, which the usher firing his QR scanner gun was able to wield better than I. We were so eager to enter the hall and see the CSO again that I forgot to get an exit parking stub in the lobby, but there was no crowd lined up for them after the concert when I did remember. Masking was still in effect for everyone except wind players, so it was helpful to find staff at their customary posts in the lobby at the ticket booths and at the entry to the grand tier so we could recognize and happily greet one another. Branford Marsalis, the Grammy Award-winning saxophonist, would be playing Erwin Schulhoff's Hot-Sonate in addition to Jacques Ibert's Concertino da camera, so there was plenty to bone up on in our seats before the lights went down. Sadly, there were no program booklets to assist our preparations, only the sort of glossy 5"x8" cards subscribers will remember from the pre-pandemic KnightSounds series. An informational email from the ticket office had popped into my inbox that afternoon, which contained a link to a PDF version of a 24-page program booklet. If you're among the lucky 500 attending the sold-out concerts, you're covered.

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