In an Army Band “Pershing’s Own” chamber recital commemorating February African American History Month, SSG Doug O’Connor presents a program featuring the music of African American composers. He will be performing on Alvin Singleton’s Sweet Chariot (ssx/tsx, bsn, 2fl, vcl) and David Sanford’s Grace Canticles (asx, cl, vln, vcl, pno). Both of these works were commissioned by Astral Artists in 2012 and O’Connor was among those who gave the premiere performances.
A feature work of the program, which will grant the recital a kind of story arc, will be Valerie Coleman’s acclaimed Portraits of Langston trio for flute, clarinet, and piano. Other works on the program are written by H. Leslie Adams and William Grant Still. All of the composers on the program except for Still are living and active African American composers.
As a special bonus, several of the composers will be in attendance to talk about their music to the audience in a Q&A session after the concert.