Join host Raymond Jones this Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. on WHRO-FM for “A Local Touch – Music with a Virginia Connection,” a program that places Virginia’s orchestras, institutions, and composers at the center of the musical conversation.
This week’s broadcast features a powerful performance by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Eric Jacobsen. Recorded live at the Sandler Center last September, this concert includes Anna Clyne’s cello concerto “Dance”, with internationally acclaimed cellist Jan Vogler, and also Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor.
In recognition of Black History Month, the program turns to historic performances rooted deeply in Virginia’s musical life. We travel back to 1968 for the Hampton University Centennial Choral Concert, directed by Roland Carter. A distinguished composer, conductor, and educator, Carter wrote “A Hampton Portrait” specifically for this celebration. The program also includes other pieces, such as Fernando Franco’s Motets, music from “Offertorio” by Nicolas Zoyensky, and Thomas Campion’s “By the Streams of Babylon.”
We’ll move up a bit to 1974 to rediscover a performance by the Carver Memorial Presbyterian Senior Choir and Orchestra, conducted by William Crump at Thomas Eaton Jr. High School, in Hampton. Their program included works by Mendelssohn, Cesar Frank, and Randall Thompson.
This edition of “A Local Touch” will also honor two influential Black composers with Virginia ties. First, we’ll hear guitar music by Justin Holland; born in Norfolk County, he was one of the most important free Black composers and guitar virtuosos of the 19th century. Following that, we’ll feature “Sketches, Set Seven,” composed by longtime Smithfield resident Ed Bland and performed by pianist Althea Waites.
Tune in Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. to WHRO-FM 90.3, or listen online, and experience the artistry of Virginia’s musical heritage.
