Alastair Willis, music director of the South Bend Symphony, highlights a program of musical heroes.
On February 28, the symphony premieres a piece by Jessica Carter called "Hidden," which is a reflective musical portrait of the life of Rosemary Sanders, the symphony's first Black American member of the South Bend Symphony when she joined in 1940. Although accepted into the orchestra, her name wasn’t printed in programs, she was seated at the back of the second violins and not included in any formal orchestra photographs. These choices reflected the realities of segregation in South Bend at the time – inclusion without visibility.
No coincidence that we will follow Jessica Carter’s piece with a violin concerto – one of the most beloved in the repertoire. I’ve always thought that concerto soloists are akin to
heroes – it takes something special to play a solo part in front of the orchestra. Performing Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor for us will be another South Bend Symphony hero – concertmaster Jameson Cooper, who joins us on the podcast.
Our second half features the symphony that changed history – the Eroica Symphony No. 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven.
