Cincinnati Pops’ Conductor John Morris Russell, an esteemed NOI+F collaborator, and Wolf Trap Opera return to The Clarice to open the 2019 festival in a concert anchored by Gershwin’s great American opera Porgy and Bess. Alyson Cambridge's "radiant" (The Washington Post) soprano and Joshua Conyers "sonorous" (The New York Times) baritone bring to life Summertime, Oh I Got Plenty O'Nuttin', Bess You Is My Woman and other sizzling numbers alongside Washington DC’s storied Heritage Signature Chorale.

Gershwin’s orchestral suite is paired with rarely-heard works by pioneering Black composers including Nathaniel Dett, who mastered the fusion of African-American musical traditions with European art music, James Reese Europe and British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

Program:

Shelton Brooks: Strutters’ Ball
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Danse Nègre
Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag
Nathaniel Dett: Juba
James R. Europe: Hey There!
Tim Brymn: Coconut Grove
Jessie Montgomery: Banner
George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess - A Concert of Songs

This is an EnCue-enabled event.

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Arrive at 7PM for a Pre-Concert Conversation in NOI+F's SPARK! Lounge.

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The National Orchestral Institute + Festival brings together aspiring orchestral musicians from across the country for a month of dynamic music-making and professional exploration. Chosen by a rigorous, cross-country audition process, these young artists present passionate and awe-inspiring performances of adventuresome repertoire at The Clarice and in the community.