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Joey Burdette
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Authoring Action and the Winston-Salem Symphony Present
Chevalier: Composer + Liberator
A Literary Event with Chamber Music on February 11
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (January 25, 2023) – Authoring Action and the Winston-Salem Symphony will come together on February 11, 2023, to present the collaborative project Chevalier: Composer + Liberator. The performance is the culmination of a project that has seen Authoring Action’s Renaissance and Assegai teen authors learn about the life and legacy of 18th-century Black composer, violinist, fencer, and abolitionist Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de St. Georges. The authors will present original works on the themes of emancipation and liberation accompanied by a Winston-Salem Symphony string quartet performing Joseph Bologne’s music.
The project is a follow-up to the Symphony’s performance of the play-with-music The Chevalier by playwright and director Bill Barclay. The play was workshopped in Winston-Salem in 2021 with the Symphony, Authoring Action, and the North Carolina Black Repertory Company. The full play was performed in October 2022 at Reynolds Auditorium and Authoring Action particpants and students were invited to attend the performance.
The play told the story of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de St. Georges. Bologne was a virtuoso musician and one of the best swordsmen in Europe. Despite facing significant racial discrimination in France, he achieved a great deal of success and was highly respected by his peers, becoming Marie Antoinette’s teacher and a mentor to the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. As he rose through Parisian society and became involved in the French Revolution, Bologne remained a fierce abolitionist and fought for the end of slavery in France’s colonies.
Under the guidance of Artistic Director Nathan Ross Freeman, eight Renaissance and Assegai authors have been prompted to write new pieces on the theme of liberation and emancipation through the lens of the Chevalier. These new written works will be performed alongside excerpts and movements of Bologne’s string quartets and demonstrate how the Chevalier’s story continues to resonate in social justice movements today.
“The Winston-Salem Symphony is thrilled to be working with Authoring Action to bring the Chevalier’s music together with the written and spoken word compositions by these amazing young authors,” said Merritt Vale, Winston-Salem Symphony President & CEO.
Nathan Ross Freeman, Co-Founder & Artistic Director of Authoring Action, shared his enthusiasm for this project: “Imagine the compelling visions Chevalier offers as a Liberator paying forward through the contemporary visionary voices of Authoring Action Authors. Transformative. Be there.”
This event will take place on Saturday, February 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the McChesney Scott Dunn Auditorium at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA). SECCA is located at 750 Marguerite Drive in Winston-Salem. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online at wssymphony.org or by calling the Box Office at (336) 464-0145.
About Authoring Action
Authoring Action is a nonprofit arts and outreach organization dedicated to developing youth as articulate authors and advocates for social change. Using the power of literary, spoken word, and film arts, young people discover their authentic and clearly expressed voices, Authoring Action empowers young people to express themselves, gain confidence in their own voices, and learn the skills of writing and storytelling.
About the Winston-Salem Symphony
Proud to be one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, the Winston-Salem Symphony just celebrated its 75th Anniversary. The 2022–2023 season concludes a year-long search for a Music Director from six virtuosic candidates. The Symphony will continue inspiring listeners of all ages throughout North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad with various concerts, education programs, and community engagement initiatives each year.
This concert and the Winston-Salem Symphony are supported by Season Presenting Sponsors Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A., Chris and Mike Morykwas, the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, and the North Carolina Arts Council.
Subscriptions and single tickets can be purchased online at wssymphony.org or by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145.
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