Duke Ellington School of the Arts Presents Hope in the Night

We celebrate composer William Dawson and feature a forgotten masterpiece from this major Black symphonist. At its 1934 premiere, by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony received a thunderous ovation and was hailed by some as the highest achievement in American symphonic music. But Dawson never found a publisher, and the music disappeared from view. Louis Moreau Gottschalk, born in New Orleans, was raised on Black Creole music – and is the earliest American composer whose music we still hear. His lively and energetic “symphony” Night in the Tropics, with Cuban percussion, was among the best known orchestral works in 19th Century America.

This is the final concert in PCE’s season-long project, "The Rediscovery and Renewal of Black Classical Music," which seeks to celebrate consequential composers who have too long been neglected for all their profound contributions to American orchestral music. We are thrilled to present this concert in collaboration with the DESA Orchestra and Choir.