JMHS Students Get Symphony Preview
Alan Olson Trending
GLEN DALE -- Students at John Marshall High School got to preview a performance coming to the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday morning.
Composer Evan Meier and hip hop artist Christylez Bacon held a workshop at JMHS' Center for Performing Arts, where dozens of students, mainly those studying music, were invited to listen.
The seminar was about their commissioned piece that will be featured at the upcoming Wheeling Symphony Orchestra's Opening Night Gala Celebration Thursday night. Along with Meier and Bacon, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform a John Williams concerto that Williams wrote specifically for Ma.
Meier and Bacon's piece, Migrations in Rhythm, explores the way that the United States has served as a point of musical intersection for so many different cultures.
West African music met with Irish step dancing in Washington DC and gave birth to go-go in the 1970s. Black, Brazilian and Cubano music collided in NYC and gave birth to hip-hop and trap in the 80s and 90s.
"I'm going to be using parts of it, rhythms and rhyme, to tell the story of these genres to tell the story of ... how what we think of as American music is truly an amalgamation of immigrant music," Bacon said. "It's a great thing -- we have this great patchwork quilt of culture in the United States. We should welcome diversity.
"It's important for students to get this information because it opens up their world, it could lead to more opportunities. We have a certain way of doing things here. If we go to another place, culturally, we might discover some ideas that enhance our ideas here," he added.
"Diversity of thought is an amazing thing. I'm just trying to open up their worlds and create avenues for acceptance and unification with people from all walks of life."
Meier said that the concerto was created to focus on Bacon's skills and to allow the story to be told in an engaging way.
"A concerto is a format that is designed to showcase a virtuoso musician; Chris is a virtuoso beatboxer. The entire piece is built around all the different things he could do with beatboxing, rhyme and freestyle rap," Meier said. "The piece has a narrative to it that tells the story of the interaction of different cultures in creating the fabric of musical styles in America."
The workshop will be held again today at Wheeling Park High School. The concert will be held at the Capitol Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. For tickets or for additional information about Thursday night's concert, this season's shows and more, visit wheelingsymphony.com or call 304-232-6191.