South Florida Classical Review

Kalena Bovell conducted the New World Symphony Saturday night. Photo: Jamie Pratt

“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the stirring anthem by J. Rosamond Johnson was the leitmotif of the New World Symphony’s annual Black History Month concert Saturday night at the New World Center. The song recurred throughout the program in orchestral, solo vocal and choral form. Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell presided over the evening’s offerings with vigor and strong orchestral command.

The first appearance of Johnson’s anthem occurred as a rare melodic double bass solo in Jessie Montgomery’s Banner, played with richly glowing tone by Ricardo Puche Bravo. 

Montgomery’s eight-minute vignette is a lively compendium of anthems from many countries, crafted with flair and imagination. A string quartet plays a leading role in the score. Violinists Morgan Bennett and Mai Matsumoto, violist Tyler McKisson and cellist Shannon Ross assayed their difficult parts with precision and vibrancy. The New World’s impressive conducting fellow Ziwei Ma led a performance brimming with vitality, always on top on top of Montgomery’s numerous changes of meter.

Bass-baritone Davóne Tines has followed his own path, creating vocal concert suites from diverse sources. In two previous New World appearances his Concerto No. 1: SERMON proved an uneven mix of excerpts from famous writers and speakers with matching musical selections. Last season Tines’ piece, Recital No. 1: MASS hit the mark with music that verged from Bach arias to recent works by contemporary composers. 

This time Tines offered his three-movement Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM. A collaboration with his long-time arranger Michael Schachter, the work was both provocative and moving. The only misstep was a reading over the hall’s speaker system of Mahagony L. Browne’s poem “Let America” which alludes to present-day events and issues. It was an obtrusive interruption of Tines’ suite, which made its points effectively in purely musical terms.

Davóne Tines performed his Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM with the New World Symphony. Photo: Noah Morrison

The work’s first section is devoted to “The Star Spangled Banner.” Utilizing with a body microphone, Tines initially sang the National Anthem in voluminous, warm-toned manner. Then he offered the rarely heard later verses which refer to fleeing slaves going to their graves. Like many of America’s founding fathers, attorney and songwriter Francis Scott Key was a slave owner. Schachter’s orchestration became increasingly dark and dissonant as Tines’ vocalism wandered off the main melody of the anthem. All of which illustrated that noble aspirations can sometimes outlive and transcend individual lapses.

By contrast, “Americana?” by the ever-inventive Caroline Shaw mixed the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts” with other patriotic songs, sung with beauty and soft dynamics by Tines. The third sections opens with a new version of the hymn “Oh, Freedom” by composer Tyshawn Sorey that suggests echoes of the blues. Accompanied mostly by brass, Tines’ astonishing high range (which can approach the tenor register) shone impressively. 

Finally, he launched into Johnson’s anthem, his depth of sonority and expression strongly felt. Schachter’s sometimes harsh orchestration worked surprisingly well. Tines received a standing ovation and enthusiastic applause from both audience and musicians. Bovell directed the complex orchestral role expertly.

After intermission, Tines returned, joined by the Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale and its director Dr. J. for Moses Hogan’s famous arrangement of the spiritual “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” which he sang with unforced vernacular intimacy rather than operatic grandeur. The chorus resounded with full-bodied vocalism.

That spiritual provides the main theme for Montgomery Variations by Margaret Bonds. Bonds, who was a Chicago-based composer, created a seven-movement suite that pictures the 1956 Montgomery bus boycott and the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church that killed three young girls, pivotal events in America’s civil rights history and struggle. 

Bonds’ 25-minute work, dating from 1964, is a terrific piece, with colorful orchestration and imaginative variants on the spiritual’s melody. At the opening of “Decision” (the first section) brass state the melody, followed by luminous string writing. Bonds brings a full orchestral panoply of tone painting to picture the rising sun in the atmospheric fourth segment “Dawn in Dixie.” The seemingly optimistic spirit of the succeeding “One Sunday in the South” is shattered by percussion volleys, conveying the Birmingham tragedy. An eloquently dark elegy for strings sings in “Lament.” Rising fragments of the theme lead to the final full ensemble statement of “Benediction.” Bovell led a vital, expertly articulated performance. More of Bonds’ music needs to be revived.

The concert concluded with Roland Carter’s orchestral-chorale arrangement of Johnson’s anthem. The choir excelled in an unadorned a cappella section and reached fervent heights with the orchestra at top volume. It provided a joyous end to an interesting exploration of African-American orchestral music.

The New World Symphony repeats the program 2 p.m. Sunday at the New World Center in Miami Beach. nws.edu

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