Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra Performs Alexandra du Bois’ Fanfare for Orchestra

Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and Darko Butorac, Music Director and Conductor, to Perform Alexandra du Bois’ Fanfare for Orchestra.

Fanfare for orchestra (2008) was written during the months before the inauguration of the first African American to hold office of President of the United States and celebrates this moment in time in a fanfare for orchestra. The piece honors the civil rights movement and in particular in relation to the inauguration of President Barak Obama. The piece was equally inspired the hymn written by Rev. Charles Tindley in 1901 which later became the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome. While the work is a “fanfare”, after the opening, it moves quickly into introspection in the center of the piece bookended by fanfare, representing, according to the composer, the inner work white Americans must do in acknowledging, confronting, understanding, and addressing systemic racism in the United States, past and present.

“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.”—Dr. Nina Simone, composer, activist, songwriter, concert pianist