A Tribute to Duke Ellington with Thomas Wilkins and Renese King

Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Gerald Clayton, piano
Renese King, vocalist
The Duke Ellington Tribute Singers
Christina DeVaughn, Amy Onyonyi, Carolyn Saxon, Renese King, Karen Tobin-Guild, Laura Vecchione, Michael Bradley, Daon Drisdom, Philip Lima, Davron Monroe, Samuel Moscoso, Donnell Patterson

ALL-ELLINGTON PROGRAM
Three Black Kings
Night Creature
New World A-Coming, for piano and orchestra
-Intermission-
Selection from the Sacred Concerts

The BSO and Thomas Wilkins mark the 50th anniversary of Duke Ellington’s death with three of this American musical genius’ symphonically ambitious “Tone Parallels” — his personal take on the tone poem; Gerald Clayton is soloist in the optimistic New World A-Coming. Ellington’s three Sacred Concerts of 1965, 1968, and 1973, conceived as a parallel to traditional European church music, feature styles at the core of jazz, including gospel, the blues, and spirituals in a multidimensional, oratorio-like presentation.