National Symphony Orchestra Performs Hailstork’s Fanfare on “Amazing Grace” at Season Opening

October 27, 2016

Adolphus Hailstork (right) is pictured with pianist Lang Lang.

When the National Symphony Orchestra dedicated the first concert of its 86th season to the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture, Old Dominion University was well represented.

The Sept. 25 performance, which was held one day after the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, featured works and performances of renowned African American composers and artists, including the work of Adolphus Hailstork, ODU professor of music and Eminent Scholar.

According to music critic Ramona Harper, the audience was delighted when Hailstork stood and took a bow following the performance of his fanfare composition "Amazing Grace."

"The NSO wonderfully conveyed the spiritual joy heard and felt in his new work," Harper stated. "Grand and sweeping with a strong percussive quality, this piece was perfectly suited to the occasion and left one with a progressive sense of marching forward."

The star-studded concert also included pianist Lang Lang, vocalist Nnenna Freelon and the Washington Performing Arts' Children of the Gospel Choir. It concluded with the premiere of "We Are All America," which was composed by multiple-Grammy Award winner Mervyn Warren.