Albany Symphony Orchestra prepares for season opener ... II

Oct. 29—ALBANY — When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life throws a hurricane your way, you pray, let it pass on and then get back to work.

And so it's been for the Albany Symphony Orchestra, which was set to present its season-opening performance, "Brazilian Adventure" on Oct. 1. Then a little something called Hurricane Ian came calling, putting the families and homes of many of the musicians who play in the orchestra at risk.

"Everyone wanted to play, no one more than me," Orchestra Music Director and Conductor Claire Fox Hillard said this week as he and Symphony General Manager LeeAnna Anglin prepared for the new season opener, "American Voices," set for Nov. 12 at the Albany Municipal Auditorium. "As it turned out, none of our musicians suffered damage; the hurricane made a last-minute turn and mostly avoided their homes.

"I've talked with several of the musicians, and they were so appreciative of the support and concern shown by the community."

With "Brazilian Adventure" rescheduled for Feb. 18, Hillard, Anglin and the musicians in the orchestra are now preparing for the November season opener, which features music from American composers like Debussy, Jennifer Higdon, Aaron Copland, and "New Dance" by Albany-born composer Wallingford Riegger.

Clarinet soloist Anthony McGill, who currently serves as the first African American principal player in the New York Philharmonic's history, will be the featured guest performer. He will perform Claude Debussy's "Premiere Rhapsody" as well as Edmund Thornton Jenkins' "Clarinet Concerto."

"The story behind that Jenkins piece is amazing," Hillard said. "He was born in 1894, got his start taking private lessons, playing in the Jenkins Orphanage Band at his father's church. He completed his studies at Avery Institute in Charleston, S.C., at Morehouse College in Atlanta, and at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

"Jenkins died prematurely at the age of 32 in Paris, and his grand-nephew, Tuffus Zimbabwe, has worked diligently to create performing editions and to reconstruct the works of his grand uncle."

Zimbabwe also currently serves as a keyboardist for "Saturday Night Live."

"I'd heard my father talk about my grand uncle's (Jenkins) music all my life," Zimbabwe said in a phone interview. "The past 10 years, I've slowly collected his music, much of which was complete. But the other works may need a little more work, or the notes on the printed pages may be smudged. It's generally no more than 1-5% of the piece. I've worked to try and complete these pieces the way I think he would have wanted.

"I feel a connection to my grand uncle and a level of respect as well. He was very prolific in the short amount of time he lived."

Zimbabwe said Jenkins and his father changed a number of lives through the orphanage bands that were part of Jenkins' father's calling.

"That program touched a lot of talented lives," Zimbabwe said. "There were five bands at the orphanage and they played at events like presidential inaugurations, had a huge part in spreading the Charleston dance craze and inspired (George) Gershwin to write their opera 'Porgy and Bess.'"

Born into that talented family, which also included a grandmother who was a professional singer, Zimbabwe finished a four-year stint at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and while at New York University was invited to try out for the Saturday Night Live Band.

"It's been a whirlwind," Zimbabwe said. "You do about 21 shows a year and have to rehearse three days a week. It's definitely a high-intensity job. One of the things that sticks out in my mind was working with Adam Sandler for an 'Opera Man' sketch and having to change it live after doing the skit another way during dress rehearsal the day of the show. It was wild, but we made it through it."

Zimbabwe said he wants to perform more of his grand uncle's musical pieces and will be able to do so during the hiatus between SNL seasons.

"I'm doing a show at Hilton Head in February, and I wouldn't mind playing more shows in that area," he said. "If there are any promoters who might be looking for performers, have them get in touch with me at tuffusszimbabwe.com."

"American Voices," part of ASO's "Next Adventure: Around the World in Our 59th Season" series, also features the Georgia, as well as the Southeast, premiere of Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon's "Cold Mountain Suite." Higdon's opera "Cold Mountain," based on the best-selling 1997 novel by Charles Frazier, garnered two Grammy nominations and won the International Opera Award for Best New Opera in 2015. Through New Music for America and a consortium of more than three dozen orchestras — including the Albany Symphony Orchestra — Higdon created this suite using dramatic musical themes from the opera to highlight the emotional throes of love, war, and the journey of a soldier making his way back home to Cold Mountain.

Rounding out the ASO's concert will be Aaron Copland's iconic "Appalachian Spring Suite."

Anglin said season tickets for the orchestra's "Next Adventure" season are currently still available as well as single tickets for the "American Voices" performance. Single tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors (65-plus) and $15 for students/military. Season tickets provide a savings over single-ticket prices. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Albany Symphony offices at (229) 430-8933 or visit www.albanysymphony.org.

For any additional information and/or details, contact Hillard at (229) 669-3191 or chillard@albanysymphony.org. Interested persons may also contact Albany Symphony Association President Louis Sands at (229) 894-8142 or wls_org4@icloud.com.