Tucson Symphony event with Raven Chacon

Join us for an Amerind in Tucson event with the Tucson Symphony

Friday, February 21, 2025, 7:30 pm

Sunday, February 23, 2025, 2:00 pm with preconcert talk at 1:00pm

at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall: 260 S. Church Ave. Tucson, AZ. (NW corner of city block, next to Convention Center parking garage)

Tickets:  $14-$95 available through the Tucson Symphony 

Dvořák and the American Experience

with Ravon Chacon: Inscription

a TSO Co- Commission

Paul Huang, who left TSO audiences spellbound in 2022, returns to perform Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, originally written for the composer’s friend, violinist Joseph Joachim. The concerto is accompanied by two of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances. Written originally for piano duo while he was still relatively unknown, it was these dances that helped Dvořák achieve notoriety. Dvořák came to the U.S. later in life and wrote the New World Symphony, inspired by African-American spirituals. The concert’s second half features works by American composers with very different backgrounds: a TSO co-commissioned work by Arizona-born Raven Chacon, a 2023 MacArthur Genius Grant awardee, and Still’s Symphony No. 1, known as the “Afro-American.” Chacon, a member of the Navajo Nation, draws on relationships between the western and indigenous communities while Still drew from popular African-American music.

Raven Chacon has mentored over 300 high school Native Composers as part of the annual Grand Canyon Music Festival. He also won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music for “Voiceless Mass”.

William Grant Still was the first African American to have his symphony performed by a major orchestra. His daughter, Judith, lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Featured Performers
Program
  • Antonín Dvořák: Slavonic Dance, Op. 72, No. 2
  • Dvořák: Slavonic Dance, Op. 46, No. 8
  • Dvořák: Violin Concerto
  • Raven ChaconInscription TSO Co-Commission
  • William Grant Still: Symphony No. 1, “Afro-American”

Please note:

  • This concert is available as part of a Classic Series or Create Your Own Subscription.
  • Linda Ronstadt Music Hall has a clear bag policy. Read more about this venue
  • The Friday concert only will be presented in the Classics With a Twist format: there will be on-stage introductions to the music and your chance to ask questions of the artists in a post-concert Q&A.
  • Friday’s concert is expected to last approximately 2 hours, including intermission.
  • The Sunday concert only will be preceded by Concert Comments,a pre-concert talk, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

This concert and the Raven Chacon project is underwritten by Shirley Chann with additional support from Linda Staubitz and the Amerind Foundation.

Amerind Supports Indigenous Composers at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra

Picture caption: Raven Chacon, Laura Ortman, Kite, Michael Begay

Amerind supports Indigenous Composers at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra

Friday, September 20, 7 pm

Linda Ronstadt Music Hall

Tickets are free

Amerind’s community is proud to join our friends at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (TSO) in supporting new compositions by four Native American Composers: Pulitzer Prize winner Raven Chacon (Diné), Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache), Kite (Oglala Lakota), and Michael Begay (Diné). Along with many other TSO supporters, Amerind is pleased to help sponsor this special musical event. Tickets are free and can be acquired at the TSO’s website https://www.tucsonsymphony.org/event/colaboratory-2024/.

Tucson Symphony Orchestra is proud to partner with the American Composers Orchestra to present EarShot CoLABoratory, a program designed to develop the work of composers from musical traditions that are underrepresented in the orchestra world. CoLABoratory Residencies provide artists with generative space with orchestral forces to develop ideas that are too big and beautiful for a traditional reading or commissioning model.

On September 20, TSO will read drafts of new compositions by four Native composers including Pulitzer Prize winner Raven Chacon (Diné), Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache), Kite (Oglala Lakota), and Michael Begay (Diné). During this workshop session, the audience will get to observe the collaborative process between the composers and the orchestra. Composers will work with Maestro Gomez and the musicians of the orchestra to develop concepts and refine their work.