Discovering Dawson's Masterpiece: The Negro Folk Symphony

about the composer

Discovering Dawson’s Masterpiece: The Negro Folk Symphony

William L. Dawson, composer

Born on September 26, 1899, in Anniston, Alabama, William Levi Dawson emerged as a prominent composer, conductor, and educator, contributing significantly to the cultural landscape of the 20th century. Among his notable works, the Negro Folk Symphony stands as a testament to his artistry and commitment to celebrating Black American musical traditions.

Dawson’s journey in music began at an early age, and he quickly became a skilled trombonist. As a teenager, he ran away from home to pursue a musical education at the Tuskegee Institute, now known as the Tuskegee University. After graduating with honors in 1921, Dawson went on to pursue a Bachelors of Music from Horner Institute of Fine Arts, and a Masters Degree in Composition from the American Conservatory of Music. Dawson’s exposure to the rich heritage of Black American folk music during this time laid the foundation for what would become one of his most celebrated compositions.

After completing his studies, he was given tenure from the Tuskegee Institute, where he conducted the 100-member choir in several nationally recognized broadcasts and performances, including performances at the White House and Constitution Hall. Dawson also went on an international tour with the Tuskegee Choir to the British Isles, Europe, and the Soviet Union under the sponsorship of President Franklin. D. Roosevelt. Beyond his many achievements and honors, Dawson’s symphony is what gave him the most notoriety in the sphere of musical arts.

Composed in 1934, Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony is a groundbreaking work that masterfully blends classical forms with the vibrant rhythms and melodies of Black American folk music. Dawson drew inspiration from spirituals, work songs, and other traditional tunes, infusing the symphony with a unique cultural resonance. In a 1932 interview, Dawson said: “I’ve tried not to imitate Beethoven or Brahms, Franck or Ravel…the finest compliment that could be paid to my symphony when it has its premiere that it unmistakably is not the work of a white man.”  

Negro Folk Symphony had its world premiere on November 14, 1934 by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, under direction of Leopold Stokowski, at Carnegie Hall. It was an instant, but fleeting success at first before falling into obscurity until 18 years later. After a several-week tour in West Africa in 1952, Dawson was inspired to revise his symphony and integrate the unique rhythms and musical experiences from his trip. This revised symphony is what is commonly heard today.

The Negro Folk Symphony not only showcases Dawson's compositional prowess but also serves as a significant cultural statement. It is a shining example of the excellence of Black American musicians and composers, once lost to time, getting the recognition that they deserve in the modern orchestral sphere.  .  In a time when racial inequality and discrimination were pervasive, Dawson's work highlighted the beauty and strength inherent in Black American musical heritage. This symphony has endured as a symbol of resilience and cultural pride, continuing to be performed and celebrated by orchestras around the world.

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Listen to Dawson’s Legacy Live!

Come hear William Dawson’s Symphony No. 3 this February 9th & 10th at the Gallo Center for the Arts!

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Learn more about Dawson (Reference):

• Biography. Alabama Music Hall of Fame. (n.d.). https://www.alamhof.org/williamldawson

• Brown, G. K. (n.d.). Negro folk symphony. BSO. 
  https://www.bso.org/works/negro-folk-symphony 

• Schwartz, E. (n.d.). Negro Folk Symphony, William Dawson. LA Phil. https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/6227/negro-folk-symphony 

• Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, January 5). William L. Dawson (composer). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_L._Dawson_(composer) 

Sound Bite / A Celebration of Music with Music Director Nicholas Hersh

Conductor Nicholas Hersh is excited for his debut as the MSO’s new Music Director! He has put together a program that celebrates not only the partnership of MSO and himself, but also this new era for the MSO and our community.

Hear the MSO perform the works of Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Copland live this October 13 & 14, 2023!

Hear What's Next: MSO's 2023/24 Classics Series with Nicholas Hersh!

Music Director Nicholas Hersh invites you to Hear What's Next in this Modesto Symphony Orchestra's 2023/24 Classics Season!

Our 2023/24 Classics Series:

The MSO Chorus Makes a Classics Comeback!

Chorus chat with Daniel Afonso / May 12 & 13: Mozart Requiem

The MSO Chorus Makes a Classics Comeback

Since returning to in-person rehearsals and concerts last season, the MSO Chorus has been steadily working on returning to its full power. We’ve enjoyed their performances at our Holiday Pops! and Holiday Candlelight Concerts, but this May will mark the first time they’ve performed in a Classics Series concert since 2019.

We chatted with chorus director, Dr. Daniel R. Afonso Jr. to gain more insight into our beloved chorus and their return to stage with Mozart’s Requiem.

MSO: Can you give our audiences a brief background of Mozart’s Requiem?

Daniel Afonso, chorus director: Mozart’s Requiem is certainly one of the composer’s best known works—and there are certainly plenty of reasons for it. The music itself is beautiful and full of expressive elements that have made the work very popular for centuries, but the Requiem has also been shrouded in mystery and the subject of folk tales and much gossip. Everything started with Mozart receiving a commission from a mysterious Viennese patron to write a Requiem for his wife—the patron wanted to remain anonymous, sent a messenger to talk to Mozart. To complicate things further, the composer died (at age 35!) while working on this music and before being able to complete the full work. Although we now know much more about the origins of the Requiem, these “tales” and conflicting stories about the work continue to feed audiences and performers with some extra “drama” that adds to the work’s overall appeal.

Another element that contributed to Mozart’s Requiem popularity was the highly fictionalized movie about the composer’s life that came out in 1984, Milos Forman’s Amadeus. It was while watching the movie that I learned about the Requiem and fell in love with it. Later, in 2012, I had one of the highlights of my music career when I had the privilege of conducting the CSUS Chamber Singers and members of the MSO Chorus in a performance of Requiem at Lincoln Center, in New York City.

MSO: There are many iconic sections to the Requiem, like the “Dies irae” and the “Lacrimosa.” What about these sections of the Mozart Requiem do you think audiences will find most exciting to hear or see performed live?

DA: Yes, these two movements do have the most recognizable music of this entire work. And I believe this is due to Mozart’s ability to write music that perfectly depicts the character and meaning of the text. These two movements are part of a larger section of the Requiem called “Sequence” that describes the “judgment day.” The Dies irae begins this section and the Lacrimosa ends it. In the Dies irae, the words describe judgment day as a “day of wrath” when the world will “dissolve in ashes.” And in the Lacrimosa, the words depict a “tearful day” when “the guilty man will rise from the ashes to be judged.” These are powerful and colorful images that Mozart expertly matches to equally powerful and ingenuously constructed musical ideas. The result is music that is both beautiful and expressive, full of different colors and musical elements that at the same time intrigue and fascinate the listener.

MSO: You’ve been the MSO chorus director since its foundation in 2001, what has it been like working with a diverse group of singers for over 20 years?

DA: I absolutely love working with the MSO Chorus! And the diversity in the group’s membership is one of the most interesting aspects of the work to me. We have singers of all levels of ability and musical experience in the group. We have experienced choral singers and some who have music degrees (music teachers, music ministers, etc.). We also have many singers who don’t read music and some who had never been part of a choir before. The power of collective singing comes exactly from that: different people working together with a common goal, helping each other to overcome any challenges and difficulties during the process. And every time the chorus performs, we are reminded of the importance of working together as a cohesive community, and how music can be a powerful tool to bring people together. Now, add to that learning and performing some of the most exciting music ever written for choir and orchestra, and you have the full picture of how wonderful my job is!

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Hear Mozart Live

Join the MSO Chorus as they perform Mozart Requiem live this May 12 & 13, 2023 at the Gallo Center for the Arts!

The Perseverance of Florence Price

about the composer

The Perseverance of Florence Price

Florence Price, composer

Florence Beatrice Smith was born on April 9, 1887, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her father was the only African American dentist in the city and her mother was a music teacher, who provided Florence with her earliest musical training. Florence proved to be highly talented, giving her first piano performance at the age of four, and publishing her first composition at the age of 11. In 1902, at the age of 15, she enrolled in the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and was the only one of 2,000 students to pursue a double major in organ and piano. She graduated with honors four years later with a teaching certificate and an artist diploma in organ performance.

Maude Roberts George, arts administrator

1910 marked the beginning of a new chapter for Florence where she began her teaching career in Atlanta, Georgia before eventually settling in Little Rock after marrying Thomas J. Price and having two children. Increasing racial tensions in the South led the Prices to leave Little Rock and settle north in Chicago. It was here that Florence’s composition career began to take off. In 1928, she published four compositions for piano while studying with Chicago’s leading composition and organ teachers. In 1933, Maude Roberts George, an advocate for the Arts, especially for those underrepresented, paid $250 (the modern-day equivalent of $5,093 ) for Price’s Symphony No. 1 to be performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a part of the Chicago World’s Fair. This made Florence Price the first Black woman to have her music performed by a major U.S. orchestra. Price’s unique style began to appear in 1938 with the completion of her third symphony. In traditional Romantic fashion, Price’s Symphony No. 3 has four movements. From the beginning of the piece, Price’s modernism shines through with a slow introduction that leads into a turbulent main theme. As the second movement starts, the influence of Black music comes front and center as jazz and blues themes take over in the solo trombone. The third movement continues to celebrate the blues, while introducing a Juba, an African American dance style created by those who were enslaved in the Deep South with specific origins being linked to Charleston, South Carolina. It’s a dance involving stomps and claps and eventually influenced future styles of music and dance in popular culture, such as modern tap dancing, and rhythm and blues singers which eventually influenced rock musicians. In the symphony’s final movement, the African American styles and classical music influences collide, providing joyous energy.  

Over her lifetime, Florence Price composed over 300 works in a variety of genres, including symphonies, choral works, pieces for piano and organ, and many others. She passed away in 1953 at the age of 66. In a time when classical music was largely based on European traditional practices, Price’s compositions were distinctly American and celebrations of her heritage that incorporated Black spirituals and folk traditions. Florence Price was a pioneer in classical music not only for her gender but also for her race. Her legacy brought a new narrative and voice forward that was largely overlooked.

Join us as the MSO performs Florence Price’s Symphony No. on May 12 & 13 alongside the monumental Mozart Requiem.

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Listen to Price’s Legacy Live!

Come hear Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3 alongside Mozart’s Requiem, conducted by Anthony Parnther, this May 12th & 13th at the Gallo Center for the Arts!

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Learn more about Price (Reference):

• “Florence Price.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, April 7, 2023. 
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Price#Biography. 

• Ege, Samantha. “Composing a Symphonist: Florence Price and the Hand of Black Women's Fellowship.” Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture. University of Nebraska Press, August 13, 2020. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/762310. 

• “Symphony No. 3 in C Minor (Florence Price).” LA Phil. Accessed April 7, 2023. https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/6500/symphony-no-3-in-c-minor. 

• “The Story behind: Price's Symphony No.3.” Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School. Accessed April 7, 2023. https://www.riphil.org/blog/the-story-behind-price-s-symphony-no-3. 

• “Juba Dance.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, February 14, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juba_dance 

Swing with the Symphony & Ryan Silverman!

Broadway star, Ryan Silverman (Chicago, Phantom of the Opera), who last performed with the MSO in 2019, swings back into town this March 17th to croon your favorite jazz standards!

Hear the Great American Songbook performed live by the MSO this March 17, 2023!

Barber's Violin Concert Will Make Your Heart Race! (feat. violinist Simone Porter)

Don't miss the "soul-shaking beauty and heart-racing excitement" of Barber's Violin Concert performed by violinist Simone Porter this February 10th & 11th!

Andrew Grams will conduct the MSO for the Barber & Brahms concerts with a program that will take our audiences on an emotional journey of love, loss, and the beauty of life. We’re also excited to have violinist Simone Porter to share her amazing energy and beautiful tone in Samuel Barber’s beloved Violin Concerto. The concert will conclude with Brahms’ Second Symphony, which will leave our audiences full of optimism.

Hear the works of Brouwer, Barber, and Brahms performed live by the MSO this February 10 & 11, 2023!

Sound Bite / The Heartfelt Emotions of Brouwer, Barber, & Brahms

Guest conductor Andrew Grams explores how music can tug at one's heartstrings in a way no other type of communication can.

Grams will conduct the MSO for the Barber & Brahms concerts with a program that will take our audiences on an emotional journey of love, loss, and the beauty of life. We’re also excited to have violinist Simone Porter to share her amazing energy and beautiful tone in Samuel Barber’s beloved Violin Concerto. The concert will conclude with Brahms’ Second Symphony, which will leave our audiences full of optimism.

Hear the works of Brouwer, Barber, and Brahms performed live by the MSO this February 10 & 11, 2023!

Sound Bite / Soaring Swan Songs

Guest conductor Nicholas Hersh explores the great mysteries of life and death through the works of Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and Sibelius.

Hersh will lead the MSO for the Rachmaninoff & Sibelius concerts. This program gives us the opportunity to hear Hersh’s arrangement of the second movement of Schubert’s famous string quartet, Death and the Maiden. Then pianist George Li will be featured on Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the program will finish with Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5. This breathtaking beauty captures 16 soaring swans when the strings mimic the fluttering of wings and a glorious, arching theme played by the French horns.

Hear the works of Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and Sibelius performed live by the MSO this November 11th & 12th, 2022!

Meet the Musician: Gabriela Martinez, piano

Oct. 21 & 22: Rhapsody in Blue

Q&A with Gabriela Martinez

Upcoming this October 21 & 22, internationally recognized pianist, Gabriela Martinez returns to Modesto to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue alongside your Modesto Symphony Orchestra. Excited to have her back on the Gallo Center stage with us, we were able to catch up with what she has been up to since last performing with the MSO in 2018.

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MSO: We’re so excited to have you back in Modesto performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue! Are there any specific emotions you feel while performing Rhapsody in Blue? What sort of imagery comes to mind?

Gabriela Martinez: Rhapsody in Blue is one of my favorite concertos to perform.  It’s a truly magical piece where we see a world of “classical” music infused with unique jazz flavors.  It is really an exciting piece to play as we get to experience a world of incredible contrasts – musical, texture, style, and color. We live through a wide range of emotions.  There are amazing rhythmic solos, as well as lush inspired melodic orchestral sections.  

MSO: Last time you visited us was in April 2018, performing Manuel de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain. What are you most excited about performing with the Modesto Symphony again?

GM: I am so looking forward to being back in Modesto!  I loved my time in Modesto and really enjoyed playing with such an amazing orchestra! I am excited to play with them again and to meet with Maestro Dragon – his reputation precedes him.  He is wonderful, and I am thrilled to work with him!

One unforgettable story about my last visit to Modesto -- while playing the last lyrical solo piano passage of the Falla… THE LIGHTS WENT OUT AT THE GALLO CENTER!!! The whole concert hall was pitch black.  (The power went out in the whole block, and the generator kicked in what must have been seconds, but felt like minutes on stage…) I have been performing concertos since I was 5 years old, and that was a first for me.  Instinctively, I just kept going… and it’s a moment I will cherish forever! The comradery in those moments between audience, conductor, orchestra while navigating uncharted territory together before the power returned is something I will never forget.

MSO: Will you have any leisure time while in Northern California? Do you have any fun plans while being here?

GM: California is one of my favorite places on the planet.  There’s never enough time to explore! It’s been a few years since I was in Modesto though.  Would love to hear any recommendations of places to see, places to eat, have coffee… find me on Instagram @gabrielapiano

MSO: Any upcoming performances/projects are you looking forward to?

GM: I am really excited about my project, a recital program called RESONANCES which I am performing this season. RESONANCES is a journey that invites us to explore the echoes within us; to explore the search and inspiration that happens beneath the surface. It explores music from Brazil, Venezuela as well as new pieces by Caroline Shaw, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Viet Cuong and Missy Mazzoli.

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Meet Gabriela in Modesto!

Come watch Gabriela perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue this October 21 & 22 at the Gallo Center for the Arts!

Artist Biography

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Sound Bite / The Spiritual Beauty of Price's Concert Overture No. 2

To celebrate the "American Sound," guest conductor Christopher Dragon digs into the rediscovery of

Florence Price's long lost work and her rich legacy. Florence Price holds a significant place in American history as the first Black female American composer to have her symphony performed by a major symphony orchestra. However, her some of her work, including Concert Overture No.2, laid dormant for over 50 years in an abandoned home she once lived in until it was rediscovered in 2009 and brought back into the spotlight. Price's Concert Overture No. 2 reflects the expressive and distinctive sounds of Negro traditions, particularly the spirituals, ragtime, and folkdance rhythms whose origins trace back to Africa. This overture features the spirituals “Go Down, Moses,” “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” and “Every Time I Feel the Spirit.”

Hear Price's Concert Overture No. 2 performed live by the MSO this October 21st & 22nd, 2022!

Meet the Musician: Sandeep Das, tabla

May 6 & 7: Haas conducts Wijeratne & Tchaikovsky

Talking About Tabla with Sandeep Das!

Upcoming this May 6 & 7, Grammy-winner tabla master, Sandeep Das will be performing Dinuk Wijeratne’s Concerto for Tabla alongside your Modesto Symphony Orchestra. Fresh from a tour of London, Sandeep took the time to sit down with us to tell us more about this exciting concerto and his instrument, the tabla.

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A post shared by Tabla Maestro Sandeep Das (@sandeepdas.official)

MSO: This is the first time most of our audiences will see this piece performed live, however you have performed this many times before. What is your history with this piece, when was the last time you performed it?

Sandeep Das: I am actually coming in to Modesto right after a tour of this very concerto with the National Youth Orchestra of the United Nations in London, U.K. I feel Dinuk Wijeratne’s Tabla Concerto is one of the finest Western compositions written for my instrument, and I am looking forward to sharing it with everyone in the audience!

MSO: The tabla is an instrument not often highlighted in Western Classical music. Can you tell us more about this instrument, how you got into it, and how it had led you to where you are today?

SD: The Tabla are one of the most popular drums in the North Indian Classical tradition, a complex and highly refined music system that has been passed down orally for more than 4,000 years. There is a fun story about how I got into this instrument: 

One day, when I was about 8 years old, I was sent home from school with a note from my teacher. I had been disturbing the class by tapping on my desk, and when asked to stop, I started tapping my feet! They suggested that I be taken to a doctor. 

Luckily, I had a smart father, and instead of taking me to a doctor, he gifted me my first pair of Tabla, and my lessons began that very night. 

My Guru, Pt. Kishan Maharaj, was a legend of North Indian Classical Music in the same way Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart are revered as legends of Western Classical Music. I learned Tabla in the traditional Indian Guru-Shishya Parampara, a system where the Shishya, or student, lives with their Guru (teacher) as a member of the household while they are learning. 

For 12 years, I lived with my Guru in Banaras, an ancient Indian city known as a historical and contemporary center for intellectual, spiritual, and artistic learning. Music was taught to me not just as an art form, but as a way of life. Guruji would teach when and however he pleased. I was even taught while sitting in the garden, riding horses, and performing on stage with him at a concert!  

MSO: Music education is something that is very important to you, which is evident through your programs like Harmony and Universality through Music (HUM) and Das Tabla School (DTS). Can you elaborate more about these programs you founded and how they help enrich the lives of your students?

SD: I strongly believe that the youth are our future, and we should do everything we can to open the windows of their hearts and minds to what is beyond the places, people, cultures, and ways of life that they know. Harmony and Universality through Music is an Indian nonprofit organization that I founded in 2009, which strives to promote global understanding through performance and education by the HUM Ensemble and provides learning opportunities and scholarships for visually-impaired children with potential in any genre of art to empower them to lead self-reliant lives. Since its inception, HUM has grown in size and now supports nine children through a National Scholarship. 

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MSO: Will you have any leisure time while in Northern California? Do you have any fun plans while being here? (Sights to see, places to you have to eat at, etc.)

SD: I am a golf addict and will definitely spend some time golfing!!!

MSO: Any upcoming performances/projects are you looking forward to?

SD: I recently launched a project called Transcending Borders One Note at a Time, which aims to harness the transformative power of music to spread a message of love and compassion, and to inspire positive social change through a variety of media including performances, residencies, community engagement activities, and talks/presentations. As part of that initiative, the HUM Ensemble recently released its debut album, “Delhi to Damascus”, which features a collaboration between Indian Classical and Syrian music. This project is currently touring live performances alongside “Delhi to Shiraz”, a musical celebration of the shared heritage between India and Persia. 

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Meet Sandeep in Modesto!

Come watch Sandeep perform Wijeratne’s Concerto for Tabla this May 6th & 7th at the Gallo Center for the Arts!

Meet the Musician: Charles Yang, violin

March 4 & 5: Korngold & Dvorak

It’s Time for Charles Yang!

Upcoming this March 4th & 5th, Charles Yang will be performing Korngold’s Concerto in D Major for Violin alongside your Modesto Symphony Orchestra. We caught up with Charles, who last visited Modesto in 2017 with his string trio, Time for Three, to see what he’s been up to since then and to learn more about Korngold’s Violin Concerto.

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MSO: We heard in a previous interview that this was one of your favorite pieces to perform, why is Korngold’s Violin Concerto one of your favorite pieces to listen to and perform?

Charles Yang: I remember hearing this concerto for the first time when I was about 14 years old. I had already learned many of the major violin concertos at that point (Brahms, Beethoven, Mendelssohn etc.) but was not familiar with the Korngold. It completely took my breath away. I was hypnotized by the fresh harmonies and its memorable themes. Without knowing Korngold was the “godfather” of Hollywood film music at the time, I remember feeling like I was within a movie when hearing it. I later realized his impact on film music, and it just made so much sense. For some reason unknown to me still, it took me 10 years from the time I first heard this concerto to when I first started to learn it and man…I didn’t eat or sleep for a few days because I was OBSESSED! I’m still obsessed every time I pick it up and I’m so glad I get to do this with your orchestra.

MSO: Korngold, best known for being one of the most influential founders of Hollywood film music, brings a sense of imagery and imagination to all his work, especially his Violin Concerto. When you listen to this concerto, what sort of imagery plays in your mind?

Erich Wolfgang Korngold, composer

CY: There is the sense of awe within this concerto. Everything about it is grand and vast. I envision space whenever I hear this piece, with its expansive harmonies and orchestration. Many of the themes are actually taken from his film scores with the first movement drawing from “Another Dawn” and “Juarez”, the second movement quoting “Anthony Adverse”, and the third movement based on “The Prince and the Pauper”. His music has so much color and texture that every listener can paint their own picture.

“There is the sense of awe within this concerto. Everything about it is grand and vast. I envision space whenever I hear this piece, with its expansive harmonies and orchestration.”

MSO: You’ve recently worked with our conductor, Akiko Fujimoto back in October 2021, what was that experience like and how excited are you to be working with her again for this concert?

CY: I am so happy to be reunited with Akiko on this concerto. It was an absolute joy working with her the last time we did it and I know it will be magical again. When we first were working on this concerto, I remember us talking about the imagery of the music and we both shared the same feeling of space and the greater beyond. It’s always great to be on the same wavelength when collaborating on a piece and I’m excited to paint this picture yet again with her!

MSO: What our audience may not know is that you’ve grown up in the world of Classical Music, with your mother being a violinist for the Austin Symphony. What is it like growing up surrounded by classical music and musicians?

CY: I used to always think it was tough growing up with my mother as my violin teacher. She gave me a violin at the age of 3 and I was actively going to her concerts not long after that. In fact, I was born the day after one of her shows and she remembers me kicking during the Bruch Violin Concerto when I was still in her belly. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have music in my life, and I definitely took that for granted as a child. Looking back now, I am so grateful for all the hours she put in teaching me how to play and all the concerts I got to attend. At the time it just felt like the norm, but now I see how lucky I am to have gotten so much attention towards my musical upbringing.  

MSO: What is it like crossing over the different genres of music that you’ve performed in? Is it challenging switching back and forth?

CY: Learning a new genre in music is like learning a new dialect or language. For me, I have always been curious about learning new “dialects” and how I could tie that into my own voice. Having been exposed to so many great blues, country and rock artists in Austin, Texas (where I grew up), I became fluent in a lot of those genres because I was constantly thrown into situations where I had to collaborate with them. But just like any language, it took trial after trial before I actually was fluent. Because I’ve been lucky enough to play with so many great artists from different genres, I’ve collected so many “tools” to put in my musical “toolbox”. Just like within classical music, learning how to play Bach is stylistically very different from learning how to play Bartok, so with this in mind, I don’t find playing the blues to be that far off from playing the vast canon of “classical music”. Sure, the brain works in a different way when improvising, but just like in anything, it can be trained to feel natural.

Time for Three with the MSO, April 2017

MSO: You’ve performed before here with the Modesto Symphony but with your group, Time for Three back in 2017. What’s the biggest difference when preparing for a solo performance versus your string trio?

CY: When preparing for a solo concerto, I strive to do as the composer intended while lending my own unique interpretation to it. With Time for Three, we often times play music written by us or written for us in collaboration, so our voices were already implemented within the composition. The biggest difference I find is that when working with Time for Three, the “soloist” is actually the combination of Nick, Ranaan and myself. We work as one unit and sound so there is a lot of interplay among us while also trying to blend with the orchestra. When I am a soloist with a concerto, it’s just me and the orchestra so its solely up to me to interpret and blend with the orchestra.

MSO: Do you have any fun plans outside of work while being in Northern California? (Sights to see, places to you have to eat at, etc.)

CY: I might visit my grandma who lives in San Francisco so I’m pretty excited about that but other than that, please let me know where I should go!!!

MSO: What upcoming performances/projects are you looking forward to?

CY: There are some really exciting projects that I am super stoked about! Time for Three just recorded two concertos written for us by Kevin Puts and Jennifer Higdon with the Philadelphia Orchestra which should come out soon! I’m also about to record a concerto written for me by Kris Bowers with the American Youth Symphony which we got to premiere at Disney Hall two years ago right before the pandemic so that one is special to me! Maybe I’ll get to bring these pieces to Modesto one day!

MSO: Why do you believe the Symphony or live performances are still relevant and important to attend?

CY: There is nothing like live music. After almost 2 years of concerts being cancelled because of the pandemic, I can tell how much people thirsted to hear a live orchestra in a concert hall. To be at an acoustic venue with live musicians playing in front of you where you can feel the sonic vibrations hit your soul is unexplainable and transcends any other listening experience. While the medium of how we listen to music has changed so much over the years from LPs to cassettes to CDs and now streaming, the concert hall or live music venue has stayed relevant and steady for a good reason. With so much music written over so many years, going to the symphony is the closest thing to time travel in my opinion.

“To be at an acoustic venue with live musicians playing in front of you where you can feel the sonic vibrations hit your soul is unexplainable and transcends any other listening experience.”

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Meet Charles in Modesto!

Come watch Charles perform Korngold’s Concerto in D Major for Violin this March 4th & 5th at the Gallo Center for the Arts!