FREE concerts
open seating, no advance reservations or ticketing
masking is strongly encouraged
doors open 45 minutes before the performance
The performances will last ~2hr, including one intermission
Under the direction of Ming Luke, Conductor, the program will feature A Child of Our Time by mid-20th century composer and pacifist Sir Michael Tippett, and the world premiere of the wind blows full of sand—inspired by Li Po‘s poetry —by contemporary composer Sam Wu. Wu’s piece was commissioned by BCCO. Still in his 20s, Wu is already a multi-award winning artist. Both works look at oppression and the futility of war, unfortunately as relevant today as Tippett’s work was when debuted in 1944, but both ultimately hold the possibility of reconciliation and a new future.
Four acclaimed soloists are joining us for these powerful performances:
Brandie Sutton, soprano
Sara Couden, mezzo-soprano
Jonathan Elmore, tenor
Kirk Eichelberger, bass
View the Concert Program booklet
Learn more about Tippett & A Child of Our Time
- Wikipedia article, extensive
- A very readable Essay by a young composer
- A video documentary about the work, 3 x 10 minutes
- Program notes, concert at the Edinburgh International Festival
- Concert review and perspective, London Philharmonic Orchestra
- Essay by a journalist with a less glowing view on the composer’s legacy
- A perspective by New York Times critic Steve Smith ahead of a performance
- How Tippett’s own publicity for the premier shaped its critical reception
- An essay that sets the writing of Child amidst upheaval in Tippett’s personal life
- CD Liner notes, London Symphony Orchestra
Learn more about the wind blows full of sand
- our composer, Sam Wu
- Li Po on Wikipedia
- and from The Paris Review
- and from Encyclopedia.com
- Wikipedia on Ezra Pound
- Wikipedia on Cathay
- The Nation on Ezra Pound
Sam Wu’s the wind blows full of sand is based on a poem by the 8th Century Chinese poet Li Po as reimagined in English by Ezra Pound. While we believe that the artistry in this work derives primarily from Sam Wu, then Li Po, and then Ezra Pound, the connection to Pound is inescapable. Pound’s contributions to literature have unavoidably been tainted by his descent into committed, vicious, and public antisemitism. Especially in the context of a concert program containing Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, which grew out of Tippet’s horror at the events leading up to the Holocaust, it feels essential to acknowledge Pound’s distasteful history.