CULVER CITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
“A Tribute to Our Roots in Black America”
Celebrating Juneteenth and groundbreaking Black American Composers
Saturday, June 20, 2026
PROGRAM
John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954): Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing (1900, 1905)
Lyrics - Rev. James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
featuring: Brooke deRosa, Reneice Charles, Marya Basaraba, and Cliff Beach
George Berres (1912-1975): Symphony in D (1955)
1. Maestoso - Allegro vivace
2. Andante
3. Scherzo: Allegro giocoso
4. Finale: Presto
George Walker (1922-2018): Lyric for Strings (1946, 1990)
Florence Price (1887-1953): Dances in the Canebrakes (1953)
(arr. William Grant Still)
1. Nimble Feet: Allegro
2. Tropical Noon: Andantino
3. Silk Hat and Walking Cane: Moderato
INTERMISSION
Scott Joplin (1868-1917): Overture to Treemonisha (1911)
William Grant Still (1895-1978): Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major “Afro-American” (1930)
1. Longing: Moderato assai
2. Sorrow: Adagio
3. Humor: Animato
4. Aspiration: Lento, con risoluzione
(Program subject to change)
“A Tribute to Our Roots in Black America”
Celebrating Juneteenth and groundbreaking Black American Composers
Saturday, June 20, 2026
PROGRAM
John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954): Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing (1900, 1905)
Lyrics - Rev. James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
featuring: Brooke deRosa, Reneice Charles, Marya Basaraba, and Cliff Beach
George Berres (1912-1975): Symphony in D (1955)
1. Maestoso - Allegro vivace
2. Andante
3. Scherzo: Allegro giocoso
4. Finale: Presto
George Walker (1922-2018): Lyric for Strings (1946, 1990)
Florence Price (1887-1953): Dances in the Canebrakes (1953)
(arr. William Grant Still)
1. Nimble Feet: Allegro
2. Tropical Noon: Andantino
3. Silk Hat and Walking Cane: Moderato
INTERMISSION
Scott Joplin (1868-1917): Overture to Treemonisha (1911)
William Grant Still (1895-1978): Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major “Afro-American” (1930)
1. Longing: Moderato assai
2. Sorrow: Adagio
3. Humor: Animato
4. Aspiration: Lento, con risoluzione
(Program subject to change)
Maestro’s Musings for June 20, 2026
Good evening, dear friends and fans of the Culver City Symphony Orchestra. We are delighted to welcome you to this inspiring concert, dedicated to the extraordinary contributions of Black composers to the landscape of music. Tonight, we gather to celebrate the rich legacies of musical giants George Walker, Scott Joplin, Florence Price, and William Grant Still, as well as our founding Maestro George Berres, each of whom has left an indelible mark on the world of music. We celebrate their lives, their art, and their legacies.
As we journey through this evening’s program, you’ll notice we are exploring a rich tapestry of sounds and emotions, showcasing the diversity and depth of these remarkable and our fabulous CCSO musicians. Though there is still much work to do, we will all Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing to celebrate liberty for all. The lyrics were first penned by the Rev. James Weldon Johnson as a poem in 1900 to celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. John Rosamond Johnson (younger brother of the Reverend) set the poem to soulful and uplifting music in 1905. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the song became a rallying cry.
Our founder, George Berres, was more than “just” a conductor! He was a superb violinist, composer, arranger and music educator. His rousing Symphony in D was commissioned and first performed in 1955 by the excellent San Diego Youth Symphony, and has been performed by the CCSO on several occasions. It is set in the traditional 4 movements, with the 1st movement’s majestic introduction to a sparkling main theme, a sweetly flowing Andante 2nd movement, a fun and rhythmically driving 3rd, and a superb and fast Presto Finale. We are honored to perform this marvelous work to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Memorial Concert marking the year after his death.
George Walker, the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, challenged conventions and expanded the boundaries of classical music, infusing his works such as Lyric for Strings, with profound emotion and intellectual depth. Written in 1946 as the 2nd movement of his string quartet and titled “Lament,” the work is dedicated to Walker's grandmother, Melvina King, a formerly enslaved person, who died shortly before its completion.
Florence Price often included African American themes and folk elements in her music. She was the first African American woman to have a piece performed by a major symphony orchestra. Composed in 1953, the last year of her life, her piano suite Dances in the Canebrakes captures the experiences of Black Americans on Southern Plantations. Canebrakes are wild sugar cane patches that had to be cleared by the slaves in order to make room for planting cotton. Price composed three movements depicting different moods and rhythms reminiscent of old southern ballroom dances: 1) Nimble Feet - a rag-time dance, 2) Tropical Noon is a “Slow Drag” with its gorgeous flowing melody, and 3) Silk Hat and Walking Cane, a fun “Cake-Walk! Notably, as one of her last compositions, it was left to our CCSO friend William Grant Still to orchestrate. Thank you, Dr. Still!
Scott Joplin, known as the King of Ragtime as both a composer (The Entertainer, Maple Leaf Rag, etc.) and pianist, also loved opera, including “Treemonisha,” composed in 1911. The work blends classical and African American musical elements and is a significant part of the development of American opera. In fact, Joplin was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the opera in 1976. The Overture combines elements of ragtime with classical orchestral techniques, showcasing Joplin's skill in merging popular and formal music styles. The rhythms are characteristically syncopated, one of the hallmarks of ragtime, while the orchestration is lush and expressive, employing the full orchestra. The plot follows the main character, Treemonisha, an educated young black woman who seeks to uplift her community and teach her people the value of education and progress. The opera reflects themes of empowerment, African American heritage, and the pursuit of knowledge. (By the way, the unusual title of the opera is the young woman’s name. As a baby, she was found abandoned under a “Sacred Tree” by her adoptive parents, Ned and Monisha.)
And then there is William Grant Still, a maestro known as the “Dean of African American composers.” His works embody a rich blend of jazz, blues, folk, and classical influences, making significant strides towards bridging cultural divides in American music.
Still was a pioneer in “classical” music; he was the first American Black man in practically everything having to do with music as he conducted and composed symphonies, chamber music, vocal and choral works, and operas. While more fortunate members of his extended family bought their freedom or escaped north, his immediate family was left behind in slavery in the small town of Woodville, in the southernmost isolated county in Mississippi. His parents were both schoolteachers. His father died when he was only 4 months old, but his Mother was a remarkable woman, who took him out of small-town agrarian obscurity to Little Rock, Arkansas, where she went on to teach high school for many decades. She and his stepfather gave him great encouragement and created an artistic home environment in what were obviously difficult times for folks with their aspirations. With encouragement and apparently great ambition, he learned the violin, cello, and oboe, and at an early age. After military service in WWI, he moved to New York and made a good living creating music for radio and TV, and he became an important part of what is known as “The Harlem Renaissance.”
He left New York in the mid-1930s for Los Angeles, where he spent the rest of his life, and began another successful career arranging and composing for the film and television industry, but, as many successful composers we know, focusing on “serious” composition. Here in L.A., a torrent of works ensued: operas, ballets, symphonic poems, orchestral suites, choral music, songs, and five symphonies.
His first symphony, subtitled “Afro-American,” was composed in 1930 and was the first symphony composed by a Black man and performed by a major American orchestra. The symphony, with its brilliant colors and imaginative orchestration, is a rather conservative and accessible work. He said his intent was to reflect untutored musical characteristics of Black “sons of the soil,” hence the blues and spiritual (but not jazz) elements that thoroughly inform the work. Each of the four movements is associated with excerpts from poems by his friend, the important Black poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar, cast in dialect. These inform the moods of each of the movements, and respectively are entitled, “Twell de Night Is Pas,” “W’en I Gits Home,” “An Antebellum Sermon,” and “Ode to Ethiopia.”
The first movement, with prominent English Horn melodies, contains strong allusions to the typical 12-bar blues structure. The second is infused with his intimations of Black spirituals, reflecting the spiritual metaphor of “going home” for death as an escape from the realities of difficult times. The third movement is energetic and animated (as most symphonic 3rd movements are), and depicts a sermon about “We’ll shout Hallelujahs on dat mighty reck’nin’ day.” The last movement is a noble and dignified evocation of the text: “Be proud, my Race, in mind and soul…”
Tonight, we invite you to immerse yourself in their stories, to feel the emotions woven into every note, and to honor their legacies that continue to inspire and uplift. Thank you for joining YOUR Culver City Symphony Orchestra in this celebration. Let the music transcend us, connect us, and remind us of the power of art to forge understanding and unity.
Musically Yours, Clyde
As we journey through this evening’s program, you’ll notice we are exploring a rich tapestry of sounds and emotions, showcasing the diversity and depth of these remarkable and our fabulous CCSO musicians. Though there is still much work to do, we will all Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing to celebrate liberty for all. The lyrics were first penned by the Rev. James Weldon Johnson as a poem in 1900 to celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. John Rosamond Johnson (younger brother of the Reverend) set the poem to soulful and uplifting music in 1905. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the song became a rallying cry.
Our founder, George Berres, was more than “just” a conductor! He was a superb violinist, composer, arranger and music educator. His rousing Symphony in D was commissioned and first performed in 1955 by the excellent San Diego Youth Symphony, and has been performed by the CCSO on several occasions. It is set in the traditional 4 movements, with the 1st movement’s majestic introduction to a sparkling main theme, a sweetly flowing Andante 2nd movement, a fun and rhythmically driving 3rd, and a superb and fast Presto Finale. We are honored to perform this marvelous work to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Memorial Concert marking the year after his death.
George Walker, the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, challenged conventions and expanded the boundaries of classical music, infusing his works such as Lyric for Strings, with profound emotion and intellectual depth. Written in 1946 as the 2nd movement of his string quartet and titled “Lament,” the work is dedicated to Walker's grandmother, Melvina King, a formerly enslaved person, who died shortly before its completion.
Florence Price often included African American themes and folk elements in her music. She was the first African American woman to have a piece performed by a major symphony orchestra. Composed in 1953, the last year of her life, her piano suite Dances in the Canebrakes captures the experiences of Black Americans on Southern Plantations. Canebrakes are wild sugar cane patches that had to be cleared by the slaves in order to make room for planting cotton. Price composed three movements depicting different moods and rhythms reminiscent of old southern ballroom dances: 1) Nimble Feet - a rag-time dance, 2) Tropical Noon is a “Slow Drag” with its gorgeous flowing melody, and 3) Silk Hat and Walking Cane, a fun “Cake-Walk! Notably, as one of her last compositions, it was left to our CCSO friend William Grant Still to orchestrate. Thank you, Dr. Still!
Scott Joplin, known as the King of Ragtime as both a composer (The Entertainer, Maple Leaf Rag, etc.) and pianist, also loved opera, including “Treemonisha,” composed in 1911. The work blends classical and African American musical elements and is a significant part of the development of American opera. In fact, Joplin was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the opera in 1976. The Overture combines elements of ragtime with classical orchestral techniques, showcasing Joplin's skill in merging popular and formal music styles. The rhythms are characteristically syncopated, one of the hallmarks of ragtime, while the orchestration is lush and expressive, employing the full orchestra. The plot follows the main character, Treemonisha, an educated young black woman who seeks to uplift her community and teach her people the value of education and progress. The opera reflects themes of empowerment, African American heritage, and the pursuit of knowledge. (By the way, the unusual title of the opera is the young woman’s name. As a baby, she was found abandoned under a “Sacred Tree” by her adoptive parents, Ned and Monisha.)
And then there is William Grant Still, a maestro known as the “Dean of African American composers.” His works embody a rich blend of jazz, blues, folk, and classical influences, making significant strides towards bridging cultural divides in American music.
Still was a pioneer in “classical” music; he was the first American Black man in practically everything having to do with music as he conducted and composed symphonies, chamber music, vocal and choral works, and operas. While more fortunate members of his extended family bought their freedom or escaped north, his immediate family was left behind in slavery in the small town of Woodville, in the southernmost isolated county in Mississippi. His parents were both schoolteachers. His father died when he was only 4 months old, but his Mother was a remarkable woman, who took him out of small-town agrarian obscurity to Little Rock, Arkansas, where she went on to teach high school for many decades. She and his stepfather gave him great encouragement and created an artistic home environment in what were obviously difficult times for folks with their aspirations. With encouragement and apparently great ambition, he learned the violin, cello, and oboe, and at an early age. After military service in WWI, he moved to New York and made a good living creating music for radio and TV, and he became an important part of what is known as “The Harlem Renaissance.”
He left New York in the mid-1930s for Los Angeles, where he spent the rest of his life, and began another successful career arranging and composing for the film and television industry, but, as many successful composers we know, focusing on “serious” composition. Here in L.A., a torrent of works ensued: operas, ballets, symphonic poems, orchestral suites, choral music, songs, and five symphonies.
His first symphony, subtitled “Afro-American,” was composed in 1930 and was the first symphony composed by a Black man and performed by a major American orchestra. The symphony, with its brilliant colors and imaginative orchestration, is a rather conservative and accessible work. He said his intent was to reflect untutored musical characteristics of Black “sons of the soil,” hence the blues and spiritual (but not jazz) elements that thoroughly inform the work. Each of the four movements is associated with excerpts from poems by his friend, the important Black poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar, cast in dialect. These inform the moods of each of the movements, and respectively are entitled, “Twell de Night Is Pas,” “W’en I Gits Home,” “An Antebellum Sermon,” and “Ode to Ethiopia.”
The first movement, with prominent English Horn melodies, contains strong allusions to the typical 12-bar blues structure. The second is infused with his intimations of Black spirituals, reflecting the spiritual metaphor of “going home” for death as an escape from the realities of difficult times. The third movement is energetic and animated (as most symphonic 3rd movements are), and depicts a sermon about “We’ll shout Hallelujahs on dat mighty reck’nin’ day.” The last movement is a noble and dignified evocation of the text: “Be proud, my Race, in mind and soul…”
Tonight, we invite you to immerse yourself in their stories, to feel the emotions woven into every note, and to honor their legacies that continue to inspire and uplift. Thank you for joining YOUR Culver City Symphony Orchestra in this celebration. Let the music transcend us, connect us, and remind us of the power of art to forge understanding and unity.
Musically Yours, Clyde