The Tennessean: 'Many stories inside:' Nashville Symphonydebuts world premiere of massivecreative opus
By Melonee Hurt, Nashville Tennessean
Key Points
Nashville Symphony presents world premiere of epic commission from composer and musician HannibalLokumbe.
Nashville Symphony performance April 13-16 will be world premieres of new work.
"The Jonah People: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph," is a multi-media, multi-sensory experience incorporatingdancers, actors and a 100-person choir
Composer and jazz musician Hannibal Lokumbe spent a recent morning in Nashville walkingalong the Cumberland River and 'thinking about our world.'
"I’m always working in the schools with our babies to try to reaffirm their humanity,"Lokumbe told The Tennessean. "I try to let them know they are sacred. They are not whosociety at large tells them they are. I always remind them there has always been cause for fear— and cause for great jubilation."
It's a thought that is all too raw in Nashville.
The fear vs. jubilation cycle prompted Lokumbe to conceive, create and compose, "The JonahPeople: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph," a multi-media, multi-sensory production makingits world premiere with the Nashville Symphony April 13-16 at the Schermerhorn SymphonyCenter.
Lokumbe, in town from Bastrop, Texas, said this story, while relevant to events of the lastfew weeks, stems from his personal family history and ancestry of those who transcended captivity, oppression, and servitude after being taken from Africa and sold into slavery. The fully staged operatic production is told through vocalists, actors, a 100-person choir, African drummers and dancers, a jazz quartet, and the Nashville Symphony. All in all, it takes upwards of 250 people to execute this massive production.
And how does all of that come together?
"I have many stories inside of me like all of us," Lokumbe said. "I go to the forest, and I ask The Creator to give me what is best needed for the healing and the liberation of humans. I hear exactly what it is that I write. By way of the nature, I’m able to construct it because the nature, to, me has endless tonalities and so do the stories that I have inside of me."
While an extravagant undertaking, this is not the first time the Nashville Symphony has breached traditional symphonic expectations. Nashville Symphony Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero says this production is yet another example of how the symphony continues to push toward higher artistic levels.
"We have been known for doing bold projects and being one of the greatest champions of promoting living composers," Guerrero said. "This project is unique because it’s a new piece written by a very important living African American composer. I am truly honored and proud this is taking place in Nashville and we are able to premiere this to the world."
Unlikely friendship results in creative masterpiece
Guerrero said he had been a fan of Hannibal's music for many years, but he actually met him four or five years ago for lunch.
"We met in person, and he started telling me about this project as an idea he had," Guerrero said. "A lightbulb went off in my head. I have been looking for something for us to do together and I was like, 'this is it!' It was only an idea at the time but this conversation set it into warp speed."
Irony of the moment
While this piece was conceptualized years ago to focus on the harsh realities of Black history in the Americas and celebrates the spirit and legacy of African Americans who endured and ultimately achieved greatness, the overarching messages of tragedy and triumph also apply to Nashville in the Spring of 2023.
"I can only imagine this piece as a time capsule of the moment we are living in," Guerrero said. "Look at what’s happened in Nashville in just the last few days. Look how seemingly relevant this is. We didn’t plan this. But it's a reminder, symphony orchestras aren't always sold school. We are very much part of the current conversation."
Lokumbe reflects throughout the work, it's obvious that from great suffering came extraordinary creation.
"Out of the rice, tobacco and sugar cane fields came a music people call spirituals. From that came blues and gospel. From that came what people call jazz, rock n' roll, rhythm and blues, Hip hop and Be-bop. All this extraordinary music was created."
Choir composed of local singers
The massive choir assembled for this world premiere production include members of the W. Crimm Singers (also known as the Wakanda Chorale), Lane College, Tennessee State University and the Lloyd Mallory Singers as well as the Nashville Symphony Chorus. Lokumbe said he dedicates the Jonah People Choir to the memory of Dr. Paul Kwami, thechoral director at Fisk University, who helped plan the choir’s role in the production, but passed away in 2022 before it came to fruition.
Lokumbe, himself, will perform on trumpet as part of the production. When asked how this idea came together on such a massive, genre-transcending level, his answer was swift and simple.
"I did what I was asked to do by both the spirits and The Creator. I finished the work."
Melonee Hurt covers growth and development (and sometimes the arts) at The Tennessean,part of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com.
Read the original story HERE