2020 may prove pivotal in our collective journey towards racial justice. But in his devised work, Concerto No.1: SERMON, Dav贸ne Tines warns against complacency. The bass-baritone weaves readings of texts by African American writers including James Baldwin and Langston Hughes, plus a newly commissioned poem by jessica Care moore, selected to amplify arias by John Adams, Anthony Davis and by Tines and Igee Dieudonn茅. A post-2020 wake-up-call about discovering your potential, exhibiting your humanity and indicting your naysayers.

Then comes a symphony influenced by African American spirituals, which the Czech composer Anton铆n Dvo艡谩k (then working in New York) saw as the 鈥榯he folk songs of America鈥�. It remains one of his most enduringly popular works. Our Principal Guest Conductor opens her concert with Anna Thorvaldsd贸ttir鈥檚 hypnotic orchestral canvas Dreaming 鈥� an image of the orchestra as a living organism twisting through a kaleidoscope of colour and light.

Please note: Dav贸ne Tines鈥檚 Concerto No. 1: SERMON contains racist language in reflecting its themes of inequality and injustice.