The UNC Charlotte Chamber Orchestra will present “Symphony of Diversity” at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 27, in the Belk Theater, Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts. Led by Director of Orchestras Jonathan Govias, the concert will be a celebration of the diversity of thought, background, life experience, culture, ethnicity and orientation that exists in American society.
Govias stated the idea for the concert was prompted by a recent rise in documented hate crimes in the United States and divisive speech in the public sphere.
“The question was what could we, as an orchestra, do to address this in a way that would have some social impact?” he said. “We wanted to invite all populations that have historically been the victims of discrimination, without exception, into our musical world, to create an orchestra that reflects our society here in North Carolina and live the mission of bringing people together for a common purposes.”
The Chamber Orchestra will be joined by other University students; 31 high school students from Charlotte, Greensboro, Fayetteville and Boone; members of the greater Charlotte community; and four students from Givat Washington Academic College in Israel.
The program also will reflect artistic/musical diversity and will feature music by composers from Latvia, Mexico, Italy and the United States, as well as the composer Suad Bushnaq, who grew up in Jordan of Syrian and Bosnian/Palestinian parentage, studied in Canada, and now lives in North Carolina.
Prior to the concert, members of the Chamber Orchestra who recently traveled to Israel and the guests from Givat Washington Academic College will have a public conversation on the stage of the Belk Theater, starting at 7 p.m.
The Chancellor's Diversity Fund, the UNC Charlotte Multicultural Resource Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte provided funding for the “Symphony of Diversity.”
Tickets to the April 27 performance are $8 and can be purchased at the Robinson Hall box office or online.