Rare Treat from Chineke! BY AL ASTAIR WARREN
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n 25 February Detroit Symphony Orchestra Principal Trombone Kenneth Thompkins performed George Walker’s Trombone Concerto with the Chineke! Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, London. I caught up with him to find out more about the piece, the performance and Chineke! Alastair Warren: Could you tell me a little about your background and route to your present position with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra? Kenneth Thompkins: I was appointed Principal Trombone of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra by Neeme Järvi. Prior to this appointment, I held positions in the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Florida Orchestra and performed with the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. As a former participant in the Detroit Symphony’s African American Fellowship Program, I’ve been a mentor to several Orchestra Fellows over the years. I’ve toured Europe with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2017 I recorded a CD Sonatas, Songs and Spirituals featuring the music of Alec Wilder, William Grant Still and Philip Wharton, available in the UK via Amazon. Sonatas, Songs and Spirituals was the winner of The American Prize in Instrumental Performance for 2018–2019. The instrument that I choose to play due to its incredible tonal colour and flexibility is a Greenhoe
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Trombone. You can get more information about these instruments at www.greenhoe.com The Detroit Symphony Orchestra regularly webcast concerts. Please visit www.dso.org for more information about upcoming programs. AW: How did the opportunity to perform the Walker Concerto come about? KT: I had met the founder of Chineke!, Chi-chi Nwanoku, three years ago when she visited Detroit as an adjudicator for the Sphinx Competition. Chi-chi contacted me about the opportunity to perform the George Walker concerto with Chineke! this past summer. I had performed the concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2001 so I was eager to perform this great work again. AW: George Walker is not well known in the UK, could you give me a little background on him and a brief description of his Concerto? KT: George Walker (1922-2018) was educated at Oberlin College, Curtis Institute of Music, and received his doctorate from the Eastman School of Music. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his composition Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra in 1996, becoming the first African American recipient. Mr. Walker was a prolific composer who refused to be defined by one type of compositional style. His works varied from lush romantic lyrical pieces to compositions incorporating serialism. The Trombone Concerto was written in 1957 and displays his uncompromising style
