RARE TREAT FROM CHINEKE

BY ALASTAIR WARREN

On 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 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

throughout. Unlike many trombone pieces whose melodic material is written in some type of scale pattern or incorporates arpeggios, this piece uses wide intervals of an octave or more to create melodies. This concerto is full of anxious harmonic tension throughout the first and second movements, with brief sections of relief in the cadenzas. The third movement has a sense of hopefulness and cheer by using darting jazz-like figures to create a swinging lilt to the music.

AW: Finally, your thoughts on Chineke! What it was like to perform as a soloist with the orchestra, was it different from other ensembles. Does something similar exist in the US?

KT: I loved performing with Chineke! The wonderful musicianship and enthusiasm of the ensemble created a compelling performance. The process of creating great music is always full of wonder and joy for me. To be able to do this with musicians of colour performing at an extremely high level adds another depth of joy to the experience. In the United States the Sphinx Organization is similarly devoted to celebrating, cultivating, and promoting musicians of colour. The Sphinx Organization has an annual string competition and also has touring string ensembles that regularly perform the music of under-represented composers.

Chineke! is not only an important resource for musicians of colour, but it also exposes the public to music of diverse composers performed by musicians of colour. Chineke! is an outstanding ensemble that should be celebrated for its excellence but is also a source of inspiration for young people and those in positions where there are few people one who resembles them.

Follow this link to listen to a recording of George Walker’s Trombone Concerto performed by Denis Wick and the London Symphony Orchestra.

The Chineke! Foundation

Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE created the Chineke! Foundation in 2015 to provide outstanding career opportunities to established and up-and-coming Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe. Chineke!’s motto is: ‘Championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music’. The organisation aims to be a catalyst for change, realising existing diversity targets within the industry by increasing the representation of Black and ethnically diverse musicians in British and European orchestras.

The Foundation’s flagship ensemble, the Chineke! Orchestra, comprises exceptional musicians from across the continent brought together multiple times per year. As Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra, the Chineke! Orchestra performs a mixture of standard orchestral repertoire along with the works of Black and ethnically diverse composers both past and present.

The Chineke! Orchestra works closely with its sister ensemble, the Chineke! Junior Orchestra, a youth orchestra of Black and ethnically diverse players aged 11-22, with senior players acting as mentors, teachers and role models to the young musicians. With many of our junior musicians already benefiting from several existing youth schemes, junior music colleges and specialist music schools across the UK., The Chineke! Junior Orchestra acts as a bridge between such schemes and higher education, giving its players experience, encouragement and confidence during their formative years, with the hope of increasing the numbers of Black and ethnically diverse candidates currently studying music at third level. This process has already begun, with several of the junior musicians having won national competitions, gained places at top music schools or been admitted to study at elite third level institutions.

Chi-chi says: ‘My aim is to create a space where Black and ethnically diverse musicians can walk on stage and know that they belong, in every sense of the word. If even one Black and ethnically diverse child feels that their colour is getting in the way of their musical ambitions, then I hope to inspire them, give them a platform, and show them that music, of whatever kind, is for all people.’ ◆ LISTENING The listening lounge