Photo: , meet Kedrick Armstrong and hear him share his discovery of Irene Britton Smith's 鈥淪infonietta.鈥�
There鈥檚 no doubt about it, the career of Kedrick Armstrong鈥攇raduate orchestral conducting student鈥攊s quickly gaining momentum:听
One of two CU music Buffs on The Washington Post鈥檚 鈥渃omposers and performers to watch鈥� list, Armstrong will conduct the world premiere of 鈥溾�� with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in February 2023; meanwhile, closer to home, he鈥檒l conduct the CU Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 performance of Irene Britton Smith鈥檚 鈥淪infonietta鈥� at Macky Auditorium next week.听听
Armstrong pulled 鈥淪infonietta鈥� from the in the American Music Research Center archives, and has been working on converting the original score to parts for an orchestra for over a year. 鈥淚mmediately, I knew there was something in her language and in her writing that was different from anything that I had ever heard before, especially coming from a Black woman in the 20th century,鈥� he says.
Smith was an elementary school music educator for most of her life and wrote 鈥淪infonietta鈥� as her thesis project for her master鈥檚 program. According to Director of Orchestral Studies Gary Lewis, 鈥淚t will likely be the first performance of the work since the year of its composition in 1956.鈥澨�
Armstrong says he鈥檚 excited to conduct the overdue premiere, but also acknowledges a certain pressure that comes with the territory. 鈥淗ow do you interpret a work where there鈥檚 never been an interpretation before you?鈥� he asks. 鈥淚t feels like a lot of weight, but I continue to put myself in experimentation where you try something and you try again if it doesn鈥檛 go as you want it to.
鈥淭he biggest thing I hope audiences take away from this is that there is no 鈥榮onic monolith鈥� to Black music, even in classical music,鈥� Armstrong adds. 鈥淭here is such a wide variety of what Black composers are engaging with. I think that鈥檚 the key to opening up the door to true equity of Black composers, across the board.鈥�
The CU Symphony Orchestra will perform 鈥淪infonietta鈥濃�攁long with Emilie Mayer鈥檚 鈥淔aust-Ouverture鈥澨齛nd Jean Sibelius鈥� Symphony No. 2 in D Major鈥�
