Miguel on immigration and how politics shaped his new album
Miguel reflects on immigration, protest and how divisive politics shaped his latest music.
- The Worthington Chamber Orchestra will present a concert titled “Upon These Shores” to highlight the immigrant experience.
- The performance is part of the “American Crossroads”-themed Benedicta Enrile Masterworks Series.
- Orchestra director Antoine T. Clark aims to celebrate the cultural fusion that defines America.
Immigration is a hot-button topic dividing Americans, but for orchestra director Antoine T. Clark “immigrant” and “American” are not mutually exclusive.
“All of us can agree, even in this difficult period of talking about immigration, that if you’re not Native American, we’re all from somewhere else,” Clark said.
With this in mind, Clark and the Worthington Chamber Orchestra (WCO) will present “Upon These Shores,” a program of works highlighting the immigrant experience and cultural fusion.
This will be the final concert in the 2025-26 Benedicta Enrile Masterworks Series, which is aptly themed “American Crossroads.” WCO will be joined by Carpe Diem String Quartet.
“When I thought of our theme for the season, I wanted to be sure that I was celebrating, through my programming and through the orchestra’s mission, aspects of American life that we feel strongly about,” Clark said.
“Presenting works not just from the stable repertoire, but by women and people of different backgrounds is important to us. It frames how we want to celebrate America.”
The performance will open with Jessie Montgomery’s “Banner,” an amalgam of national anthems, work songs, freedom songs, and other music.
“When she wrote the work, it was the 250th anniversary of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’ She wanted to take something that means a lot to Americans and marry it with anthems of other cultures,” Clark said.
The concert will also feature WCO composer-in-residence Ben Shirley’s “The Great Anticipation,” written for string quartet, orchestra, and electronics.
“Sinfonietta” by Franz Waxman was written while the composer was aboard a ship en route from New York to Europe, while Derek Bermel’s “A Shout, a Whisper, and a Trace” draws from composer Béla Bartók’s letters about living in New York.
WCO will close with selections from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” including “Maria,” “Tonight,” “I Feel Pretty,” and, of course, “America.”
The broad range of immigrant experiences in the program is intended to reflect America, which Clark called “an intersection of different communities under one large umbrella.”
“That is one of the things we should be celebrating on the 250th anniversary of America. While we’re all Americans and we share many similarities, we do have different backgrounds, but those differences can bring people together,” he said.
Details: 3 p.m. April 19, Worthington United Methodist Church, 600 N. High St. Tickets: $15-$30 online and at the door. (worthingtonchamberorchestra.com)
Contact features and entertainment reporter Belinda M. Paschal at [email protected].
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.dispatch.com ’
