{"id":2303875,"date":"2026-02-27T20:51:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2303875"},"modified":"2026-02-27T20:51:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:51:33","slug":"st-louis-cathedral-concert-celebrates-creole-composers-entertainment-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/st-louis-cathedral-concert-celebrates-creole-composers-entertainment-life\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Louis Cathedral concert celebrates Creole composers | Entertainment\/Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A year ago, New Orleans-born 19th century composer Edmond D\u00e9d\u00e9 was the star of the annual Musical Louisiana: America\u2019s Cultural Heritage concert, a collaboration between the Historic New Orleans Collection and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.<\/p>\n

This year, D\u00e9d\u00e9 is essentially a member of the ensemble.<\/p>\n

The 2025 Musical Louisiana concert at the St. Louis Cathedral premiered selections from D\u00e9d\u00e9\u2019s opera \u201cMorgiane,\u201d which was written 1887 but never performed until 138 years later. That \u201cMorgiane\u201d was likely the first complete opera written by a Black American composer\u00a0\u2014 and that it was \u201clost\u201d for more than a century\u00a0\u2014 generated a dramatic narrative beyond the music itself.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Musical Louisiana concert at the cathedral on Wednesday, titled \u201cEchoes of Innovation,\u201d<\/a> relates to that narrative. But rather than focus on a single composer, it celebrates the contributions of several 19th century Creole composers and \u201cinnovators.\u201d In addition to D\u00e9d\u00e9, the program will feature works by Bar\u00e8s, Lambert, Gottschalk and Martin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Oscar Rossignoli Quintet performs in the WWOZ Jazz Tent during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Staff photo by Scott Threlkeld, The Times-Picayune)<\/p>\n

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\n STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD<\/span>
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An international flavor<\/h3>\n

The Musical Louisiana: America\u2019s Cultural Heritage series was founded in 2007 by Alfred E. Lemmon, the late director of HNOC\u2019s Williams Research Center. Every year, the concert, which is streamed online and on the radio, showcases Louisiana\u2019s contributions to classical music. Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have helped support the show.<\/p>\n

The 2026 roster of performers who will join the LPO at the cathedral is a cross-section of international artists drawn to New Orleans and\/or its deep musical traditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, guest conducted by Daniela Candillari of Opera Theatre of St. Louis, will be joined by the OperaCr\u00e9ole ensemble, clarinetist Doreen Ketchens, pianist Oscar Rossignoli and guitarist Geovane Santos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The New Orleans-based OperaCr\u00e9ole was founded in 2011 by performer, educator and historian Givonna Joseph and her daughter, Aria Mason, to rediscover and showcase works by composers of African descent. Joseph was a driving force behind last year\u2019s \u201cMorgiane\u201d performance<\/a>. OperaCr\u00e9ole has performed other works by\u00a0D\u00e9d\u00e9.<\/p>\n

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Doreen Ketchens performs with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra during their annual Swing in the Oaks concert at the Peristyle in New Orleans, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com<\/a>, The Times-Picayune)<\/p>\n

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\n STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER<\/span>
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Ketchens is a world-class clarinetist viewed by many thousands of fans annually as she busks on the streets of the French Quarter. Blending classical and jazz influences, she and her band, Doreen\u2019s Jazz New Orleans, have performed at festivals, concert halls and embassies everywhere from Southeast Asia to Africa. She has also performed for four U.S. presidents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rossignoli studied classical music at the National Conservatory of Music in his native Honduras. At night, he played Afro-Latin jazz in nightclubs. That interest led him to American jazz, which naturally led him to New Orleans. Since arriving in the city several years ago, Rossignoli has anchored his own ensembles and backed a wide range of other bandleaders, most notably singer John Boutte.<\/p>\n

Opera Theatre of St. Louis principal conductor Daniela Candillari, the LPO\u2019s guest conductor for \u201cEchoes of Innovation,\u201d grew up in Serbia and Slovenia before embarking on an international career.<\/p>\n

Her long resume spans operatic and symphonic stages around the globe, from the London Philharmonic to the New York Philharmonic to Deutsche Oper Berlin to Orchestre M\u00e9tropolitain in Montreal. She has also led opera productions at the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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And come Wednesday, she\u2019ll add conducting the LPO for a celebration of Creole composers from the 19th century to her list of credits.<\/p>\n

\u201cPairing composers with civic and cultural pioneers of their day, this concert reflects the interplay of art and society as a reminder that art never exists in isolation,\u201d the HNOC said in a news release. \u201cIts creation is always rooted in the world that shapes it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admission is free. Show time is 7:30 p.m. The cathedral doors open at 7, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.<\/p>\n

Before the concert, the Historic New Orleans Collection will host a discussion at 6 p.m. about the show\u2019s cultural and historical context featuring Alvin Jackson of Treme\u2019s Petit Jazz Museum, the curator of the concert program. HNOC family historian Jari C. Honora will facilitate the discussion at the Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A year ago, New Orleans-born 19th century composer Edmond D\u00e9d\u00e9 was the star of the annual Musical Louisiana: America\u2019s Cultural Heritage concert, a collaboration between the Historic New Orleans Collection and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. This year, D\u00e9d\u00e9 is essentially a member of the ensemble. The 2025 Musical Louisiana concert at the St. Louis Cathedral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2303876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2303875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/St-Louis-Cathedral-concert-celebrates-Creole-composers-EntertainmentLife.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2303875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2303877,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303875\/revisions\/2303877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2303876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2303875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2303875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2303875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}