Faculty members from Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts will perform a newly commissioned work for the Aug. 13 keynote concert of the 43rd annual National Flute Association Convention in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Crone (flute) and Richard Masters (piano) will perform “Wish,” commissioned by musician and composer Valerie Coleman.

A three-way collaboration, the composition uses the poem “Wish” by Virginia Tech’s Frederick D’Aguiar, Clifford A. Cutchins III Professor of English, as a point of inspiration. 

“The poem and musical composition are about the Middle Passage: the capture, enslavement, and transportation of the African people on densely packed ships from Africa to the West Indies,” said Crone, a flutist and Yamaha Performing Artist who has performed nationally and internationally, including recitals in Europe and Latin America. 

“The creation and publication of this work come at a time when racial unrest is again at an all-time high in our country, making ‘Wish’ incredibly relevant and powerful to listeners,” Crone added.

The commissioning of “Wish” was made possible by grant funding from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

Wish: Remembrance, Laughter, and Keynote Concert will be performed at 11 a.m. Aug. 13  in the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel Inspiration Salon.  

“‘Wish’ celebrates those who have helped shape a legacy of diversity in the arts by making a conscious commitment to sharing African-American history,” Masters said. A tribute of poems and memoirs to poets Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Fred D’Aguiar, and Margaret Danner, the event also features works by flutist and composer Coleman, a reading by Paula Robison, and performances by Leone Buyse, Nathalie Joachim, and Uptown Flutes.

 

 

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