Atlanta – The Atlanta University Center Symphony Orchestra presented its Fall Concert on Thursday, November 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the Emma and Joe Adams Concert Hall in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College. This concert featured the string orchestra (1st violins, two violins, violas, cellos, and double bass) instruments of the orchestra. According to AUC Director and Conductor Dr. Alvoy Bryan Jr., “The string instruments are the engine of the orchestra. I have primarily focused on developing the students who play the string instruments. and creating the string players in the AUCSO is the first phase implemented in the rebuilding process of the AUCSO.”
Currently, the nearly one dozen string players in the AUCSO are students from Morehouse and Spelman Colleges. The students are a mix of music majors and non-music majors.The concert consisted of musical works by composer John Rosamond Johnson, most noted as the composer of the tune for the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Other composers include Johann Pachelbel, known for Canon in D, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Mozart, and Moses Hogan. The concert featured music from the Baroque, Classical, and 20th Century music time periods.
Dr. Bryan joined the Atlanta University Center Consortium in July, with one of his goals to showcase and introduce students to Black composers like William Grant Still, Duke Ellington, Florence Beatrice Price, Dr. George Theophilus Walker and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to name a few. He is a Decatur native and orchestral professional with experience teaching all levels, including lower and higher education.
Later this academic year, the AUC Symphony Orchestra will also present a Spring Concert, including woodwind, brass, and some percussion instruments.Dr. Bryan hopes this first Fall Concert will help recruit more string students across Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, and Spelman campuses to join the orchestra in the Spring. AUC students do not need to be music majors or minors to participate in the orchestra. It is open by audition to all students in the Atlanta University Center.
The Atlanta University Center Symphony Orchestra was formed in 1997 out of the desire of many students on campuses across the Atlanta University Center consortium to have an orchestral playing experience. Dr Bryan is the orchestra’s 3rd conductor and director.
Find out more about the AUC Symphony Orchestra here: https://aucsorchestra.org/
View photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBRQXL
