Classical Notes: Lara Downes’s Philly Orchestra date packs import

  “The stories of Black artists are about hopes and inspirations,” says pianist Lara Downes, who performs as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra on Thursday, August 4 at SPAC. 

    Downes gave that insight while discussing the two 20th century composers whose music she’ll be playing on the concert’s first half.  It starts with a new three-movement suite to songs of Billy Stayhorn followed by the Piano Concerto of Florence Price.  William Eddins conducts the program, which concludes with the Brahms Second Symphony.  

         Though she’s a wide-ranging and ambitious musician, one of Downes’ specialties is lesser-known American repertoire, especially pieces by composers who were overlooked or pigeonholed during their own times.  Coming out of the pandemic the classical industry had a sudden interest in diversity that appears to be continuing and it’s created a demand for Downes and her insightful programming.  Her most recent recording, “Reflections: Scott Joplin Reconsidered,” was released early this year and SPAC presented her in a solo recital at Skidmore College’s Zankel Music Center in April.

“American music has been a focus for some years now and the deeper you go the more you find.  I’m committed to telling this story,” says Downes.  “The stories we’re told are often very superficial which makes a big difference in how we experience music and know our history.”  Though Strayhorn died in 1967 at age 51 and Price in 1954 at age 66, perhaps their stories continue through artists like Downes as she brings their music to prestigious venues and modern platforms. 

Billy Stayhorn is best known as the quiet sidekick and often uncredited collaborator to the larger-than-life Duke Ellington.  Some of the details are still foggy as to who wrote what, and how much of this or that piece is Ellington or Strayhorn.  What’s clear is that Strayhorn made a crucial contribution to Ellington’s legacy while sometimes neglecting his own broader ambitions.

“Strayhorn brought something new and expansive to Ellington by virtue of his classical roots,” says Downes.  “Strayhorn himself was pushed by circumstances and at other points by realism but he did have aspirations in classical.”

A few years ago, Downes got in touch with the Billy Strayhorn Foundation to inquire if there were any concert works in the archives.  Strayhorn’s niece replied that there were some pieces from his early years but the manuscripts were lost.  Downes was undeterred and proceeded to engage composer Chris Walden to take some Strayhorn songs and fashion them into a piece with orchestra. 

 The result is A Lovesome Thing: Billy Strayhorn Suite for piano and orchestra, commissioned by SPAC. It is built on three of the composer’s most expressive and popular songs: “A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing,” “Strange Feeling,” and “Something to Live For.”  Downes premiered it with conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops last month at Symphony Hall in Boston.  According to the pianist, after the SPAC performance several other American orchestras will also pick up the piece.

“Strayhorn was out of place in so many ways — intellectual, sexual, and cultural.  But he found a way to make it work and have a life of inner peace.  The final chapters of his life were not the happiest, but I don’t think he perceived life through obstacles.  Day to day he was joyful and triumphant and he created a music of pride,” says Downes.  Her observations reference the fact Strayhorn was gay and, for the most part, out. 

Downes finds commonalities in the careers of Strayhorn and Florence Price, namely the confident musical voice and the aspirations for a wider exposure and embrace of their music.

Price was the first Black female composer to be performed by a major American orchestra, when the Chicago Symphony played her First Symphony in 1933.  But that concert was a special event presented as part of the World’s Fair and was dedicated to the phenomenon of Blacks in music.  Though she wrote three more symphonies, which were taken up by orchestras during her lifetime, and Marion Anderson sang her songs widely, Price never again appeared on a standard program of a major league orchestra during her lifetime.

“Price set her sights on the Boston Symphony and other major institutions and it was not an easy path in a world of post-romantic white male music.  And yet she stayed true to her background and heritage.  There’s always a spiritual and a juba dance in her music,” says Downes, who started playing Price a good decade before the the composer’s renaissance began about five years ago.

Downes has been widely hailed as a visionary, a savior and a leader for her advocacy of BIPOC artists and also for just freshening things up.  Her projects often include CD and digital releases plus sheet music, all under her own imprint Rising Sun.  She’s also known to bring a touch of glamor to her live performances. 

Downes is a native of San Francisco and was home schooled.  Following the death of her father and while still in her early teens, Downes and her two sisters were taken to Europe by their mother.  “We were on the move, three sisters all studying music and having encounters in Paris, Vienna, and various places in Italy,” she recalls.  “It was an adventure that started off as one year abroad to learn French.  It morphed into a long period of time and gave me the ability to see the world as flexible living space.”

Downes also seems to view time as a something flexible and spacious. How else to explain how she gets so much done – touring, running a record and publishing house and always practicing, researching and looking ahead for future endeavors?  

“I find time and I believe that time is fluid.  I guess I don’t have a lot of patience. When something’s important and worth doing, I find a way,” says Downes.  “I love working with young musicians, opening their minds to the possibility of self-guidance, and being present in your time and doing what feels right given the world you’re living in.”

Downes has ventured to obscure and remote corners of the repertoire, but it was Gershwin, Copland and Bernstein who served as the doorways through which she entered the world of American music.  “As I began asking questions about American music, I found that the music looks like America itself.  I look for mavericks and innovators in our music, and try to keep it beautiful, vibrant and interesting,” she says.  “It’s a privilege to play this music and to welcome new audiences into its existence.”

Lara Downes performs with the Philadelphia Orchestra

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday Aug. 4

Where: Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs

Tickets: $35-$95. 

Info: 518-583-9330.  www.spac.org  
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s season continues through August 13.  

Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy.

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