BRANDY MCDONNELL

OKC Philharmonic collaborating with local Black artists to share authentic history of 'Ragtime and All That Jazz'

Brandy McDonnell
W. Jerome Stevenson [Photo provided]

A version of this story appears in Friday's Weekend Life section of The Oklahoman. 

'And All That Jazz': OKC Philharmonic collaborates with Black performers to share ragtime history

W. Jerome Stevenson believes that America is at its best when its people come together.

"This is what makes America great. It is this combination of all of us. Now, we have got some ugly, ugly pieces to our past - everybody does. But if we elevate that greatness in ourselves and push forward into better - as we're kind of getting used to hearing anymore, 'build into better' - then we have the ability to dominate the world and you can see that we have in music, in science," said the local stage actor, producer and director.

"We hope that the audience walks away from this experience with a renewed sense of we really are better together."

A powerful presence on the central Oklahoma arts scene, Stevenson, who is African American, will host the Oklahoma City Philharmonic's Pops series concerts "Ragtime and All That Jazz" at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Civic Center.

Emerging in the late 1800s, ragtime is an influential and uniquely American musical phenomenon characterized by its upbeat and syncopated, or "ragged," rhythms.

"You don't have it without the marches of (John Philip) Sousa. You don't have ragtime without the itinerant musicians who were traveling, and a lot of them were Creole-born who had been trained in musical styles of Europe but brought an innate African-ness to it. It doesn't happen without that syncopation that was part of the African culture, part of the banjo style, which is an African instrument," said Stevenson, who is producing artistic director of Guthrie's Pollard Theatre as well as an actor with The Pollard, Lyric Theatre and Oklahoma Shakespeare.

"When you put those things together ... something is happening that's kind of lightning in a bottle. And that's where ragtime begins, and ultimately, where jazz starts to find its way into pop culture."

Music Director Alexander Mickelthwate conducts the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. [Photo provided]

Collaborative program

Since officially starting as the Oklahoma City Philharmonic's music director in 2018, Alexander Mickelthwate has made it a goal not only to collaborate with various artists and arts organizations in the community but also to showcase music from an array of cultures, from programming a piece by local Chickasaw classical composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate to bringing in Oscar-nominated Indian Carnatic vocalist Bombay Jayashri.

"I'm here two and a half years now, but I'm still in the discovery phase, I must say, like finding new friends. ... I got connected with Jerome a while ago ... and he is definitely a new one now. Then we talked a little about the program and how to connect it," said Mickelthwate, who will conduct this weekend's Pops concerts. "One of the big ones, from my side, is always to create some unity and create something on the stage that shows the progression, in a way, of things. In this case, how did blues and ragtime come about? And so he did a whole bunch of research."

Although the Pops concerts were originally planned for February and delayed due to the winter storms, Stevenson said he was moved to work with the orchestra because of Mickelthwate's genuine desire to create more than an obligatory Black History Month show.

"There was a period of time where I became everybody's black friend, I guess, and there were lots of people who were kind of reaching out in a way that seemed perfunctory. But what I found is that I enjoy working with people who feel like they're genuinely trying to make an effort towards something better. And I felt that way about Alexander and about what the philharmonic was doing. ... We talked about ways we could enrich the way classical music informed communities and connected us, and he said, 'Well, we've got this project. ... Could you help us shape it?'" Stevenson said.

"The more I worked with them, the more I realized they're positioned to do something really spectacular, and more to the point, they have a passion for doing something important and educational and that could transform our community. So, I decided I want to be part of it."

Oklahoma City Philharmonic violinist Deborah McDonald performs in concert. [Photo provided]

Musical roots

The OKC Philharmonic's "Ragtime and All That Jazz" concerts will open with the Sousa march "Stars and Stripes Forever" and feature works by African American composer-musicians like Scott Joplin ("The Entertainer," "Maple Leaf Rag," "Sunflower Slow Drag"), W.C. Handy ("St. Louis Blues") and Jelly Roll Morton ("King Porter Stomp," "Black Bottom Stomp," "Grandpa’s Spells").

Collaborating with Stevenson is allowing the orchestra to move beyond a generic ragtime program and create a concert experience that will delve into the real roots of the music and strengthen the philharmonic's ties with fellow local artists, Mickelthwate said.

"And it's fun. Blues, ragtime, that was played in dance halls 100 years ago, 80 years ago, 50 years ago. But then what I wanted when I talked with Jerome was to give that educational component, to give a little bit of perspective, why it came about. ... It's all connected in the arts. There's nothing standing alone, really - and that's the beauty of it," said Mickelthwate, who is a native of Germany.

"I'm always interested in the authenticity of people and music, so to go here as deep as you can on this continent. So, you go to the classical composers - Copland, etc. - and then you go to the African American roots in this country and then even further to find the American Indian roots. Just to find the roots, basically, (it's) what Bartok did in Hungary, to go around (and ask), 'Where does the music, the kernels, the seeds, where are they coming from?' and not only the important stuff from Europe - no, the original things."

In addition to hosting the shows alongside the conductor, Stevenson will sing two songs, and local African American dancers Emmett Prince and Makayla Fontaine will perform choreography by Black hip-hop dancer and instructor Chris Shepard.

"Just like anything else that happens in American culture, it is a amalgamation that is a collaborative effort. ... Its nature comes from our ability to merge multiple things and bring cultures together," Stevenson said. "This music seemed like not only a great example, but a great metaphor to say, 'This is how we create great things. America has always created great things because of its multiculturalism. And here is a perfect example of that.'"

The audience applauds during a recent Oklahoma City Philharmonic concert. [Photo provided]

IN CONCERT

Oklahoma City Philharmonic's 'Ragtime and All That Jazz'

When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Where: Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker.

COVID-19 protocols: Socially distanced seating, masks required, live-streaming and VOD streaming options available.

Tickets and information: www.okcphil.org.

Oklahoma City Philharmonic violinist Sophia Ro performs in concert. [Photo provided]

CLASSICS COMING SOON

The Oklahoma City Philharmonic will perform two Classics series concerts this month that were rescheduled from earlier in the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both performances will be at the Civic Center. Here are more details:

'The Inner Realm'

When: 8 p.m. March 13.

Program: "Arctic Symphony," by 20th-century Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara; "Fordlandia," the title track of the 2008 album by the late Oscar-nominated Icelandic musician and composer Johann Jóhannsson ("The Theory of Everything"); and "Symphony No. 7 in C major, op. 105," the final published symphony by Jean Sibelius, widely regarded as Finland's greatest composer.

Conductor's comments: "I fell in love with Nordic music really pretty late, I must say," OKC Philharmonic Music Director Alexander Mickelthwate told The Oklahoman. "That's a full Nordic program ... and they're all of course, very different the pieces. But at the end, they have that soul that seems to be quite emotional - and in a way, less intellectual - and more deeper-going, slow progressions that are, for me at least, a reflection of the Nordic countries."

The Oklahoma City Philharmonic performs in concert. [Photo provided]

'A Beethoven Birthday Celebration'

When: 8 p.m. March 20.

Featuring: Pianist Sergio Monteiro, Steinway Artist and director of piano activities at the Wanda Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University.

Program: In honor of Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th birthday in December 2020, it includes his "The Creatures of Prometheus: Overture, op. 43," "Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, op. 19" and "Symphony No. 8 in F major, op. 93

Conductor's comments: A native of Germany, Mickelthwate said he has a special connection with Beethoven, and the need to put on an intermission-free concert due to the pandemic allowed him to pick some pieces he might not have programmed otherwise. "Everybody has his or her maybe personal relations to certain composers, and in this case, I just had several important experiences in my teenage years with Beethoven that made me become who I am. ... And I'm still playing the piano sonatas, and they're just so inspiring to me," he said. "The three works, in this case, by Beethoven, they're not all done too often, so it's not works that people might be so familiar with."

Tickets and information: www.okcphil.org.

Features Writer Brandy "BAM" McDonnell covers Oklahoma's arts, entertainment and cultural sectors for The Oklahoman and Oklahoman.com. Reach her at bmcdonnell@oklahoman.com, www.facebook.com/brandybammcdonnell and twitter.com/BAMOK. Please support work by her and her colleagues by subscribing at oklahoman.com/subscribe 

-BAM