In April, young musicians from William Fleming High School and Patrick Henry High School will have an opportunity to do something that many adult performers have never experienced. They’ll perform an original orchestral composition for the very first time in front of a live audience, right here in Roanoke.
The composition is “Welcome the Light,” a brand-new piece for strings by composer Deborah Baker Monday. The piece was commissioned by the Alma Ensemble, a local trio of musicians who aim to introduce audiences to music composed by women.
“We chose Deborah Baker Monday because she’s just a strong woman voice in the strings repertoire,” said Michelle Smith Johnson, clarinetist with the Alma Ensemble and an orchestra director at Roanoke City Public Schools. “We said, ‘Why not? Why can’t our community bring a big-name composer here? … Let’s go for broke and see if she’s available.’ And the stars aligned and she was!”
The Alma Ensemble is particularly excited to introduce the community to the composer herself, who will work with students for several days leading up to the performance.
“A high-school student being able to perform a work that’s never been performed before in public, and to see that it’s an actual human being that produced this art … How impactful for a young musician,” said Smith Johnson. “How exciting, as a student, to realize that all these things are possible.”
The commission was funded by a grant from the Roanoke Arts Commission, and the performance represents a collaborative effort between local schools, the Taubman Museum of Art, the Alma Ensemble and the composer herself.
“It really has gone from a little, small idea we had, and it’s turned into this huge community effort,” said Smith Johnson. “We hope that energy transfers to the community when they come.”
The performance will be held at the Taubman Museum at 6:30 p.m. on April 4, and attendance is free and open to the public.
“I view this as a gift to the community,” said the Alma Ensemble’s Sarah Wardle Jones. “Especially after coming out of COVID … to be able to produce something new right here, I think it’s going to be very life-giving.”
About the Writer:
Ashley Wilson Fellers is a writer, educator, self-taught painter and contemplative photographer in Roanoke, Virginia. When she isn’t teaching writing at Virginia Western, she snaps photos of sidewalk cracks, rescues wet leaves from windshield wipers and leaves poems hidden under park benches. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Tech.
