On the basis of what I heard last night, the Du Bois Orchestra has, in ten short years, fulfilled its mission to become Cambridge’s premier professional orchestra. The approximately 75 paid players with a few auditioned-volunteers filled our ears with bold, well-burnished, and utterly dependable sonorities within the resonant confines of First Church, Cambridge for a program that both excited and consoled. Every solo line shone forth with beauty and polish, conductor Dominique Hoskin balanced sections to perfection in tuttis, shaped phrases with elegance, and assured brilliant execution of complex rhythms and changes of tempo. Maybe in the orchestra’s next ten years it can satisfy its outstanding goal of developing a more heterogeneous-looking ensemble and audience.

A string ensemble (4/4/4/4/2) with empathic foot stomping, tambourine, and wood block delivered Michi Wiancko’s[i] free arrangement of Geminiani’s (1687-1762: La Follia Variations for String Orchestra with amazing variety of color, mood, harmony and tempo, taking lots of chances along the way that showed their bravery of operating without a conductor. While they did go light on vibrato, the players were not shy at all producing buckets of outgoing modern-instrument tone, with enthusiastic digging in. Attacks were clean at any and every speed. One variation sounded like the arranger; the rest felt plausibly Baroque in an outgoing manner. Slow variations brought forth poignant affect, and the finish with a giant and well-plotted accelerando left us breathless.

The full orchestra covered almost the entire chancel for Mississippi River Suite (c. 1934) by Florence Price (1887-1953). [ii] Subtitled “The river and the songs of those dwelling upon its banks,” it flowed with quiet, profound grandeur through bucolic headwaters, gathering up histories and peoples as the river broadened, before seemingly docking for an exuberant New Orleans carnival. Along the way we heard references both to native American music and African American spirituals. The grand conclusion, with nods to Brahms and Dvořák, frothed with a high-proof brew of all that had been developed so patiently before.  Hoskin and the players avoided the sand bars and kept in the main channel through the continuously moving half-hour journey. Every soloist colored Price’s well-orchestrated score with gorgeous inflections and deep feeling, and they all deserve callouts. Trombone soloist Puyuan Chen made quite an impression. A very sad bass clarinet solo from Soyeon Park yielded to McKenna Stickney’s wonderfully warbling flute and John Ray’s avian piccolo. Justin Bernardi’s trumpet sang out “Go Down Moses” with confidence and appealing tone. Cellist Linda Hwang gave us a “Deep River” for the ages.

And yes, the Du Bois Orchestra was ready to give us a Brahms Symphony No. 1 with no apologies. The rich amber tones glowed, swelled and throbbed as the heartbeat timpani pulsed. Hoskin underlined all the accents and urgency, perfectly balancing energy with restraint―white hot passion with smoldering afterglow. There was more juice than in the entire Mississippi and as much power as Niagara! And oh those brilliant, inerrant, and noble horns!

The Andante sostenuto sounded a somber chorale of hope, as the upper strings cried out in despair and oboist Sachiko Murata lofted astonishingly human phrases over the violas and accompany winds. Later she handed the theme to clarinetist Michael Gruender, who framed grateful arches of feeling. After an astonishingly artistic and reliable hornist Jacky Li reminded us of the oboists’ brief atria of despair, the concertmaster Thomas Cooper took up the tune and suspended time with his absolute conviction and glimmering silver thread of tone.

Hoskin shepherded the band through all the formal requirements of the Un poco allegretto e grazioso perfectly delivering Brahms’s truly noble plan. He knew that we were awaiting the Beethoven affirmation in the next moment, and he teased us with endearing anticipation. 

The patient pizzicatos that began the fourth movement accelerated with increasing passion. The noble Alphorn call and Kevin King’s astonishing contrabassoon evocatively set up the build to the Beethoven quote. Hoskin delivered the immortal song at a just-right, brisk walking tempo. Devoid of sentimentality, it moved us all the more. The tumultuous coda earned the totally justified standing O.

Lee Eiseman is the publisher of the Intelligencer

[i] Michi Wiancko is a versatile and highly imaginative composer, violinist, and collaborator, whose multi-faceted creative projects and organizational work prioritize artistic discovery, as well as community resilience and social change. A native of California, Michi now lives with her family in Gill, a small farming community in Western Massachusetts, and directs the summer music festival, artists’ retreat, and community organization, Antenna Cloud Farm

[ii] Florence Beatrice Smith Price was born on April 9, 1887, in Little Rock, Arkansas. She received her early music education from her mother before attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In 1906, she graduated with a soloist’s diploma in organ and a teacher’s diploma in piano. It was at the Conservatory that Price discovered her passion for composing, and she was chosen by the renowned composer George Whitefield Chadwick to study privately with him. She established herself as a concert pianist, organist, teacher, and composer of nearly 300 works. Price became well known for her art songs and spiritual arrangements, which were performed by notable singers such as Marian Anderson, Todd Duncan, and Leontyne Price. Her instrumental compositions were also performed by ensembles like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Michigan WPA Symphony, and the Chicago Woman’s Symphony.