Charlotte Symphony Will Present EMERGENCY SHELTER INTAKE FORM at Knight Theater

The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra will present Gabriel Kahane’s emergency shelter intake form as the centerpiece of its season finale concert, Copland & Kahane, on May 15 & 16 at Knight Theater. Conducted by  Music Director Kwamé Ryan, the performances mark the culmination of both the Charlotte  

Symphony’s season-long exploration of the meaning of “home” and Kahane’s tenure as the  2025–26 Spotlight Artist. 

Commissioned by the Oregon Symphony in response to the growing housing crisis facing cities  across the United States, emergency shelter intake form examines homelessness, displacement,  and economic precarity through an oratorio-style work for voices and orchestra. Drawing on  language from the shelter intake process, personal reflection, and poetry, the piece builds toward  a final movement featuring a chorus of individuals directly affected by homelessness or housing  instability. 

In collaboration with Roof Above, the Charlotte Symphony has assembled a local chorus whose  participation grounds the performance in lived experience. This partnership builds on an ongoing  relationship between the two organizations, with CSO musicians regularly performing for  neighbors, guests, and tenants at Roof Above’s ten housing, shelter, and service locations. 

“Gabriel Kahane’s emergency shelter intake form is an extraordinarily powerful work that asks  us to confront the realities of housing insecurity with empathy and humanity,” said Music  Director Kwamé Ryan. “Those ideas become deeply personal through the voices of those in our  community who have experienced these challenges firsthand.” 

The performances will feature soloists Gabriel Kahane, Alicia Hall Moran, Holland Andrews,  and Holcombe Waller alongside the Charlotte Symphony and community chorus. The program  also includes Jennifer Higdon’s “SkyLine” from City Scape, written as a tribute to Atlanta's  urban landscape, and Aaron Copland’s Suite from Appalachian Spring, which follows a young  couple as they establish a homestead in rural Pennsylvania. Together the two works offer  contrasting musical portraits of home. 

The Saturday performance will be broadcast live on WDAV 89.9 and streamed at wdav.org.  Radio host Fred Child — formally of American Public Media’s Performance Today — will host  the broadcast live from the Knight Theater.  

Pre-Concert Talk 

Fred Child will moderate a pre-concert talk with Music Director Kwamé Ryan, Gabriel Kahane,  Roof Above CEO Liz Clasen-Kelly, and Roof Above volunteer and former shelter guest  Harrison Ervin. The discussion will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Pre-Function  Space at Knight Theater. Pre-concert talks are free and open to all ticket holders. 

Tickets