André Raphel to Conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Conductor André Raphel conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in his BSO subscription series debut on Thursday, March 19, at 8pm; continuing on Friday, March 20, at 8pm (this concert is presented as part of the BSO's Casual Fridays); and Saturday, March 21 at 8pm. The concerts take place in Symphony Hall in Boston. For information and tickets visit www.bso.org.

Maestro Raphel's program will include Samuel Coleridge Taylor's work from 1910, Petitie Suite de Concert (Thursday and Saturday performances only), Uri Caine's The Passion of Octavius Catto; and William Grant Still's Symphony No. 1 Afro-American, a work played by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops in 1937 and the first symphony by an African-American composer to be performed by a significant American orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic.

Uri Caine's The Passion of Octavius Catto, an oratorio about the Reconstruction-era civil rights leader who was murdered in Philadelphia in 1871, also features a jazz trio (Uri Caine, piano; Mike Boone, bass; and Clarence Penn, drums); vocalist Barbara Walker and The Catto Chorus.

A recording of The Passion of Octavius Catto conducted by André Raphel, with the Uri Caine trio and Barbara Walker, was released on August 30, 2019 on 816Music. André Raphel states "The Passion of Octavius Catto is a piece of music unlike anything I have ever conducted given its historical significance. Uri's work fuses together different musical styles and does it in the framework of telling Catto's story. Catto wasn't just an important figure in Philadelphia history; he was forgotten figure in U.S. history."