The Unsung Collective & NY Philharmonic 2025 Review: ‘An Unsung Symphony: Simon & Brahms’

(Credit: Dario Acosta)There are many things to mention about this important performance under review.Let’s start by acknowledging the dramatic and historic setting of the venue – the amazing Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where world-renowned Black leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, and Nelson Mandela have talked and sermonized.

Then, there were the arrayed forces. The Unsung Collective ensemble — devoted to celebrating people of color in Western art music in New York City, under the impassioned direction of Tyrone Clinton Jr. — were joined by musicians from the New York Philharmonic.



In this beautiful and emotional space, the mighty and moving sound was absolutely riveting.And one last fact to add relevance to the night: this Friday, February 28th signaled the last day of Black History Month transitioning on March 1st to Women’s History Month. Could there be a better setting to honor both those important celebrations than with this church’s amazing history, paired with the message and music of the concert?Songs of SeparationThe first was Carlos Simon’s “Songs of Separation.

” The piece, a quartet of songs inspired by the poetry of Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, is profoundly about separation and connection, grief and hope from the poignancy of great loss to also embracing the sheer joy of life.One section, “Burning Hell,” plumbed the darker side of what it means to be here, now – where one can easily feel all on our own. It was then followed by “Dance” with the sweep of the song exhorting everyone to do just that.

Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, who performed at the premiere in 2023 at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, sang with extraordinary delicacy and power. Her phrasing showed that the message of this work was – for her – far more than words. She conveyed the meaning of the text movingly with her powerful and sublime singing.

The Unsung Collective’s creative director, Tyrone Clinton Jr., conducted with passion and precision, navigating the shifting moods of this modern work, shaping the orchestral sound to match the fire and the intense emotion of the text.Also of note was the use of a filmed prelude for each song, featuring two dancers responding to the mood of each text.

Directed and danced by Negesti McIntosh, joined by the young dancer Nzingah Suggs, the performances gave visual life to the powerful song cycle.This performance was all the more meaningful with the gifted composer in attendance, receiving a well-deserved ovation.During a brief pause, Clinton gave a short talk about what the next piece, the famed Brahms’s “Ein deutches Requiem,” personally meant to him.

He also highlighted that the composer’s creation of the piece connected to the passing of Brahms’s own mother.Then, with the delicate beginning to that Requiem, the audience was about to be treated to what would be a concert to remember.While I have seen, many times, both the powerful Verdi and Berlioz Requiems, this was my first live concert experience of Brahms’s ”Requiem.

”I would have, before this concert, perhaps described the work as often a gentler cousin to the massive and overwhelming forces of the other two pieces cited.And yes, there was certainly a gossamer beauty to the piece that I remember so well from many recordings. But in key sections, there is also a sheer vocal and orchestral power, here summoned by the conductor to amazing effect in the superb acoustics of the church.

Joining the massed forces, baritone Phillip Bullock sang “Herr, lehre doch mich” with a deep sense of the solemnity of the words and music, his voice remarkably moving.Soprano Brittany Renee, in the section “Ihr habt nun Trauigkeit,” soared sweetly with the orchestra and chorus, displaying both vocal beauty and balance.A key revelation to me was the sheer dynamic range of the work with the force and precision of the orchestra.

Under Clinton’s phenomenally attentive conducting, the chorus navigated the organic flow and sweep of the choral passages, as Brahms’s moving music weaved its way from the sopranos, down to the basses. The chorus’s performance was simply perfection.Clinton had clearly worked carefully to shape the ensemble so that all those voices, filling this grand church, sang as one entity with so much nuance and depth.

Likewise, the orchestra responded beautifully to every queue from Clinton, from the gentlest pianissimo to the stirring forte sections, totally in emotional synch with the chorus.This special performance, on this day, at this time, was also matched with photos and references to so many key, impossibly brave figures in the long battle for racial, civil and social justice.And one interesting revelation for me, at this special live performance, was hearing in person the sections of the piece where it indeed turns visceral and gripping, even edge of the seat exciting — often reminiscent of the most striking sections of Verdi’s or Berlioz’s masterpieces.

It was, to be honest, as if this piece, which I thought I knew, was here revealed to have so many more aspects of intricacy and power, including stunning and dramatic swells of chorus and orchestra.A well-deserved standing ovation greeted the combined forces at the finale, as one historic month ended and another began.I recommend that if you get the opportunity to experience The Unsung Collective, do so without hesitation.

Tyrone Clinton Jr., the remarkable conductor and director of this special ensemble, is an artist of the highest order to enjoy and follow as his great career unfolds.The post The Unsung Collective & NY Philharmonic 2025 Review: ‘An Unsung Symphony: Simon & Brahms’ appeared first on OperaWire.

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