About the Symphony
Without Regard to Sex, Race or Color is the second whole symphonic work by composer D. Randolf Hooker. The piece was inspired by Atlanta-based photographer Andrew Feiler’s two recent books. The first book is, Without Regard to Sex, Race or Color, and the second book is, A Better Life for Their Children.
Feiler’s photography speaks to the themes and history surrounding the relationship and importance of education to the progress of African Americans. The first book, Without Regard to Sex, Race or Color, which the symphony is named after, speaks to the struggles of historically black colleges and universities compared to their enormous contributions. HBCUs helped create the black middle class and create American leaders in all aspects of life.
In the second book, A Better Life for Their Children, Feiler describes the Rosenwald Schools program, which was founded by a partnership between the famous black educator Booker T. Washington and Jewish businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. Rosenwald was the president who made Sears, Roebuck the retail giant of its day in the early to the mid-20th century.
The Without Regard to Sex, Race or Color Symphony has three movements:
- Part 1, “A Heavy Lift“
- Part 2, “J.R. and Booker T.“
- Part 3, “A Place When I Can Be“
A Heavy Lift
This movement is the musical response to Andrew Feiler’s first book at his invitation. The piece moves the listener through a loose chronology of the beginnings and trajectory of HBCUs. It employs an orchestra, narrators, soloists, and chorus to tell the story.
J.R. and Booker T
This movement is a musical essay about the partnership and friendship between the two men who founded the Rosenwald Schools program.
A Place When I Can Be
This movement once again employs an orchestra, vocal soloists, and chorus to convey the composer’s imagining of an unknown. An unknown place, yet hopes from the composer, for a time and place where the “straitjacket of race” and ethnicity will no longer define the daily existence of African Americans.
Join Us for the World Premiere of “Without Regard to Sex, Race or Color”, a composition for orchestra, soloists, and chorus by D. Randolf Hooker.
