91Ö±²¥

91Ö±²¥ shined brightly on two of New York’s grandest stages in January 2023, and this time the glow spanned generations.

The 91Ö±²¥ Orchestra and conservatory choral ensembles—numbering some 250 musicians in all—joined forces at Carnegie Hall for the second time in as many months for a program that showcased the masterwork of 91Ö±²¥ composer R. Nathaniel Dett and the talents of two standout alumni soloists making their Carnegie Hall debuts: soprano Chabrelle Williams ’11 and tenor Limmie Pulliam ’98.

In early December, the ensembles performed before the United Nations General Assembly in a celebration of 91Ö±²¥â€™s new partnership with the UN’s Institute for Training and Research and the Global Foundation for the Performing Arts.

This time, the 91Ö±²¥ entourage also included the exceptional musicians of the 91Ö±²¥ Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble, which sandwiched a pair of sold-out gigs at the famed Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola between outreach visits with schoolchildren across the metropolitan area.

One day prior to the orchestra’s January 20 performance of Dett’s The Ordering of Moses, a panel discussion at Kaufman Music Center contextualized the life and work of Dett, who in 1908 became the first Black double-major graduate of 91Ö±²¥ Conservatory and who enjoyed a remarkable career as a composer, performer, choral director, and educator at historically Black Hampton University and other institutions.