Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser Charles Dutoit leads The Philadelphia Orchestra in a program celebrating the influence of African-American culture on classical music

Philadelphia Orchestra Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser Charles Dutoit leads the Orchestra in three concerts in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center celebrating the influence of African-American culture on classical music (March 12-14). The program features Milhaud’s jazz-inspired The Creation of the World; George Walker’s 1996 Pulitzer Prize-winning work Lilacs for voice and orchestra, with tenor Russell Thomas as soloist in its first Philadelphia Orchestra performances; Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, a work for which the late, great contralto Marian Anderson was known, with Philadelphia-native bass-baritone Eric Owens as soloist; and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“From the New World”). Mr. Dutoit also leads the Orchestra in the same program at New York’s Carnegie Hall (March 17) as part of Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy, a citywide festival presented by Carnegie Hall and curated by renowned soprano Jessye Norman.