The Winston-Salem Symphony Presents a Classics Concert Series Featuring Haydn’s The Creation

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (April 12, 2022) – The Winston-Salem Symphony is presenting a Classic Series concert cycle featuring Joseph Haydn’s magnificent choral work, The Creation, on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24, 2022. Under the baton of acclaimed guest conductor Simon Carrington—co-founder of The King’s Singers and a master of Classical and Baroque choral tradition—the concert series also includes the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus and Wake Forest University Choirs as well as internationally renowned guest singers, Amy Justman (Soprano), Karim Sulayman (Tenor),and David Grogan (Baritone).

While visiting England in the late 1700s, Haydn was overwhelmed by George Frideric Handel’s oratorios and was inspired to compose a choral work of his own. Haydn’s rich tapestry of harmony, orchestration, and word-painting brings to life the texts of Genesis, Psalms, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. His Creation is a work of the Enlightenment in which science and religion sit happily side by side; Haydn’s inspired music depicts both the majesty of the universe and the mystery of the Divine.

The concerts will take place on Saturday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 24 at 3 p.m. at R.J. Reynolds Auditorium at 301 Hawthorne Road NW in Winston-Salem. Tickets begin at $25 and are available by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145 or online at wssymphony.org.

Music Lovers’ Luncheon, a fun and informative pre-concert event featuring Karen Ní Bhroin and special guests, will occur the Friday before each 2021–22 Classics Series concert from 12–1:30 p.m. Attendees will have a chance to learn about the weekend’s programming while enjoying a gourmet lunch. The April 22 Music Lovers’ Luncheon will include an enlightening discussion with Ní Bhroin, guest conductor Simon Carrington, and the concert’s guest artists.  Music Lovers’ Luncheons are an opportunity to gain insights on the music presented and learn more about the performers’ careers and backgrounds. Music Lovers’ Luncheons are $25 per person and the registration deadline is Wednesday, April 20. Visit wssymphony.org/luncheon for more information and to make a reservation.

Simon Carrington, Yale University professor emeritus, has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in music, performing as singer, double bass player, and conductor, first in the United Kingdom where he was born, and then in the United States. From 2003 to 2009, he was professor of choral conducting at Yale University and director of the Yale Schola Cantorum, a 24-voice chamber choir that he brought to national and now international prominence. From 2001 until his Yale appointment, he was director of choral activities at the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he was selected by the students for the Krasner Teaching Excellence Award and from where he received an Honorary Doctorate in 2014, and, from 1994 to 2001, he held a similar position at the University of Kansas. Prior to coming to the United States, he was a creative force for 25 years with the internationally acclaimed British vocal ensemble The King’s Singers, which he co-founded at Cambridge University. In the early days of The King’s Singers, he also maintained a lively career as a double bass player, first as subprincipal of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and then as a freelance player in London. He keeps up an active schedule as a freelance conductor and choral clinician, leading workshops and master classes round the world, and, from 2016 to 2019, he was Visiting Professor of Conducting in the program directed by Simon Halsey at the University of Birmingham, UK. For more information visit simoncarrington.com.

Dubbed the “leading lady of crossover” by Classical Singer magazine, Amy Justman’s career has spanned musical theater, classical music, jazz, and beyond. Recent highlights include her sixth Broadway company, covering and performing for both Renée Fleming and Jessie Mueller in the revival of Carousel, Handel’s Messiahwith Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall, the PBS Great Performances’ broadcast of Bernstein’s Masswith the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the world premiere of Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webberat Paper Mill Playhouse. She can be heard on the original revival cast recordings of Company and Carousel, the jazz recording Songs for Pickles, Tania León's Grammy-nominated Inura, and voice work for Hail, Caesar!, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Get Down, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She has also appeared on-camera as Adult Nicole Fosse in FX’s Fosse/Verdon and on Apple TV’s Dickinson. A former first prize winner of the Lotte Lenya Competition for the Kurt Weill Foundation, Justman received her Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music and her Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, where she is currently a voice teacher for the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater. For more information visit amyjustman.com

Lebanese American tenor Karim Sulayman recently performed Handel’s Messiah with the Winston-Salem Symphony in December 2021. He continues to earn international acclaim for his programming and recording projects, while regularly performing on the world’s stages in opera, orchestral concerts, recital, and chamber music. Current and recent season highlights include engagements at Carnegie Hall (solo recital debut, 2022), Spoleto Festival USA, Aldeburgh Festival, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and the Ravinia Festival. Sulayman’s album, Songs of Orpheus, won the 2019 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. His second solo album, Where Only Stars Can Hear Us, a program of Schubert Lieder with fortepianist Yi-heng Yang, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart and was named “Critic’s Choice” by Opera News and included in the New York Times’ Best Classical Music of 2020. Sulayman has been featured on PBS Great Performances and appears on the second season of Dickinson on Apple TV+. In November 2016, he created a social experiment/performance art piece called I Trust You, designed to build bridges in a divided political climate. A video version went “viral” and was a prize winner at the My Hero Film Festival. Sulayman has been invited to talk with student and adult groups about inclusion, empathy, healing from racism, and activism through the arts. For more information visit karimsulayman.com.

David Grogan has performed extensively throughout the southwest, getting positive reviews. The Dallas Morning News hailed him as the “perfect Christus” after a performance of the St. Matthew Passion with the Dallas Bach Society. The New York Times called his singing “excellent.” The Albuquerque Tribune, in reference to a performance of Messiah with the New Mexico Symphony, said, “David Grogan had all the range and power required of the part, sounding like the voice of doom in ‘The people that walked in darkness’ and the light of revelation in ‘The trumpet shall sound.’ A performance of Elijah had critics praising his ability to “move easily from stentorian declamation to lyrical aria.” Another critic said that he “…brought an impressive vocal power to the lead role of Elijah, and his rich emotive gift set the level for the other chief performers.” The Dallas Morning News said, “His meaty bass shook the heavens and the earth and sounded the trumpet with imposing conviction.” He has performed as a soloist with Dallas-Fort Worth area arts groups such as the Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Dallas Bach Society, Plano Civic Chorus, Denton Bach Society, Texas Baroque Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Texas Camerata, and the Fort Worth Baroque Society.

This concert and the Winston-Salem Symphony are supported by Season Presenting Sponsors Truist and Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A.; 75^th Season Sponsor Mrs. Betty Myers Howell; Symphony Unbound/Etherbound Sponsors Chris & Mike Morykwas; Guest Artist Sponsor River Landing at Sandy Ridge; Guest Conductor Sponsor AM Erectors; as well as the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and the North Carolina Arts Council. 

About the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus

The Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus is an auditioned mixed ensemble made up of volunteer singers, many of whom are professional soloists, or who are current members of area church and university choruses. It is directed by Dr. Christopher Gilliam. The Symphony Chorus rehearses weekly and performs several times each year with the Winston-Salem Symphony. For more information visit wssymphony.org/about/chorus.

About the Winston-Salem Symphony

Proud to be one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, the Winston-Salem Symphony will celebrate its 75th anniversary across 2022. The Symphony inspires listeners of all ages throughout North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad with a variety of concerts, education programs, and community engagement initiatives each year.

The Symphony’s 2021–22 performance season includes the Classics Series, showcasing virtuoso guest artists, orchestral masterworks, and recent compositions by living composers; The Music that Pops Series, featuring music from different genres including crowd-favorites The Steep Canyon Rangers; and the Ignite Family Series, which is an interactive experience created for the whole family.

The Symphony is supported by Season Presenting Sponsors Truist and Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A.; 75th Anniversary Sponsor Betty Myers Howell; Symphony Unbound/Etherbound Presenting Sponsors Chris and Mike Morykwas; the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, the North Carolina Arts Council, and other dedicated sponsors. Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at wssymphony.org or by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145.