Un/Masked: 2022 Symphony of Diversity

The musical energies of the Americas are front and center at the third ISU presentation of the nationally known Symphony of Diversity. Venezuelan violinist Samuel Vargas, winner of the 2021 Sphinx National Competition for Black and Latino talent, will perform Florence Price's Concerto No. 2 for violin and orchestra in a concert that includes Baba Yetu, a setting of the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili and the first piece of music written for a video game to win a Grammy Award. The second half of the program features the choral-orchestral work Illuminare by Des Moines composer Elaine Hagenburg, and Arturo Márquez’s raucous Danzón No. 2. More than half the music on the concert by duration features music by visible minorities, and more than half of the music on the concert by duration features music by women. 

About Symphony of Diversity: Symphony of Diversity is a nationally noted orchestral performance series that celebrates, illuminates, and commemorates a history of human rights encompassing both of triumphs and tragedies. Conceived and curated by Jonathan Govias, Director of Orchestral Activities at Iowa State University, the concerts are rooted in the ideal that the world itself is a symphony of diversity to be experienced, and unfearingly address current social issues through both contemporary and historical musical lenses. Past guests have included one-handed virtuoso violinist Adrian Anantawan, transgender pianist Sara Davis Buechner, and indigenous rights activist Sarain Fox. The first iteration took place in Charlotte, NC in April 2017, with the sixth and most recent concert presented in April 2021 in Ames, IA. Over the years the concerts have generated unprecedented media interest and publicity for the activities of a university orchestra, for the artistic as much as the social merits of the concerts.