University Symphony Orchestra

Special Send-Off Concert: USO Tour to South Africa and Carnegie Hall

April 11, 2025 | 8:00 pm

Hill Auditorium
825 N University Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Free - no tickets required

The conductor and string players hold their arms raised as the University Symphony Orchestra performs on stage at Hill Auditorium

Please join us to send-off the musicians of the University Symphony Orchestra for their historic tour to South Africa and Carnegie Hall. USO Music Director and GRAMMY nominee Kenneth Kiesler leads this special, curated program featuring 2025 GRAMMY winner, soprano Karen Slack, acclaimed South African soprano, SMTD alumna Goitsemang Lehobye, and renowned bass and SMTD faculty member Daniel Washington. Hill Auditorium will resound with an exciting mix of film and stage music by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, and William Dawson’s thrilling and powerful masterpiece, the Negro Folk Symphony, along with moving and joyful spirituals and inspiring South African nation building songs. Sure to be a memorable final concert of the 2024-2025 USO season!

Kenneth Kiesler, conductor
Karen Slack, soprano
Goitsemang Lehobye, soprano
Daniel Washington, bass

PROGRAM

LEONARD BERNSTEIN, On the Waterfront Suite
GEORGE GERSHWIN, Porgy and Bess Selections: Summertime – I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ – My Man’s Gone Now – Bess, You Is My Woman Now
WILLIAM DAWSON, Negro Folk Symphony
MARGARET BONDS, arr., You Can Tell the World
CARL DAVIS, arr., Deep River
BOKWE, S.A. Cock, arr., Plea from Africa
HALE SMITH, arr., Witness