On Dissonance (An Evening of Classical, Symphonic, and Opera Works)

Featuring the works of Julia Perry, Tania León, and Solange Knowles

Centered on the transformative impact of Black women in orchestral and operatic music, this full orchestra performance is a tribute to their enduring contributions to classical music. The evening features works by the esteemed late composer and educator Julia Perry, alongside symphonic compositions by Tania León and Solange Knowles. The performance will feature musicians from the Houston Symphony, conducted by Jeri Lynne Johnson, founder and Artistic Director of Philadelphia’s Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, and will spotlight soprano Zoie Reams.

A pioneering force in 20th-century composition, Julia Perry fused neo-classical structures with elements of African American spirituals and modernist dissonance. In 1965, her Short Piece for Orchestra was performed by the New York Philharmonic—marking the first time a work by a Black woman, and only the third by any woman, was presented by the ensemble. The program includes selections from Perry’s bold and emotionally charged repertoire, including Stabat Mater, featuring Zoie Reams, and references her operatic explorations inspired by the Salem witch trials—radical for her time.

The program is titled “On Dissonance,” a nod to Perry’s Homunculus C.F., written in 1960 in Akron, Ohio. Scored for harp, celesta or piano, and eight percussionists, the piece reflects her early innovations in minimalism, preceding many of the genre’s more widely recognized works. In alignment with Saint Heron’s mission to uplift the legacies of Black women creators, this performance seeks to revive and recontextualize Perry’s visionary contributions.

Solange Knowles presents Not Necessarily In Arms Reach, a recent composition for two tubas drawing from gospel harmonies, sonic minimalism, Black Southern marching bands, and the meditative repetition of ritual. The program also includes Villanelle For Times, her 2022 composition for the New York City Ballet’s Play Time, which fuses jazz and classical idioms with her signature experimental voice.

This rare convergence of Perry, León, and Knowles’ orchestral works bridges historical lineage with contemporary innovation—spotlighting the bold, often underrepresented voices of Black women in classical music.