In the spirit of last season’s soul-stirring, season-ending concert with local Spanish rock kings Lalo Cura, the Elkhart County Symphony’s 2024-25 season ends in May with another musical exclamation point at The Lerner Theatre!
Local eclectic rock group rebel noire and the accomplices is the guest performer at our season finale, rebelSYMPHnoire, May 18 at 4 p.m. at the historic and spacious Beaux-Arts style theatre in Downtown Elkhart.
An eclectic blend of jazz, R&B, soul, spoken word, rock, and a hint of hip hop, rebel noire and the accomplices has a distinct and evocative sound and creates original songs exploring themes of power, resistance, and the complex textures of human love.
The repertoire for rebelSYMPHnoire includes the Elkhart County Symphony performing Boatswain’s Mate Overture (Smyth), Arirang Fantasy (Choi), and Rainbow Body (Theofanidis), along with additional works by rebel noire and the accomplices in collaboration with the Symphony.
Tickets for rebelSYMPHnoire are available by visiting The Lerner Theatre Box Office at 410 South Main Street, Elkhart, Indiana, or by calling the Box Office at (574) 293-4469. Tickets may also be purchased from The Lerner Theatre website.
A resounding repertoire!
Boatswain’s Mate Overture, composed by British composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth between 1913 and 1914, is an orchestral lead-in to Smyth’s one-act opera, The Boatswain’s Mate. The opera depicts a humorous battle of the sexes in which a feisty and resourceful heroine outwits a scheming suitor, and the overture incorporates Smyth’s earlier composition, March of the Women.
Arirang Fantasy, a modern classical composition for orchestra, was written by North Korean composer Choi Sung-hwan in 1976. The piece is based on the Korean folk song Arirang, which is popular throughout the divided Korean peninsula and is viewed as an expression of deep nostalgia in the face of painful separation. Arirang often serves as an unofficial national anthem and is especially poignant in that the song holds equal meaning on both ends of a divided Korea. Both South Korea, in 2012, and North Korea, in 2014, successfully submitted Arirang for inclusion into UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
rainbow body’s local connection
Texan Christopher Theofanidis, born in Dallas in 1967, wrote Rainbow Body in 2000 as a commissioned piece for the Houston Symphony—which first performed the work in April 2000 under conductor Robert Spano. Spano, currently the music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival and School, grew up in Elkhart and graduated from Elkhart Central High School before pursuing his musical studies at the Oberlin Conservatory.
Musical performance for rebelSYMPHnoire begins at 4 p.m., and the Symphony’s Conn-Selmer Endowed Musical Director—Dr. Soo Han—conducts a pre-concert discussion beginning at 3 p.m. with members of rebel noire and the accomplices.
Don’t miss our season finale, get tickets for rebelSYMPHnoire today!
ABOUT THE ELKHART COUNTY SYMPHONY
The Elkhart County Symphony Association employs more than 100 professional musicians in the county. The organization promotes cultural experiences and instills civic pride in our community by encouraging artistic integrity, providing innovative opportunities, and presenting excellent musical programming through concerts, education, and special events.