A decade ago, something called the Soulful Symphony appeared in Baltimore.
With its roster of predominantly African-American players and its emphasis on the vibrant music of founding director Darin Atwater, the ensemble made quite a statement. Its high-energy performances soon earned a sizable fan base and, in 2004, a valuable partner in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Soulful Symphony hasn't performed for more than a year, but will be back in the spotlight Saturday for a 10th anniversary concert.
"We're going to celebrate and recalibrate," Atwater said. "This concert will include the best of what we've become. We're still an African-American orchestra, with a strong Latino component as well. I'm still framing the orchestra around vernacular music — jazz, blues, gospel. The core mission is still to address the African-American community, and to be a repository of my own creativity."
The anniversary program — involving about 75 instrumentalists from this region and New York, and a local chorus of 20 — features excerpts from large-scale works that Atwater introduced over the years. These include "Song in a Strange Land," which uses the traditional form of the spiritual as a foundation for exploring emotions and genres, and "Paint Factory," a kind of oratorio that incorporates gospel, jazz and rap.
"I have never attempted to be a classical composer or fight the battle of diversity in classical music," Atwater said. "I respect symphonic music, but I am very connected to our people and our music. And the music is easy to translate to acoustic instruments. 'Paint Factory' fits amazingly well with them."
Still, the idea of putting jazz, gospel and the like into the company of violins, cellos and the other acoustic components of an orchestra can raise eyebrows.
"I get that all the time, man," Atwater said with a laugh. "Words like 'symphony' or 'BSO' can be a total shock culturally to people in the African-American community. I want to flip that and make it palatable to them. I get letters from all over expressing amazement that the African-American community is coming to the symphony hall."
Not surprisingly, the 40-year-old Atwater is currently working on a composition called "Culture Shock."
"It explores the tension of music, culture and race in the American community," he said.
During Soulful Symphony's hiatus since the spring of 2009, Atwater has been "in between Baltimore and California trying to eke out an existence as a composer," he said. He's also finishing up "The Audacity of Hope," a piece borrowing the title of the book by President Obama; it's slated for a premiere next spring in Washington.
The D.C.-born Atwater, who studied at Morgan State University and the Peabody Conservatory and has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis and others, launched the Soulful Symphony in 2000 with his own money. The ensemble initially had a nomadic existence, but after partnering with the BSO, it found a home base at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and the Music Center at Strathmore in Montgomery County.
Soulful Symphony's "mission to expand the reach of symphonic music to African-American performers and audiences is one that the BSO enthusiastically supports," said BSO president and CEO Paul Meecham. "We are pleased to host this reunion concert and hope to collaborate with Darin Atwater and his orchestra again in the future."
The BSO has provided help with fundraising and marketing for Soulful Symphony, and Atwater served as composer-in-residence for the BSO from 2004 to 2007.
"I'm considering options for Soulful," Atwater said, "but we are not leaving Baltimore. We'll have a concert in the spring and a full season next year. I'll continue to compose for the group, and also ask other composers to write for Soulful Symphony. There is an audience still happy with what we're doing. It's good to be back."
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If you go
Soulful Symphony will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. $29-$69. Call 410-783-8000 or go to bsomusic.org.