The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is pleased to announce that Michael Repper, MSO’s Music Director and Conductor, received a Grammy at the recent 2023 Grammy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles. Mr. Repper and the New York Youth Symphony were honored with their first Grammy award for their recording “Works By Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, Valerie Coleman”. This CD, which features four works by three female African American composers, was particularly notable because it was recorded during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Mr. Repper and the New York Youth Symphony were nominated in the “Best Orchestral Performance” category in which the award is presented to the Conductor and to the Orchestra. Mr. Repper, 31, and the young musicians of the New York Youth Symphony bested world-renowned conductors and orchestras such as Gustavo Dudamel with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and John Williams with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Upon receiving the award, Mr. Repper said, “I want to simply express my gratitude for having been able to share such amazing music with the tremendous young musicians of the New York Youth Symphony.”
Now Maestro Repper is looking forward to conducting the MSO when the orchestra performs Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor during the MSO’s March concert cycle. Written in 1932, the piece was Price’s first full-scale orchestral composition and was the first symphony by a Black woman to be performed by a major American orchestra (Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933).
MSO Board President, Jeffrey Parker, stated that “The MSO Board of Directors is elated at the news of Michael Repper’s Grammy win that further acknowledges the incredible talent and vision of our new Music Director.”
For more information on the MSO’s upcoming concerts, visit www.midatlanticsymphony.org.