THE STORY BEHIND: Carlos Simon's "Motherboxx Connection"

On April 13, conductor Benjamin Manis and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra will present BEETHOVEN CONCERTO NO.2 with pianist Orli Shaham.

Title: Motherboxx Connection
Composer: Carlos Simon (1986- )
Last time performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic: This is a RI Philharmonic Orchestra premiere. This piece is scored for flute, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani and strings.

The Story: Carlos Simon wrote Motherboxx Connection originally as the first part of his four-movement work Tales: A Folklore Symphony, commissioned by the Sphinx Organization for its 25th anniversary and by the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, which premiered the work in January, 2022, Kenneth Kiesler conducting. The version heard tonight has been revised by the composer as a standalone work.

Currently composer in residence for the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Carolos Simon is a composer of great eclecticism, reflecting a background which ranges from being the music director and keyboardist for Broadway star Jennifer Holliday and a touring musician with hip-hop pioneer Angela Stone, to earning his doctorate in composition from the University of Michigan. As an artist, Simon eagerly explores all the tools at his disposal - a fact quite evident in his 2018 concept album My Ancestor’s Gift, which blends pop, gospel, classical, and experimental experiences into a rich musical narrative.

The last time Rhode Island Philharmonic audiences heard Simon’s music was in November, 2022, when the Orchestra performed his deep and thoughtful work Fate Now Conquers, under the baton of Kensho Watanabe.

Motherboxx Connection is cut from an entirely different cloth. Letting loose at top speed from the first note, this is a work that grabs you and refuses to let go. But what, exactly, is a Motherboxx? The composer himself starts answering that question by posing another one:

 “Where are all the black people in comics?” This is a question posed by the creative duo Black Kirby (John Jennings and Stacey Robinson). Based heavily in Afrofuturism, Black Kirby’s characters show black people as heroes using ancient customs and futurist motifs from the African and African American diaspora. This piece is inspired by the many heroic characters found in the work of Black Kirby, but mainly Motherboxx Connection. According to scholar Regina N. Bradley, Motherboxx Connection is “a pun on Jack Kirby’s motherbox, a living computer connected to the world, the Motherboxx too is a living computer with a heightened awareness of racial and sexual discourses surrounding the black body. The motherboxx is the technological equivalent of the “mother land” in the black diaspora imagination. She is where black identities merge and depart.” To represent the power and intelligence of the motherboxx, I have composed a short fast-moving musical idea that constantly weaves in and throughout the orchestra. A majestic, fanfare-like figure also provides the overall mood of strength and heroism. I imagine the motherboxx as an all-knowing entity that is aware of the multi-faceted aspects of blackness.



Program Notes by Jamie Allen © 2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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