Join the Kris Johnson Group for a fun morning of music where you and your kids can learn about the foundation of Detroit music: GROOVE. From swing, and blues to Motown and hip-hop, “What is Groove?” will get the audience to feel the beat in a whole new way. Led by trumpeter Kris Johnson, this presentation will introduce you to the role of various instruments in a band and how they work together to make music.

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Jazz Guest Artist Concert with Kris Johnson

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Acclaimed composer Jessie Montgomery is one of today’s “most distinctive and communicative voices” (BBC). Experience two of her recent masterpieces. Co-commissioned by the DSO, Snapshots brims with “glowing washes and surges of sound,” (Dallas Morning News). Her GRAMMY® Award-winning Rounds, played by virtuoso Awadagin Pratt, evokes imagery and themes from T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. The program also includes a performance by the Brazeal Dennard Chorale and The Oak by Florence Price, plus a world premiere by award-winning Detroit trumpeter, composer, and educator Kris Johnson entitled Marlowe's Wings: Detroit's Champion of Change, which honors the memory of late community leader Marlowe Stoudamire.

Click below to learn about the full-night event or purchase tickets to the 24th Classical Roots Celebration.

The 47th Classical Roots concert and 24th Annual Arthur L. Johnson- Honorable Damon Jerome Keith Celebration is scheduled for March 1, 2025. This year, we are pleased to honor GRAMMY® Award-winning composer and violinist, Jessie Montgomery and owner and chairman of Avis Ford and former New Detroit president, Walter Douglas Sr. In addition, we will celebrate the 4th annual recipient of the Marlowe Stoudamire Award for Innovation and Community Collaboration, Managing Director of Detroit Harmony and co-founder of Crescendo Detroit, Damien Crutcher.

Since 1978, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots concerts have increased the awareness of the significant contributions that African Americans composers and musicians have made to classical music. The Arthur L. Johnson – Honorable Damon Jerome Keith Classical Roots Celebration, held in conjunction with the concerts since 2001, supports the Classical Roots mission. Funds raised through the Celebration provide increased opportunities for African Americans in classical music through DSO programs including the African American Orchestra Fellowship and the African American Composer Residency.

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Acclaimed composer Jessie Montgomery is one of today’s “most distinctive and communicative voices” (BBC). Experience two of her recent masterpieces. Co-commissioned by the DSO, Snapshots brims with “glowing washes and surges of sound,” (Dallas Morning News). Her GRAMMY® Award-winning Rounds, played by virtuoso Awadagin Pratt, evokes imagery and themes from T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. The program also includes a performance by the Brazeal Dennard Chorale and The Oak by Florence Price, plus a world premiere by award-winning Detroit trumpeter, composer, and educator Kris Johnson entitled Marlowe's Wings: Detroit's Champion of Change, which honors the memory of late community leader Marlowe Stoudamire.

Click below to learn about the full-night event or purchase tickets to the 24th Classical Roots Celebration.

The 47th Classical Roots concert and 24th Annual Arthur L. Johnson- Honorable Damon Jerome Keith Celebration is scheduled for March 1, 2025. This year, we are pleased to honor GRAMMY® Award-winning composer and violinist, Jessie Montgomery and owner and chairman of Avis Ford and former New Detroit president, Walter Douglas Sr. In addition, we will celebrate the 4th annual recipient of the Marlowe Stoudamire Award for Innovation and Community Collaboration, Managing Director of Detroit Harmony and co-founder of Crescendo Detroit, Damien Crutcher.

Since 1978, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots concerts have increased the awareness of the significant contributions that African Americans composers and musicians have made to classical music. The Arthur L. Johnson – Honorable Damon Jerome Keith Classical Roots Celebration, held in conjunction with the concerts since 2001, supports the Classical Roots mission. Funds raised through the Celebration provide increased opportunities for African Americans in classical music through DSO programs including the African American Orchestra Fellowship and the African American Composer Residency.

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Endea Owens- Jacksonville, FL, United States

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Endea Owens -New York, NY, United States

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The Concert Band opens its season with an eclectic array of compositions centered around the 2022 composition “Tarot” by Lindsay Bronnenkant, a U-M alum. We welcome new SMTD faculty Kris Johnson (jazz, trumpet) to the stage as he joins the Concert Band to perform Dana Wilson’s Concerto for Jazz Trumpet and Wind Ensemble.

Endea Owens -Monterey, CA, United States

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Endea Owens - Pittsburgh, PA, United States

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Endea Owens - Rochester, NY, United States

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Endea Owens - Kennett Square, PA, United States

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University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble 1 under the direction of Professor Ellen Rowe

Endea Owens - Nantes, France

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Endea Owens - Paris, France

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Endea Owens - Barcelona, Spain

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Endea Owens - L'escala, Spain

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Endea Owens - Bremen, Germany

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