
On November 22, the anniversary of President John F. Kennedys assasination in 1963, the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra (BCSO), conducted by Julius P. Williams, performed a concert inspired by Kennedys own words.
In a television broadcast in 1962, Kennedy remarked on behalf of the National Cultural Center, I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we too will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit. With Kennedy's vision in mind, the BCSO embarked on a global musical journey, with each piece selected for this program written by a composer from a different country.
Williams spoke to the crowd that night, remarking, The students in our orchestra are from 14 different countries, and we conceived tonights program to reflect who we are as global citizens: our different cultures and range of experiences. The selections chosen were similarly inclusive, featuring female composers and composers of color, as well as contemporary composers and those from musical genres not traditionally performed in the concert hall.
The concert included modern favorites such as Dearly Beloved, composed by Yoko Shimomura for the video game Kingdom Hearts; the iconic Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, performed by Serena Harnack; enduring works such as Jean Sibelius's Finlandia; and contemporary composer Nkeiru Okoye's Voices Shouting Out, described by the composer as a sparkling celebration of life. The night culminated with Aaron Copland's iconic Lincoln Portrait, featuring narrator Ron Savage, dean of Berklees Professional Performance Division, reading excerpts from some of Abraham Lincoln's greatest speeches, including the Gettysburg Address.
About the Orchestra The Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra is a full symphony ensemble committed to the art of orchestra playing that honors the past, present, and future. In addition to the great compositions of the past, the orchestras repertoire includes original compositions by Berklee faculty and students, and contemporary music from around the globe and from burgeoning genres such as film and video game scores. Committed to programming that reflects diverse communities, the orchestra is managed by artistic director Julius P. Williams and managing director Jamie Davis-Ponce. For any questions, please email jdavisponce@berklee.edu.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Berklee's Signature Series Returns February 21 Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter, and musician Larry Klein kicks off the celebrated series with Grammy-winning Brazilian jazz vocalist Luciana Souza.
Julius P. Williams Is Named First African American President of the Conductors Guild Williams, a professor in the Composition Department, began his two-year term on January 3.
Berklee Silent Film Orchestra Performs Its Score to The Phantom of the Opera The screening includes a new and digitized restoration of Lon Chaneys 1925 classic.
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for Grammy Awards 28 Berklee alumni and two faculty members were nominated for Grammys across 17 categories.
Latest
Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra Performance Spans Countries, Cultures, and History Inspired by an iconic John F. Kennedy quote, the BCSO selected each piece to be written by a composer from a different country, embarking on a global musical journey.
Former Fox Music President Robert Kraft Makes His Own Lane The longtime film music executive offered advice to Berklee students on withstanding the constant changes of a life in the industry.
Berklee Names Former Academic Chair Sean Hagon Dean of Career Education and Services Hagon will bring an innovative and comprehensive strategy to help prepare students to better support their artistry through a creative entrepreneurship lens.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
North America Stories
27/08/2026
ESPN and Disney are launching College Football Saturdays, adding two college football games per week to Disney for U.S. subscribers as part of their existing ...
27/08/2026
Zixi will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 5, Stand 5.A76, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), demonstrating the Zixi Platform and the latest release of Zixi Broadcaster, ...
27/08/2026
NDI has announced that its ecosystem has surpassed 1.2 million NDI-enabled hardware nodes worldwide, spanning products from more than 200 hardware brands across...
27/08/2026
Clear-Com conducted a pre-launch field trial of FreeSpeak Cell during Carnival 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, in partnership with Brazilian systems integrator Savana C...
27/08/2026
BHV returns to IBC 2026 with an important milestone for its own SportsBox: the broadcast industry's smallest remote vision mixer and format processor has mo...
27/08/2026
TOGETHXR and Snapchat have announced the second cohort of their Snap the Gap content creator program, welcoming nine athletes as Snap Stars. The program provide...
27/08/2026
MediaKind has announced that CNBC UK has selected Beam to modernize its contribution and distribution infrastructure for live broadcast operations. The deployme...
27/08/2026
Monitor engineer Chris Dwight has deployed Sennheiser's Spectera wideband bi...
27/08/2026
Telestream has announced an expansion of its UP cloud-native platform, adding capabilities for orchestrating Telestream services, third-party technologies, and ...
27/08/2026
Swerve TV has signed a multi-year partnership with GLORY Kickboxing, bringing live GLORY events and library programming to Swerve Combat, Swerve TV's free a...
27/08/2026
Dalet has announced a new integrated content experience with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Dalet Flex, designed to bring AFP's editorial metadata into the p...
27/08/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate an integrated live production environment at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), combining K-Frame, Maverik X, ...
27/08/2026
The National Women's Soccer League and Roku have announced an expanded partnership, with the Roku Sports Channel becoming the exclusive streaming home of ei...
27/08/2026
FuboTV has announced the launch of ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) and SEC Network (SECN ) on the Fubo streaming service at no additional cost to subscribers with En...
27/08/2026
Sports marketers have entered the experiential age. Today, sports teams, leagues, and venues are increasingly using immersive interactions and real world events...
27/08/2026
MultiDyne will introduce the MDoG-8800 at IBC2026 (Stand 11.C12, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), extending its openGear portfolio with a high-density fiber tra...
27/08/2026
The Joint Task Force on the Dynamic Media Facility (JT-DMF), an initiative of AMWA and the EBU, will host a series of informal Ask Me Anything sessions during...
27/08/2026
Homestream, a mobile app that automatically syncs a team's local radio broad...
27/08/2026
A packager for TNT Sports, Kwokman Productions is on hand for the unique event w...
27/08/2026
After more than 3,000 games, five members of YES Network's original staff re...
27/08/2026
Advertisers gain granular CTV targeting and turnkey reporting across eligible in...
27/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/08/2026
Profuz Digital makes a mark by launching a powerful upgrade to its Profuz LAPIS digital media management platform this IBC in Amsterdam at Stand 8.A88. The late...
27/08/2026
DHD.audio has chosen IBC 2026 as the launch venue for what it defines as one of the most radical advances in the companys 30 year history.
Every broadcast trad...
27/08/2026
Direct connectivity between planning, production and graphics for creativity and streamlined workflows...
27/08/2026
New Photoshop innovations bring you more choice and control at every stage of yo...
27/08/2026
First Two Seasons of Vertical Series Vultures Shot on Blackmagic Design Cameras
Brie Clayton August 27, 2026
0 Comments
Director and DoP of Vultures ...
27/08/2026
For years, the media and entertainment industry has hesitated to use AI-voiced dubbing due to concern for audience experience. New data from 3Play Media, a glob...
27/08/2026
Starfish Technologies has announced the forthcoming V9 release of its Advantage AD workstation, adding support for voice synthesis services and giving Audio Des...
27/08/2026
Lightware's UBEX is a powerful AV-over-IP product well suited for rental and staging workflows where systems must be fast to deploy, easy to repurpose, and ...
27/08/2026
Lightware has expanded the scalability of its 10G TPN AV-over-IP platform with the introduction of the new TPN-MMU-X100 Matrix Management Unit, enabling systems...
27/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/08/2026
PlayBox Neo Stand 7.C29 IBC2026 - 11 14 September
Well-established global specialists in media playout, automation, and streaming solutions, PlayBox Neo ...
27/08/2026
Rise Academy, the broadcast and media skills charity dedicated to delivering practical media technology learning experiences, careers resources and work experie...
27/08/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase the latest evolution of its ...
27/08/2026
NVIDIA's Gamescom announcements are revealing what's next for GeForce NOW, with new ways to play, more supported devices and platforms, and even more bi...
26/08/2026
Roku Sports Channel will stream eight matches free beginning Aug. 30 as league shifts Sunday-night games away from Victory+...
26/08/2026
Evertz and Mobile TV Group detail how on-premises infrastructure and cloud resou...
26/08/2026
The Sennheiser Group will demonstrate its broadcast audio portfolio at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Booth D50), covering wireless microphone workflows, studio monitoring, a...
26/08/2026
Appear and Transmisiones Televisivas TVTEL Limitada have announced the deploymen...
26/08/2026
Leader Electronics has announced that Danish broadcast rental company Minitech has purchased a Leader LPX500 hybrid IP/SDI waveform monitor and LT4670 sync puls...
26/08/2026
Encompass will demonstrate its Altitude media services at IBC2026 (IAMT Hub, Diamond Lounge, Hall 3, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14).
Key products on show incl...
26/08/2026
Daktronics has partnered with Massillon Washington High School in Ohio to install a new LED video display and implement the Daktronics Camino show control platf...
26/08/2026
Clear-Com has appointed Dubai-based Venuetech LLC as its main partner for the Middle East. Venuetech distributes professional audiovisual solutions across the r...
26/08/2026
NBC Sports NOW, NBC Sports' free 24/7 streaming channel, will launch a new weekday lineup beginning Monday, August 31, including two new shows.
Not So Fast...
26/08/2026
Calrec will demonstrate updates to its ImPulseV DSP software and Argo ecosystem at IBC2026 (Stand 8.C47), including previews aligned with the EBU's Dynamic ...