March 27, 2019
TIFTON—One of the most powerful presentations ever staged by the Concert Band at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will take place at 7 p.m. on April 11 when the band presents “From Darkness to Light” in its annual spring concert at the Tift Theatre in downtown Tifton.
Johnny Folsom, in his seventh year as the director of the concert band, said the evening will incorporate the music of renowned composer Quincy Hilliard, who wrote “As the World Watched” after a chance encounter at Folsom’s house in 2015. The concert is open to the public at no charge.
“Quincy came and worked with our band that year, and I invited him to our house afterward,” Folsom said. “My wife, Betty Ann, shared with Quincy a book she had just finished reading and one that had touched her deeply. The book was ‘While the World Watched’ by Carolyn Maull McKinstry.”
McKinstry was a little girl who survived the Birmingham church bombing incident on Sept. 15, 1963 which killed four girls and injured many others. She later wrote the book which was subtitled, “A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement.”
“Quincy seemed interested in the book, so Betty Ann gave him her copy,” Folsom said. “Two years later, we got a phone call, and Quincy said he had just written a piece of music relating to the book Betty Ann had shared with him two years earlier.”
Folsom said the composer sent Betty Ann an autographed score of “As the World Watched” which stated, “To Betty Ann Folsom, without you this piece would not have been written. Thank you for providing the inspiration for the work!!”
“It’s a very dark and mournful piece,” Folsom said. “But we don’t need to leave it there. That’s where the concert gets its title, ‘From Darkness to Light.’”
The band opens with “American Visions,” a piece Folsom called an “upbeat American fanfare.” Then it proceeds into “As the World Watched,” followed by “Our Yesterdays Lengthen Like Shadows.”
“One note starts that piece and continues throughout the piece,” Folsom said. ‘It represents the difference that you would make in the world. You would notice if that note was missing.”
The next selection, “For Our Heroes,” is tribute to first responders. Folsom called them “ordinary citizens who stepped into the line of fire.”
The band then moves into “Hope Springs Eternal” which has a nod to the famous hymn, “It is Well with My Soul,” which focuses on celebrating life and everlasting optimism.
The “Infinite Hope” segment of the concert refers directly to the Martin Luther King, Jr., quote, “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” Folsom said the piece seeks to forge a path of faith and trust in a world often filled with chaos.
ABAC student Landon Chavis, a French Horn/voice major from Hazlehurst, joins the band in Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless The USA” to close out the evening.
“I am excited about this concert,” Folsom said. “It’s not your normal, everyday thing. I am looking forward to our students sharing this program with the audience.”
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