Facing the Music

 

Facing the Music

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Joseph Haydn, by Errick Freeman

Robert Schumann, by Errick Freeman / Johannes Brahms, by Payton and DaQuane Finley

By Tom Wachunas

 

EXHIBIT:  Canton Symphony Orchestra (CSO) 2022 Fundraising Gala Online Auction, featuring the Composer Portrait Project - artworks by Errick Freeman, DaQuane Finley, and Payton Finley.

For some background, and a closer look at the art and artists, click on this CSO website link:

https://www.cantonsymphony.org/gallery/

 

EXCERPT: “In the summer of 2021, Rachel Hagemeier, CSO Manager of Education and Community Engagement, and Errick Freeman, visual artist, molded the idea for the Composer Portrait Project. This portrait project aims to help the patrons of Canton Symphony Orchestra visualize the people behind the music and showcase the diversity we do not realize is on stage. Before each concert, portraits of the composers featured on that concert are unveiled to the public. Errick brought together a group of local artists, Dauber Copse Fam, to create art pieces on wood, 2’x4′ in size. Each portrait is unique, different in composition, and representative of the character of the composer. By the end of the 2021-2022 season, 25 composers will fill the space of CSO’s gallery.”

 

   For the duration of the CSO 2021-22 concert season (ending on June 25 at 7:30 p.m. with the “Triumphant Tchaikovsky” program), an ongoing concert of sorts has been evolving in the gallery at Zimmermann Symphony Center. It’s a marvelous concert of portraits, or music for the eyes, if you will, performed by a trio of truly remarkable artists: Errick Freeman, DaQuane Finley, and Payton Finley.

   Together, they have constructed an intriguing montage of bold, spectacular pictorial and compositional styles. Capturing more than mere facial likenesses, their individual renderings exude an intense thoughtfulness about the very spirit of the composers and their musical visions. The collection is a wholly compelling reflection of the depth and diversity of music performed by the CSO throughout its season.

   Even though the originally scheduled annual CSO gala has been cancelled, the online auction is still LIVE! Don't miss your chance to win an incredibly unique portrait of a composer from the 21-22 season, produced in partnership with artists Errick Freeman, Payton Finley, and DaQuane Finley. Bidding ends on June 26, 2022 at 11PM.  

Click on this link to participate:

https://go.rallyup.com/csogala