Had To Be: Cello Concerto (Canadian premiere, co-commissioned by OM, Spoleto Festival and New York Philharmonic)

Performed in its Canadian premiere, Nathalie Joachim’s cello concerto Had to Be was jointly commissioned by the Orchestre Métropolitain, the New York Philharmonic, the Chautauqua Institution and the Spoleto Festival. This is composer Nathalie Joachim’s first work for full orchestra and solo instrument, written specifically for rising cello star Seth Parker Woods.

While the first half of Eternal Orlando bridges the divide between femininity and masculinity, challenging gender norms, this concerto pushes the boundaries of Western symphonic music by integrating stylistic features drawn from Afro-American and African musical traditions. Had to Be taps into the diverse musical heritage of the African diaspora, establishing the work as a powerful hymn to freedom and liberation. The first movement, “Homegoing,” begins with a small ensemble backstage performing a melody inspired by the joyful funeral marches of the Caribbean. Throughout the movement, the soloist interjects with emotive melodies that evoke African American gospel hymns.

The movement titled “Flare” merges early twentieth-century jazz with the polyrhythms found
in West African music. Led by the bold sounds of brass, woodwinds and percussion, the orchestra dances in tandem with the soloist. Calm returns with the closing movement, “With Grace,” which embraces a minimalist style. The orchestra invokes a repeated poetic incantation, while the cello resists the tension, singing angelic prayers that soar above the chaos. As a whole, Had to Be represents the complex relationships between gender, ethnicity, class and style. The work is a tribute to our ongoing commitment to freedom.