REVIEW: Marian Anderson Award Gala @ the Kimmel Center, 5/10

CP's Matt Cantor attended last night's Marian Anderson Award Ceremony at the Kimmel Center, where he was in the presence of big-namers like Ed Rendell, Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding and the evening's guest of honor, actress Mia Farrow.

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REVIEW: Marian Anderson Award Gala @ the Kimmel Center, 5/10

POSTED: Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 4:00 PM

Farrow in Zamzam

To follow up on a previous post about the affair, CP writer Matt Cantor attended last night's Marian Anderson Award Ceremony at the Kimmel Center, where he was in the presence of big-namers like Ed Rendell, Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding and the evening's guest of honor, actress Mia Farrow.

After I threw on a button-down shirt and blazer in preparation for last night’s Marian Anderson Award Gala, I started to think I might be overdressed. I finally came to the conclusion that my jacket-but-no-tie look would be snazzy enough for the affair — then I entered the Kimmel Center. A roped-off section of the lobby was packed with more tuxedoed individuals than I’ve ever seen in one place. I came expecting a standard-issue Philadelphia Orchestra concert, but realized I’d wandered in among Philadelphia’s elite. I spotted Ed Rendell among the crowd; others I didn’t recognize, but they all had an aura of importance about them. Suddenly, in my jacket-but-no-tie, I felt less like an early-2008 Barack Obama and more like a guy who’d staggered in through the back door. Fortunately, the publicity people were welcoming, and I was excited to witness what a host later called “one of the great events of Philadelphia.”

After the cocktails and filet-mignon dinner, the concert began. Shuffling into Verizon Hall, I relaxed: those seated around me appeared to be ordinary folks, dressed like I was. The Philadelphia Orchestra sat on a stage set with pictures of Marian Anderson, one of the city’s great musicians. Award chair Pamela Browner White introduced the evening’s sponsors; much was made about this being a major city event. Indeed, it seemed to be: in addition to Rendell, whom White called “the father of the award,” Philly First Lady Lisa Nutter was there, as were representatives of the Phillies, Eagles, and Union (the soccer team). The evening’s host was Philadelphia native Judith Jamison, the artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She seemed completely at ease, going off-script and cracking jokes — even while the audience seemed a bit unsure of itself at times, torn between classical-music etiquette and rock-concert enthusiasm (Carly Simon later advised everyone that they could “be looser”).

The music was as flawless as you’d expect at such an event. With its first piece, Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture to Candide,” the orchestra proved it deserves its stellar reputation. Conducted by Christian Macelaru, the orchestra was explosive without foregoing an immaculate sound. Later, Carly Simon came onstage with her son Ben Taylor and percussionist Everett Bradley to perform her song “Let the River Run,” backed by the full orchestra and two youth choirs. It was one of the night’s highlights, as the many voices blended with a pair of guitars, piano, percussion, and the full orchestra for a giant sound. But the brightest star of the night, on the music front, was Esperanza Spalding, the singer, songwriter, and bassist who won the Best New Artist Grammy this year. She performed a song completely solo; upright bass and vocal alone in a giant auditorium. Her fingers were all over the instrument’s neck, working in complex jazz rhythms, while she delivered an emotional and precise vocal. It was the most intimate performance of the evening, and left the audience stunned.

At the end of the night, Mia Farrow received her award. Despite the quality of the music, Farrow’s speech, largely about her work in Darfur, made it seem like a distant memory.

We see pictures of devastated populations all the time, and sadly, it’s easy to become inured to the images. We’re too quick to forget that these are individual people with individual stories. As a UN Goodwill Ambassador and humanitarian, Farrow has devoted herself to recording Darfuri culture, so that when the countless displaced people someday return to their homeland, the younger generations won’t have forgotten their heritage. To that end, Farrow told us, she set herself at the edge of a refugee camp with a camera, and thousands visited her to record their traditions, from music to harvest techniques to personal memories. She told us about a Darfuri friend whose child was ripped from her arms before she was raped and several of her kids were murdered. Farrow didn’t know if the woman was still alive. The actress showed us montages of her photographs and videos (which can be seen on her website), labeled with captions identifying the people in them. Between Farrow’s anecdotes and the images before me, everything suddenly hit home: the pictures stopped being just pictures, and started being stories — stories whose truth we can’t escape. It was excruciating, and made me feel selfish for living a relatively comfortable life. After a certain point, I could not bear to watch anymore. It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced before, and it took a long while to steady myself.

Grappling with tuxedo-induced fear, witnessing great performances, and confronting images of tragedy: it was a strange night. I hadn’t expected a local award ceremony to be so unsettling — and so worthwhile.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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