The UNC Symphony Orchestra’s spring concert will look a little different this year.
Due to pandemic restrictions, the normally 80-plus person orchestra has been pared down to 29 string-only members. That’s partly due to rehearsal spacing guidelines but also because of the aerosols that wind instruments generate.
Still, music director and conductor Tonu Kalam saw an opportunity to make the concert a memorable one. With funding from the College of Arts & Sciences’ music department and Arts Everywhere, he approached Maestro William Henry Curry, his good friend and Durham Symphony’s conductor, about composing an original piece for the concert.