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ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK
An American Port of Call (1984)

Growing up in upstate New York, composer Adolphus Hailstork sang as a chorister in the Choir of Men and Boys at Albany Cathedral of All Saints while simultaneously studying violin, piano, organ, and voice. The grandeur of cathedral acoustics and architecture instilled in him a curiosity about the “sounds that can swell up in such a huge edifice,” which he has combined with a rich tapestry of influences ranging from Western classical music to gospel, jazz, and blues to create a unique compositional style. Hailstork was a composer from his high school years, subsequently studying music theory and composition at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he discovered what he called the “campfire approach” to learning spirituals by ear. He continued his training with renowned pedagogue Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, France, and later obtained a second bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. Hailstork completed his comprehensive music education with a Ph.D. in composition from Michigan State University, and later received a Fulbright fellowship for study in Guyana.

In addition to his own noteworthy career, Hailstork has endeavored to bring attention to the next generation of composers, encouraging conductors and arts administrators to “care about opening their doors and lifting their ceilings.” He counsels young composers that “You’d better have something to say, and you had better do it well,” and to create music with an impact. He has held appointments at Michigan State, Youngstown State, and Norfolk State universities and is currently emeritus professor of music and eminent scholar at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Through the past decades, Hailstork has sought to create a varied and balanced body of music, writing that “I always wanted to be diverse—I never had solid roots.” His repertory of more than 250 works traverses all genres, including chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, chamber ensembles, band, orchestra, and opera. Shaped by his military service as lieutenant in the U.S. Army, a number of Hailstork’s pieces, including An American Port of Call, are infused with patriotism and pride for his country. 

Hailstork’s recent commissions have addressed themes of Black liberation, civil rights, and the experiences of Black Americans, including Rise for Freedom, a compelling opera about the Underground Railroad; I Speak of Peace, featuring the words of President John F. Kennedy; Done Made My Vow, with a libretto based on texts from Barack Obama; and A Knee on the Neck, a tribute to George Floyd. Through his music, Hailstork explores meaningful historical and modern-day events in America, issuing a call for listeners to consider a more thoughtful and culturally rich society. Recalling the “American” sound of Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland and described as bristling with energy, An American Port of Call is Hailstork’s best known and most recorded composition. 

An American Port of Call was composed on commission from the Virginia Symphony, which premiered the piece in 1985. He describes it as a “concert overture, in sonata-allegro form, portraying the strident (and occasionally tender and even mysterious) energy of a busy American port city.” Inspired by his resident city of Norfolk, this one-movement overture captures the hustle and bustle, as well as inherent risk, of working in a large American port.

An American Port of Call opens with a vigorous theme depicting man and machinery on the docks. The rhythmic opening flourish is juxtaposed against nostalgic passages marked by lyrical bassoon and clarinet solos infused with jazz and the blues. The dockworkers return to their arduous tasks, with the frenzied activity imaginatively interpreted by piccolo, woodblock, and muted trumpet. 

One of this country’s most prolific and respected composers, Hailstork has created an expansive collection of programmatic works addressing deeper cultural meanings and often difficult subjects. As he writes, “What I try to address in some of my compositions is pulling for a sense of unity for us to look at ourselves, and see what we’ve done to our people and to each other, and see if we can do better.”

—Nancy Plum

ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK
An American Port of Call (1984)

Growing up in upstate New York, composer Adolphus Hailstork sang as a chorister in the Choir of Men and Boys at Albany Cathedral of All Saints while simultaneously studying violin, piano, organ, and voice. The grandeur of cathedral acoustics and architecture instilled in him a curiosity about the “sounds that can swell up in such a huge edifice,” which he has combined with a rich tapestry of influences ranging from Western classical music to gospel, jazz, and blues to create a unique compositional style. Hailstork was a composer from his high school years, subsequently studying music theory and composition at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he discovered what he called the “campfire approach” to learning spirituals by ear. He continued his training with renowned pedagogue Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, France, and later obtained a second bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. Hailstork completed his comprehensive music education with a Ph.D. in composition from Michigan State University, and later received a Fulbright fellowship for study in Guyana.

In addition to his own noteworthy career, Hailstork has endeavored to bring attention to the next generation of composers, encouraging conductors and arts administrators to “care about opening their doors and lifting their ceilings.” He counsels young composers that “You’d better have something to say, and you had better do it well,” and to create music with an impact. He has held appointments at Michigan State, Youngstown State, and Norfolk State universities and is currently emeritus professor of music and eminent scholar at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Through the past decades, Hailstork has sought to create a varied and balanced body of music, writing that “I always wanted to be diverse—I never had solid roots.” His repertory of more than 250 works traverses all genres, including chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, chamber ensembles, band, orchestra, and opera. Shaped by his military service as lieutenant in the U.S. Army, a number of Hailstork’s pieces, including An American Port of Call, are infused with patriotism and pride for his country. 

Hailstork’s recent commissions have addressed themes of Black liberation, civil rights, and the experiences of Black Americans, including Rise for Freedom, a compelling opera about the Underground Railroad; I Speak of Peace, featuring the words of President John F. Kennedy; Done Made My Vow, with a libretto based on texts from Barack Obama; and A Knee on the Neck, a tribute to George Floyd. Through his music, Hailstork explores meaningful historical and modern-day events in America, issuing a call for listeners to consider a more thoughtful and culturally rich society. Recalling the “American” sound of Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland and described as bristling with energy, An American Port of Call is Hailstork’s best known and most recorded composition. 

An American Port of Call was composed on commission from the Virginia Symphony, which premiered the piece in 1985. He describes it as a “concert overture, in sonata-allegro form, portraying the strident (and occasionally tender and even mysterious) energy of a busy American port city.” Inspired by his resident city of Norfolk, this one-movement overture captures the hustle and bustle, as well as inherent risk, of working in a large American port.

An American Port of Call opens with a vigorous theme depicting man and machinery on the docks. The rhythmic opening flourish is juxtaposed against nostalgic passages marked by lyrical bassoon and clarinet solos infused with jazz and the blues. The dockworkers return to their arduous tasks, with the frenzied activity imaginatively interpreted by piccolo, woodblock, and muted trumpet. 

One of this country’s most prolific and respected composers, Hailstork has created an expansive collection of programmatic works addressing deeper cultural meanings and often difficult subjects. As he writes, “What I try to address in some of my compositions is pulling for a sense of unity for us to look at ourselves, and see what we’ve done to our people and to each other, and see if we can do better.”

—Nancy Plum