Rêverie: Dreams of Harlem and Paris

Imani Winds are back at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center on Saturday, October 31, for a concert called Rêverie: Dreams of Harlem and Paris. It's presented by the center in partnership with Chamber Music Pittsburgh, and the program brings together three founding members of the ensemble, including flutist Valerie Coleman.

The set is built around Coleman's own work: Matisseries, Portraits of Langston, and Cotton Club Juba. Alongside those, the group plays Maurice Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello, Claude Debussy's Rêverie, and William Grant Still's Summerland, which comes from his Three Visions. The title Rêverie is taken from the Debussy piece, and the whole evening looks back at the early twentieth century through the perspectives of Black artists at the center of 'Le Jazz Hot' and the Harlem Renaissance.

Valerie Coleman is the focal point here. She's a GRAMMY-nominated founding flutist of Imani Winds, as well as a composer, musician, and educator who was named Performance Today's 2020 Classical Woman of the Year. Having her on stage as both a performer and a composer gives the night a double layer—you hear her playing the ensemble's repertoire and her own compositions in the same breath.

The concert runs from 8 PM to 9 PM at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, 980 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. It's a single hour of music, so you can be in and out without a late night on a Saturday.