Published: May 14, 2008 04:13 pm            

Gangster rapper to perform with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Concert part of Langston Hughes Project world premiere

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has announced that Grammy Award-wining gangster rap artist and lecturer Ice-T will join the orchestra to provide narration as part of the world premiere of a fully orchestrated version of famed African-American poet Langston Hughes’ 12-part masterwork titled “Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz” in a concert on 7:30 p.m. June 18 at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. This is the first time ever that Ice-T has performed with a symphony orchestra.

Ticket prices range from $18 to $70 each and may be purchased at the Hilbert Circle Theatre Box Office by calling 639-4300 or online at www.IndianapolisSymphony.org.

This multimedia presentation will feature narration by Ice-T of Hughes’ poetry set to music that was composed and orchestrated by Dr. Ronald McCurdy. McCurdy, founder of the project, composed the scores based on musical cues suggested in notes written by the poet.

Ice-T and the ISO will be joined by the McCurdy/Wright Jazz Quartet to create the first-ever performance of the Langston Hughes Project for orchestra. To accent the program, images by African-American artists and photographers Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, and Romare Bearden of the Harlem Renaissance will be projected on a large screen above the stage, linking the music and poetry to express Hughes’ vision of the global struggle for freedom in the early 1960s. The concert will be conducted by David Spears.

Commenting on his role in the world premiere of this project, Ice-T said, “It is a great honor to perform with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Ron McCurdy for this landmark event celebrating the brilliance of Langston Hughes.”

The original creator of gangster rap, Ice-T has been the central artist in the Los Angeles hip-hop scene and has been a cultural icon for nearly two decades. Through his music, his book (“The Ice Opinion”) and his lecture tours of America’s prisons, high schools, middle schools, libraries, and colleges (including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Kansas State, and Northwestern) he has become an influential spokesman for America’s youth, regardless of color, on subjects such as life, religion, race, safe sex and AIDS, drugs, and the importance of reading.

His film credits include roles in “New Jack City,” “Ricochet,” “Trespass,” and “Johnny Mnemonic.” On television, he has starred for eight seasons in NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as Detective OdaFin Tutuloa and had prominent roles in the series “Players,” NBC’s “Exiled: A Law & Order Movie,” and other guest star appearances in the series “New York Undercover.” Recently, the Grammy Award-winner has just released a new album, “Gangsta Rap,” and as a producer, he formed Rhyme Syndicate Records, which has been releasing records since 1989.

        

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