The story of a Black 18th century composer comes to stage

Bill Barclay is a director, writer, composer and composer, as well as artistic director of Concert Theatre Works. Barclay wrote “The Chevalier,” about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ANN FINK
Bill Barclay is a director, writer, composer and composer, as well as artistic director of Concert Theatre Works. Barclay wrote “The Chevalier,” about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ANN FINK

 The story of a Black 18th century composer comes to stage

By Tia Carol Jones

Not too many people are aware of Joseph Bologne, a Black 18th Century Master Composer who was a crusader for the abolition of slavery. But, a theater concert piece titled, “The Chevalier,” is hoping to change that.

“The Chevalier” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, at the Kehrein Center for the Arts, located at 5628 W. Washington Blvd. It also will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, at the North Shore Center in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd. and at 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20, at the Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.

Bill Barclay was approached with the idea to do the piece on Bologne after he did “Faranelli and the King” on Broadway, which was created by the Shakespeare’s Globe Theater when he was the music director there. When Barclay was told about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, his jaw dropped and he went home and listened to Bologne’s music.

Barclay knew the story needed to be told and the world needed to know who Bologne was. He acknowledged the race and diversity issue prevalent in Classical music.

“This guy’s story is hugely inspiring being as he put down his bow and picked up his sword and fought for the abolishment of slavery, when he wanted to be a composer and musician. The bravery, I felt, deserved a platform,” he said.

Barclay read Bologne’s biography. He discovered that Bologne lived with Mozart for six months and was Marie Antoinette’s music teacher. He also was Alexandre Dumas’ fencing teacher. Barclay told the Boston Symphony Orchestra about the piece, and they commissioned it. It premiered in 2019.

The first iteration of the work was a concert that had actors reading scenes describing Bologne’s life, as well as how he created his works.

“I became convinced that he was coding equality into his compositions. He was actually getting the musicians to work together more than they typically were doing in the music of the day,” he said.

Barclay was using the scenes to shine a light on what he was discovering about Bologne’s music. The first audience was so taken by the story that Barclay knew it was something that needed to be expanded and taken on tour.

Barclay’s endeavor to tell the story of a Black composer in the 18th Century as a white playwright became complex after George Floyd death. He convened artists of color to consult and edit the work and advocate for the play. He wanted to make sure he was doing the right thing and do a great benefit to the story.

The aim became to get the piece to younger people and audiences of color, and help classical music enter a new chapter – to be more inclusive and more supportive of getting artists of color into tenured tracks in major orchestras.

The production of “The Chevalier” raises money for the Sphinx National Alliance for Audition Support, which assist musicians of color with funds necessary for them to audition for jobs in orchestras throughout the country. Every performance of the work can only be done by orchestras that are members of the Sphinx Alliance.

“I hope people want to go back and read about his life, I want people to be interested and see themselves in the canon of Classical music.  I want people to be curious about how many other figures there are that have amazing stories, and those stories should be told,” he said.

R.J. Foster portrays Bologne in the piece. He has experience in classical theater and television. He always loved Classical music and this role has been a great way for him to learn more about it and also about Bologne. He had heard about Bologne but never dug into his life. When the opportunity came, Foster jumped on it.

This piece has allowed Foster to learn about France, before the French Revolution, the dynamics of what happened and what it means for Black people and colonialism.

Foster thought it was interesting that Bologne, as a high-profile Black man in France, was doing abolition work.

“Imagine being one of a very few, especially of any sort of means, to do that and how hard that has to be, especially in that period of time, with so much political turmoil and things going on, and trying to get a goal of ending slavery, feeling kind of alone,” he said.

Foster hopes that his portrayal of Bologne opens up people’s minds and gives them a perspective of the past in a different way.

“My hope is that it makes people think in a more three-dimensional way about history and about culture and about what goes into that and the people who participate in that,” he said. “Why is a person like this not thought about or talked about?”

Tickets for the Kehrein Center performance are free. For tickets, visit baroque.org/chevalier-austin. Tickets are $25-$100 and are available now through the box offices of the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts (northshorecenter.org) and the Symphony Center (cso.org).

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