By Jeff Maisey
Composer Dr. Adolphus Hailstork was recently recognized by the Virginia Arts Festival with its prestigious Ovation Award during a private ceremony on the 6th floor of downtown Norfolk’s Slover Library.
The Ovation Award is an annual honor presented by the Virginia Arts Festival to recognize the lifetime achievements of artists with significant ties to the Hampton Roads region. Established in 2019, the award celebrates individuals whose contributions have had a profound impact on the arts locally and beyond.
The previous Ovation Award recipients: World renowned dancer Lorraine Graves (2019), Broadway artistic director/conductor/pianist Rob Fisher (2022), and former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancer/educator Elbert Watson (2023).
Hailstork, a professor at Old Dominion University, has deep roots in the Hampton Roads area. He has written more than 250 works for chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, various chamber ensembles, band, orchestra, and opera. Blending musical ideas from the African, Native American and European traditions, his compositions have gained acclaim and have been performed by major orchestras and ensembles. In 2012, a Naxos recording of his piece, An American Port of Call was released featuring the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. In October 2022, he was featured as “Composer of the Week” on BBC Radio 3. In 2021, Fanfare on Amazing Grace was performed by the United States Marine Band at the inauguration ceremony of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Groundbreaking conductor and composer JoAnn Falletta led the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in a salute to Hailstork’s finest works in a concert celebrating his 85th birthday. To Falletta, Hailstork is a living legend composer.
“He’s our superstar,” Falletta told Veer Magazine at the award ceremony. “For me to come here (Norfolk) and know that I would be working alongside this man and playing his music with my orchestra that was a gift that incomparable. He’s loved all over the world.”
Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear, best known for performing all 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven in a single day, was also present for the award ceremony and performed during the special birthday concert at NSU.
When asked how Adolphus Hailstork will be remembered over time as an American composer, Goodyear told Veer Magazine the following: “My prediction is that Hailstork is going to be honored as one of the greatest composers not only in America, but in the world. He is masterful at every genre.”
Regarded as one of the most important pianists of his generation, Stewart Goodyear feels stylistic comparisons to the likes of Beethoven and Chopin are warranted.
“Every (piano) concerto I’ve had the honor to perform each composer has brought something that is uniquely personal, and Hailstork is absolutely no exception. He brings a warmth, and I feel like I hear Virginia in his work. It’s everything that one could hear in an iconic piano concerto, but it’s uniquely Hailstork.”
When asked how his compositions have evolved over time, Hailstork said, “I’ve become much more pragmatic.”
Reflecting on his long career and the breadth of his work, the humble and jovial composer shared this with Veer Magazine on how he thinks people will evaluate his compositions in the years ahead.
“A populist who wrote a few pieces that a few people like. I am very much taken with the events of the times in my writing — another thing that will make me very passé in a very short period of time.”