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INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER Friday, March 13, 2026 Page A5BROWNContinued from A1Get tips and tricks for your garden from Jenn Nawada, landscaper and certified Horticulturalist from the PBS Series This Old House.MAR. 14-22INDIANA STATE FAIRGROUNDS WEST PAVILION & EXPO HALLIndianaFlowerAndPatioShow.comDiscount courtesy ofbased on an aspect of Coretta Scott King%u2019s life.%u00a0Lee studied piano performance at Andrews University before transferring to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he finished his degree and pursued a graduate degree in composition. %u201cPhenomenal Queen%u201d is the first piece Lee has composed for voice and orchestra but said it%u2019s a companion piece to a concerto he wrote about Martin Luther King Jr.%u201cI think music really reaches to the soul more than just simple words can do,%u201d Lee said. %u201cI just think it really moves the individual, the soul, to even want to be a better human being; how we think about treating our fellow man and woman, men and women. %u2026 and I try to do that in my writing, like choosing aspects of harmony and rhythm, I really kind of go into that inner soul of the individual.%u201dNone of the written words are biographical, Brown said. It%u2019s all conceptual. When composing the piece, Lee used his own writing, as well as a variety of negro spirituals, poetry and Bible verses in the public domain to create a balance between the human voice and the orchestra. The first movement, entitled %u201cAnd I Can Sing,%u201d honors King%u2019s aspirations before her marriage to Martin Luther King Jr. The movement discusses King%u2019s beginnings as a classically trained soprano and her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Lee said.%u00a0The second movement, titled %u201cMovements,%u201d is about the Civil Rights Movement and King%u2019s involvement alongside her husband. The piece shifts to the injustices African Americans faced during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s in the third movement, %u201cChoose Justice,%u201d Brown said.%u00a0%u201cBeloved Community%u201d is the final movement of the piece, and aims to be a %u201cvery peaceful and blissful%u201d conclusion to the piece,%u201d Lee said. The final movement incorporates imagery and elements surrounding the idea of a paradise that includes %u201call peoples, whether you%u2019re Black of white, we%u2019re all precious in his sight,%u201d Brown added.%u201cI wanted to take them (audiences) on a journey,%u201d Lee said. %u201cWe moved from %u2026 this idea of aspirations and dreams that we may have in life, and then we have some obstacles that you might hear, especially that second and third movement, in terms of forward progression. Those obstacles that are in the way, how are we going to negotiate around those? Then, moving on to the last, we really come to some sort of resolution.%u201dThe piece also fulfills Morning Brown, Inc.%u2019s mission to diversify the classical music canon, and creates new works by, for and about Black people because Black and brown children %u201cneed to be able to see themselves on the stage%u201d and learn more about King as a historical figure, Brown said. %u201cPhenomenal Queen%u201d includes a fourunit, interactive, interdisciplinary classroom curriculum for middle and high school students, created by veteran music curriculum writer Terry Taylor and music sociologist Joshua Thompson.The curriculum is free to teachers and schools to access at morningbrown.org thanks to a grant from the Philip and Elizabeth Smith Fund of the Indianapolis Foundation.%u201cEven though this music does not have words or libretti that she (King) sang or anything like that, it%u2019s all conceptualized; they get to learn more about her by having the classroom curriculum done and then being able to come to the symphony orchestra, maybe having had opportunities to have cultural events like this presented to them free,%u201d Brown said. %u201cIt%u2019s just important for them to be well-versed and wellconnected to everything that the Indianapolis community has to offer for them, especially culturally.%u201dBrown has dreamed of performing a piece like this for a while and said that being able to present it alongside the ISO and Parnther is a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together and honor King. Brown previously had the chance to sing for King as an Indiana University student in the late 1990s, and said this piece presents a fullcircle moment.Music has always provided comfort to a certain level whenever there is discontent in the system and world, and Brown said she hopes %u201cPhenomenal Queen%u201d is able to %u201cbring some type of comfort for the beloved community.%u201d%u201cAt this time in Earth%u2019s history, it%u2019s about us coming together and thinking about the human condition,%u201d Brown said. %u201cWe are all humans, and we are all dealing with the same thing at the same time. And what my parents would say, %u2018there are no big I%u2019s, or little you%u2019s, it%u2019s just us.%u2019 It%u2019s we, the people.%u201dThe ISO presents Beethoven%u2019s 8th Symphony at 7:30 p.m. on March 13 and 5:30 p.m. on March 14 at Hilbert Circle Theatre, 45 Monument Circle. Tickets start at $15 for students and start at $20 for adults. Free tickets are available to school groups of 10-30 people through the Prelude Pass.%u00a0For more information, visit indianapolissymphony.org.Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.MAR 10 - APR 4IRTLIVE.COM | 317.635.5252THE POWER OF LANGUAGEThis Pulitzer Prize winner takes us to a classroom in Iran where four adults prepare for an English language exam. A thoughtful and heartfelt exploration of the human desire to belong.SCAN FOR TICKETSOffer valid on individual tickets priced $37 and higher. Other exclusions may apply.Save $10 off performances at irtlive.com with promo code IRWELCOME when you book by April 3, 2026.