The Cherokee Trail of Tears and Tulsa Race Riot will figure prominently in a new symphony by SCL member and University of Tulsa professor Joseph Rivers, commissioned by the Signature Symphony at TCC in Tulsa for its November 5 concert. The symphony consists of four movements, each telling a story from Oklahoma history that highlights challenges faced by one of the various communities who came to the state and have contributed to it with their ingenuity and unique gifts.  

The symphony, subtitled “Oklahoma Peoples in Trial and Triumph,” will be accompanied by narration and visual media and feature the Signature Chorale and Cherokee National Youth Choir.  Also included in the musical stories are the coming of the European American pioneers and oil men, culminating with E.W. Marland, oil man and one-time Oklahoma governor, and Lydie Marland, whose story and memory are preserved for posterity by the Marland Mansion of Ponca City.  After a section on the Dust Bowl, the symphony then turns to brighter impressions and visual images of many of the accomplishments that are occurring today that signal hope for the future.  

The performance will be take place on November 5, 2011 in the Van Trease Auditorium on the Tulsa Community College Southeast Campus, beginning at 8pm.