Kingsborough Community College Lecturer Christopher L. Thompson is the winner of the San Francisco Symphony\u2019s Emerging Black Composers Project Michael Morgan Prize.<\/p>\n
Kingsborough Community College<\/a> music lecturer Christopher L. Thompson has been awarded the San Francisco Symphony\u2019s Emerging Black Composers Project<\/a>\u00a0Michael Morgan Prize.<\/p>\n As part of the award, the San Francisco Symphony will perform the world premiere of Thompson\u2019s commissioned work\u2014the first known concerto for notated rap and orchestra\u2014during its 2027-2028 season at Davies Symphony Hall.<\/p>\n In addition to the premiere, Thompson, who performs professionally as \u201cMaster Christopher,\u201d will receive a $15,000 commissioning fee, mentorship from EBCP committee members, and resources to workshop his piece with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a supporting partner of the program.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a dream of mine for quite a while,\u201d Thompson said in a statement.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m excited to get to work and to show the world what can happen with rap notation.\u201d<\/p>\n Rap notation is a form of musical composition in which the spoken lyric is treated like any other instrument in a score, Thompson said.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to create a work that still feels like classical music, that also feels like rap; where the music is not an accompaniment, not background, but where there is equal dialogue between the rapper and the music,” he said.<\/p>\n