A COLLECTIVE, CELLULAR EXPERIENCE: Wilmington Symphony Orchestra debuts 'A New Era' and season

Accessibility of the arts—especially orchestra—is a topic Dr. Peter Askim and I connected over quickly while discussing his new role as Music Director and Conductor of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra (WSO). I have covered Wilmington’s music scene for years, yet I have never actually made it to a WSO performance. Why? Honestly, I’ve always put orchestra in the category of “special occasion”—a little too polished, perhaps a little too pricey, maybe just too much for me. And I know I’m not alone in that hesitation.

“There’s a myth that you have to dress up and know a lot [about orchestra music] and I disagree,” Askim says. “This is the city’s orchestra, it can change people’s lives.”

A NEW ERA: Dr. Peter Askim joins Wilmington Symphony Orchestra. Courtesy photo.

Speaking specifically of WSO’s “A New Era: Opening Night with Peter Askim” this Saturday at CFCC's Wilson Center, Askim says this performance truly ushers our community's orchestra into a new era. Featuring the premiere of [ n e w w o r k ] by Algernon Robinson, commissioned by WSO, this season opener also includes bookends Kauyumari by Gabriela Ortiz and Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. 

“These pieces express universal human emotion, and anyone can enter that experience,” Askim says. “I think everybody experiences music as a connection to self, community, history. I curate that 90-minute experience: beginning, middle, end. But at the most basic level, it’s going to be super fun [with] energetic, uplifting, infectious rhythm.”

WSO gains a seasoned leader with Askim. His current titles include Artistic Director of The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, conductor of the Raleigh Civic Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, as well as Director of Orchestral Activities at North Carolina State University. 

Still living and working in Raleigh with his family, Askim commutes to Wilmington—embracing the hours-long drives to catch up on podcasts and audiobooks—he’s spending as much time in the Port City as possible: meeting with the board, musicians, scouting ice cream shops, squeezing in a stopover at the Wilmington Railroad Museum. 

“We had a short window to plan the season this spring,” he notes, “but I’m excited to bring our plans to life. Season planning is complex: choosing music, telling a season-long story, booking soloists and local collaborators, and making sure each program has something that’s fun and inspiring. I’m already imagining the 2026–27 season. It’s a lot of moving parts, but I’m proud of what we put together.”

Askim says opening night this Saturday is meant to be community-centered, with the debut of [ n e w w o r k ] from Algernon Robinson. “Music for his hometown orchestra about his hometown,” Askim says, and it was an intentional choice. “The orchestra is part of the community, and new music by a local composer tells that story.”

Robinson grew up listening to orchestral music alongside jazz, gospel, hip-hop, and pop. Those influences, says Robinson, are ever present when he writes. “I try to create music that speaks to both the audience and the ensemble, while still pushing the boundaries of what’s expected,” Robinson explains. “I love to experiment, but I never want the audience to feel shut out. At the same time, it has to be meaningful for me artistically.”

COMPOSED LOCALLY: Algernon Robinson penned his latest orchestra piece [ n e w w o r k ]  for WSO's latest season's opening night. Courtesy photo.

With [ n e w w o r k ], Robinson wanted to capture for audiences a sense of celebration, as well as showcase what the orchestra does so well: navigate complex rhythms and harmonies with a wide range of dynamics and colorful tone. A true celebration of new music and era, led by a new generation.

“I think orchestras today benefit from programming works by living composers and drawing from styles that connect with wider audiences, such as film scores, video game music, and a variety of genres,” Robinson explains. “Orchestras are capable of creating programs that are both exciting and relevant, and I’m grateful that Peter is such a champion of new music.

“I was fortunate to hear Dr. Askim rehearse the orchestra during his candidacy,” Robinson continues. “I was inspired by how much he drew out of the group in just one rehearsal. That experience made me excited about where the WSO is headed.”

Continue to read for the rest of our edited conversations with Dr. Peter Askim and Wilmington-composer Algernon Robinson. 

Learn more about Wilmington Symphony Orchestra’s anticipated opening night this Saturday at Wilson Center at wilmingtonsymphony.org.

encore (e): How do Robinson, Ortiz, and Tchaikovsky fit together on the program?

Peter Askim (PA): Each piece tells a facet of a single story: building on the past and imagining the future. Ortiz’s work draws from ritual and consulting ancestors to heal the world—carrying past traditions forward. Tchaikovsky’s symphony moves from quiet darkness to triumphant light; it’s a journey from fate or conscience toward hope. Together with Robinson’s new work, the program confronts the past and points toward the future.

So each piece tells a different aspect of that story. In Gabriela Ortiz’s piece, the concept involves a ritual of consulting ancestors to heal the world, carrying on past traditions to imagine a new way forward. It’s deeply beautiful and, for many, feels foreign. I think we’ve lost touch with our ancestors in our culture; maintaining that connection is spiritually meaningful.

e: That feels very universal and relevant right now.

PA: Yes, it’s universal. One of my goals is that everybody is welcome at the orchestra. The orchestra should tell stories everyone can hear, regardless of where you are on a spectrum, political or otherwise. We try to get closer to shared spiritual truths in the concert hall.

Being in a room with 80 musicians and a thousand people sharing the experience, we’re not on our phones, and we can feel vibrations Tchaikovsky imagined 200 hundred years ago. It’s the only art form where we physically feel someone else’s emotional journey on a cellular level. That’s powerful. These three composers are describing human emotion and the human journey — three perspectives on what it means to be human across time and space.

e: Tell me about the ordering and the rhythm of that process.

PA: It’s a fascinating puzzle of beginning, middle, end that takes us someplace. Ortiz starts quietly with one percussion instrument playing an infectious rhythm that builds and builds, like ancestors emerging from the distance. The piece grows from almost silence to a glorious, pulsing dance and ends in a huge cry of joy, like a birth, a way to begin a new era.

Tchaikovsky is an emotional journey from darkness into light: it begins with quiet, dark whispers (clarinets, strings)—the voice of conscience or fate—and transforms into a triumphant declaration of hope. Together with the new work and the other pieces, the program feels like confronting the past and moving toward hope.

e: How have you all worked together leading up to opening night?

Algernon Robinson (AR): When Peter first approached me about writing this piece for opening night, I was eager to share some of my initial ideas with him. Once we settled the logistics, like instrumentation, I dove into writing. After sending the final draft, he and I worked out a few small but important details. Now I’m looking forward to attending an upcoming rehearsal and talking through the finishing touches before the premiere. For me, the most thrilling moment is always hearing the music come alive for the first time. After living in my head (and on my hard drive) for so long, hearing my music played by living musicians is always exciting.

e: Is there a notable evolution to your work we get to hear on the 20th?

AR: This piece weaves together several themes that transform as the music unfolds. Small fragments of melodies return later as accompaniments to other themes, and a fanfare theme interrupts the texture at a few key moments. I wanted to explore how far I could transform these materials, how they could shift, be turned upside down, be torn apart and put back together, while also making full use of the orchestra’s palette of tone colors and dynamic range.

e: How do you think this overall collection of music meets and comes together?

AR: I think this program is a fantastic way to launch a new chapter for the WSO. I’m honored to share the program with Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyamari, an exciting, rhythmic piece that makes you want to move. And of course, Tchaikovsky’s [Symphony No. 5] is one of the great orchestral works: big and bold, but also tender and intimate in places. For me, the common thread in all three works is their range of scale, showing what the orchestra can do with a small group of players and with its full forces. The range is what, I think, makes this program so compelling.

Details:

A New Era: Opening Night with Peter Askim

September 20, 7:30 p.m.

Wilson Center at CFCC, 703 N. 3rd St.

Tickets start at $31.57

wilsoncentertickets.com