The City of Detroit and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) invite you to the premiere of the first official Detroit City Symphony, composed by Detroit Composer Laureate Patrick Prouty. The work, titled 313: Six Vignettes for Orchestra, will be featured at a DTE Community Concert with the DSO at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit on September 19.

In addition to Prouty’s new piece, the concert program will include works that chronicle the timeline of a day, kicking off with a joyful daybreak and ending with a wonder-filled moonlight finale. The program will be conducted by new DSO Assistant Conductor and Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador Ingrid Martin, marking her debut in the role.

All DTE Foundation Community Concerts are free and open to the public, yet reservations are required for entry. The September 19 concert will be at 7 p.m. at Greater Grace Temple (23500 W Seven Mile Rd, Detroit, MI 48219) Tickets can be reserved now at dso.org. At each venue, audiences are invited to participate in family-friendly pre-concert activities from 5:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. All concerts are general admission (no seats will be assigned), and all seating is first-come, first-served. All concert venues are accessible.

Prouty, a Detroit native and award-winning bassist, composer, conductor, and educator, was announced as the city’s first-ever Composer Laureate Patrick Prouty last September.

“I’m pleased to join luminaries Jamon Jordan, Detroit's official historian, and Detroit poet laureate jessica Care moore in enhancing the arts within our community and inspiring the next generation of Detroiters to pursue careers in music right here in Detroit,” Prouty said then. “I'm grateful to give back to the City of Detroit in this way — the city that raised me and helped shape the composer and musician I am today. Artistically, I want to tell Detroit stories through music. Stories about where I am from and the people that formed me as a person and a musician.”

Mayor Mike Duggan called Prouty an inspiration.

"Detroit always has been rich in musical talent, and this first-ever City symphony concert will be a great chance for people across the region to experience the remarkable skills of Detroit's first Composer Laureate, Patrick Prouty."

Prouty’s skills as a composer cross many genres including jazz, salsa, orchestral, and avant-garde, and music has been featured in TV shows and feature films including Brooklyn 99, The Today Show, and Breaking Bad. As Detroit’s first-ever Composer Laureate, Prouty advocates for and represents the city’s diverse musical heritage, community, and spirit. Detroit ACE hosts the new paid, honorary post, which like City Historian Jamon Jordan and Poet Laureate jessica Care moore, is funded by the Ford Foundation.

The performances this September are part of the annual DTE Community Concerts, powered by the DTE Energy Foundation in partnership with the City of Detroit Office of Arts, Culture & Entrepreneurship (Detroit ACE). For more than 50 years, the DTE Foundation, the philanthropic arm of DTE Energy, has supported the DSO and its cultural programs. There will be a free encore performance of Prouty’s City Symphony on Saturday, September 20 at 7 p.m. at The Hawk-Farmington Hills Community Center (29995 W 12 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills, MI 48334)

“The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is proud to once again join forces with the DTE Foundation and Detroit ACE to share the joy of music with communities across metro Detroit and celebrate this historic premiere by Patrick Prouty,” said DSO President and CEO Erik Rönmark. “These concerts reflect our shared belief that music has the power to connect and inspire. This year is especially exciting as we welcome Ingrid Martin for her first performances as our Assistant Conductor. We can’t wait to share these experiences with Ingrid and our neighbors across the city.”