Kris Johnson Group performs in The Cube on the same day
Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (April 10, 2025) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra's (DSO) Young Peoples Family Concert Series continues with Carnival of the Animals led by Assistant Conductor Na’Zir McFadden (Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador) on May 3 in Orchestra Hall.
Carnival of the Animals is one of Camille Saint-Saëns’s most beloved works. The light-hearted musical suite depicts the sounds and sights of various animals over the course of fourteen short movements. Saint-Saëns’s unique ability to capture the essence of these animals using sound alone lends this work nicely to educational and family-oriented settings.
Prior to this Young Peoples Family Concert Series performance, the Kris Johnson Group will present a Tiny Tots program in the Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Cube. Led by trumpeter Kris Johnson, children are encouraged to find answers to the question, “what is groove?” though musical exploration.
Kris Johnson Group will perform on May 3 at 10 a.m. in the Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Cube. Tickets for this performance start at $13. Carnival of the Animals will take place on May 3 at 11 a.m. in Orchestra Hall. Tickets for this performance start at $16.
Tickets for these performances can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Programming in The Cube is made possible with support from Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings.
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Tiny Tots
Saturday, May 3 at 10 a.m.
The Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Cube
Join the Kris Johnson Group for a fun morning of music where you and your kids can learn about the foundation of Detroit music: GROOVE. From swing, and blues to Motown and hip-hop, “What is Groove?” will get the audience to feel the beat in a whole new way. Led by trumpeter Kris Johnson, this presentation will introduce you to the role of various instruments in a band and how they work together to make music.
Young Peoples Family Concert Series
Saturday, May 3 at 11 a.m.
Orchestra Hall
Na’Zir McFadden, conductor
When does a piano hop like a kangaroo, a violin bray like a donkey, and a cello swim like a swan? In Carnival of the Animals, of course! Through playful poems and Saint-Saëns’s beloved music, the orchestra brings nature’s most amazing creatures to life!
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About Na’Zir McFadden
American conductor Na’Zir McFadden is the Assistant Conductor and Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
McFadden also serves as Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra. Together they’ll present three programs—exploring the masterworks of Sibelius, Schubert, Beethoven, Takashi Yoshimatsu, and Einojuhani Rautavaara.
Establishing his presence on the classical music scene, the 2024–25 season includes debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, and The No Name Pops (formerly the Philly Pops) at Marian Anderson Hall in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center. He’ll also return to the New Mexico Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Ballet, in addition to several engagements with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
This past summer McFadden was invited by the Boston Symphony Orchestra as one of two 2024 Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows. As a fellow, he conducted the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in numerous performances, and participated in masterclasses led by Andris Nelsons, Alan Gilbert, Thomas Wilkins, and Dima Slobodeniouk.
In the 2022–23 season, he made his subscription debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, alongside bass-baritone Davóne Tines and clarinetist Anthony McGill. In March of 2024, he conducted the DSO’s Classical Roots program, premiering two new works by composers Billy Childs and Shelly Washington.
Other career highlights have included debuts with the North Carolina Symphony, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and Philadelphia Ballet. Additionally, McFadden led a recording project with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago—featuring Hilary Hahn as co-collaborator and soloist.
In 2020, McFadden was named the inaugural Apprentice Conductor of the Philadelphia Ballet; a position he held until 2022. He also served as the Robert L. Poster Conducting Apprentice of the New York Youth Symphony from 2020 to 2021.
At the age of 16, McFadden conducted his hometown orchestra—The Philadelphia Orchestra—in their “Pop-Up” series, meeting their Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin who has been a mentor ever since. The Philadelphia Inquirer praised his “great stick [baton] technique and energetic presence on the podium” in their concert review.
About Kris Johnson
Kris Johnson is an empathetic, intelligent, and efficient trumpeter, composer, arranger, film composer, and educator based in Detroit, Michigan. Johnson's professional career is expansive for an artist so young, including: composing several musicals, including "Jim Crow's Tears" and "Hastings Street: The Musical"; scoring films, such as the Emmy-nominated web series "King Ester"; producing successful personal projects, such as The Kris Johnson Group, and #looptherapy; and serving as the founder and director of the Paradise Theatre Big Band through the Detroit Symphony.
With contributions to 6 GRAMMY®-nominated albums as a trumpeter and arranger, including the 2024 GRAMMY®-winning "Basie Swings the Blues" by the Count Basie Orchestra, Johnson is a recognized force in the industry. His career highlights include touring globally as a member of Endea Owens and the Cookout since 2023, and with the esteemed Count Basie Orchestra from 2008-2019 as a soloist and arranger, performing at prestigious venues like the Apollo Theater, Hollywood Bowl, the Sydney Opera House, Kennedy Center, and more. His collaborations extend to musicians like Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennett, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Leslie Odom Jr., and Wycliffe Gordon, showcasing his versatile talent.
Currently, Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Jazz Trumpet at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. His journey as an educator began with his own education at Michigan State University, where he received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Jazz Studies in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He has gone on to serve in the role of Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Utah from 2015-2019; a Project Director for Pontiac School District, leading a U.S. Department of Education Arts in Education - Model Development and Dissemination Grant from 2009-2010; as the Education and Digital Programming Manager for the Motown Museum in 2021; and as the Executive Director of the MSU Community Music School-Detroit from 2022-2024. Additionally, he has served on the teaching faculty at The Ohio State University, Detroit Symphony Orchestra Civic Youth Ensembles, and as an Artistic Liaison for JazzEd Detroit through a partnership with ArtOps and the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation.
About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a robust performance schedule that features classical, pops, jazz, and family concerts, plus community performances. Enrico Lopez-Yañez was named Principal Pops Conductor in 2023, trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard serves as the orchestra’s Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair, and Tabita Berglund began her tenure as Principal Guest Conductor in the 2024–25 season. A dedication to broadcast innovation and technology began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.
The DSO’s distinguished history of recordings—many led by its renowned music directors—spans nearly a century, beginning with the orchestra’s first 78 rpm singles with Ossip Gabrilowitsch released on the Victrola label in 1928. A steady recording output has continued since then, with highlights including more than 20 releases with Paul Paray for Mercury’s Living Presence series, and 27 under the baton of Neeme Järvi, mostly on the Chandos label. In the 1970s, the DSO took part in the historic Black Composers Series for Columbia Records led by its then-Associate Conductor Paul Freeman and later made several acclaimed recordings with Antal Doráti for the Decca label. More recently, under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, the DSO recorded music by Rachmaninoff, Copland, and John Williams for the Naxos label, earning its first GRAMMY® nomination in 2017 for Copland’s Third Symphony / Three Latin American Sketches. The first recording with Jader Bignamini, of Wynton Marsalis’s Blues Symphony, was released in March 2025 on the Pentatone label.
Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.