Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra: Black Panther in Concert

After an electric sold-out debut in 2022, Chicago Philharmonic brings back Marvel Studios’ Black Panther in Concert. In 2018, Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” quickly became a global sensation and cultural phenomenon, showing a new dimension of what SuperHero films could be. Rolling Stone raved, “The film lights up the screen with a full-throttle blast of action and fun. That’s to be expected. But what sneaks up and floors you is the film’s racial conscience and profound, astonishing beauty.” Relive the excitement of T’Challa becoming king and battling Killmonger all while the “one of the country’s finest symphonic orchestras” (Chicago Tribune) performs Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar® and Grammy®-winning score live to picture. Joining the orchestra for the concert is Massamba Diop, the revered Senegalese tama drummer who recorded and co-created parts of the movie score with composer Göransson. Massamba Diop- the world-renowned Senegalese tama drummer who not only played on but also composed sections of the original score- will join the orchestra. Composer Ludwig Göransson (who is known for his work as producer to Childish Gambino in addition to composing for tv and film including Oppenheimer, Tenet, Creed, The Book of Boba Fett, and The Mandalorian) crafted the score to Black Panther in collaboration with Senegalese musicians Baba Maal and Massamba Diop. The Academy Award winning movie score combines traditional Senegalese music, Western symphonic scoring, and 21st Century digital production techniques to parallel the film’s Afro-futurist themes and create a sound that feels both futuristic and ancient. In a particularly inspired collaboration between Göransson and Diop, the film hero T’Challa is represented by three notes on the talking drum that sound rhythmically similar to the name “T’Challa.” This theme is repeated throughout the film, first by the talking drum and then the entire orchestra, and is transformed depending on the scene.