“The soul of a musician, heart of a composer, and the brain of an engineer” all belong to one artist named Douglas Hooker, so described in his own words. He’s the executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, soon to retire after over ten years, hoping to spend more time devoted to his music.
A large-scale work composed by Hooker sees its world premiere Sunday, Feb. 6, at the Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech, accompanied by an orchestra and the Trey Clegg Singers. The symphony, titled “Without Regard to Sex, Race, or Color,” drew inspiration from two works of photography by Andrew Feiler. The composer and the photographer joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom and the organist and conductor Trey Clegg to talk about this many-faceted creation of music, visual art, and friendship.
Feiler and Hooker have been friends for more than twenty years, participating in civic events and conversations about art. Over dinner in 2015, Feiler pitched the idea of a collaboration to his friend. Hooker recounted, “He said, ‘What if you compose something in response to my book? Because you’re familiar with the journey — you’re familiar with the themes and everything else.’ And so I said to him … ‘So are you wanting some kind of ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ kind of approach?’”
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