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The show must go on. Two years preparing for a concert that may not take place is heartbreaking.

Composer Primous Fountain, someone I admire and have come to know well over the past few years, is heartbroken. The greatest composer’s concert has been canceled. He is a genius when it comes to music. I was disappointed when I found out from Primous that his concert may not take place after being pushed back until April of 2023 and now concealed from the public altogether. He has yet to understand why. Talk about being blindsided and at a loss for words. Clearly, this was the case for Primous.

Putting this concert together was something Primous had put his heart and soul into for the past two years, along with getting ready for his world tour. This is a major disappointment for all who have been waiting to hear his music. One cannot point the finger at the composer Primous Fountain for the concert not happening. That’s for sure. He wants to have his concert as agreed and does not know why it has been taken away from him.
What is even more shocking is that Primous’ longtime friend, famed conductor Michael Tilson Thomas was said to have canceled his concert, but not before calling Primous Fountain “An American original.” Does this mean the show or the concert will go on?
I reached out to Quincy Jones’ camp on April 3rd, 2017, for a quote about Primous Fountain for my article titled “Composer Primous Fountain’s World Tour of a Lifetime” since Quincy Jones was once his mentor.  On April 4th after sending over a few emails, Ms. Smith happily reached out to me to let me know that they would run my article during one of their weekly meetings with Quincy Jones.  Ms. Smith replied via email a day later on April 5th, 2017 with an updated quote for my article from Quincy Jones which read:
I met Primous when he was 16 years old and took him out of the ghetto in Chicago back in the 70s. I always have and always will believe in him because of his talent and heart. I’ve found it rare to see a black composer as committed as he is, but he has been that way all his life and I have no doubt that he is the future!
-Quincy Jones

Primous just wants the show to go on—his concert as scheduled that is. There is no one like him in the USA and Primous knows that the representation of Blacks in the symphony orchestras is less than 1 percent. Composer Primous said of himself, “I am the only composer to emerge out of the USA whose music can safely sit on the world stage with the greatest composer of all time.”
Primous Fountain is not willing to walk away. This is his life, passion, and two years of hard work that he has invested in getting this concert before the world. Turning his back on all that he has accomplished would be not speaking up. Now that the orchestra is attempting to renege on the contract, Primous Fountain is forced to serve Thomas and the New World Symphony with a legal notice demand letter to stage the concert as agreed or take the matter to court.

His good friend Tilson Thomas has cancer, something he announced on his social media platform. This may have been the reason Thomas pulled back from his dear friend’s concert. It would make sense taking his medical condition into consideration. However, it does not add up. Primous Fountain discovered that his friend Tilson Thomas had backed away from his concert while continuing a full schedule of conducting Mahler and Beethoven, with orchestras nationally and internationally. The same Tilson Thomas, who once proclaimed his dear friend, “An American Original.” Why is he not conducting the music of his longtime friend?
This is not what Primous expected, and he is heartbroken. Make it right. The show must go on! Primous Fountain wants his concert and music heard, and he should have it. He is the greatest composer of our time, and the world should not have to miss his concert.
To learn more about Composer Primous Fountain and all his wonderful works of music please visit him at http://www.primousfountain.com/