Composer Joe Jaxson (Photo by Ishaan Sharma)
On a crisp, late March evening in Richmond, composer and Staunton native Joe Jaxson takes a seat inside the packed Carpenter Theatre. As the lights dim, he sits back and, just a few rows from the front of the stage in orchestra right, he listens as the Richmond Symphony begins performing a piece he wrote. It was “Born in the Iron Grip,” a composition Jaxson created inspired by Richmond’s own tennis legend, Arthur Ashe.
The symphony commissioned the work, inviting Jaxson as a guest composer during its Mozart & Mahler performances. He chose Ashe as the subject of his new composition as it’s the 50th anniversary of the tennis great’s historic Wimbledon Championships win. The work represents in part the symphony’s goal to broaden audiences by including contemporary and diverse narratives alongside classical masterpieces. “It’s definitely been a big mission for them to highlight Richmond stories and artists,” Jaxson says. “It is one of the ways they are looking to engage the community, including people who never come to symphony concerts.”
Jaxson describes “Iron Grip” as a visceral depiction of the segregation Ashe lived through in the 1960s. He was barred from the 1958 American Tennis Association Regionals (which took place at the Country Club of Virginia), and it wasn’t until 1963 that integrated tennis matches were allowed at Byrd Park. Banned from playing there as a child due to his race, Ashe would return to play at the park in 1968. That same year, he won the U.S. Open Singles Tennis Championship and became the first Black man to win a Grand Slam.
Following a career of firsts (first Black man to win Wimbledon, first to play on the U.S. Davis Cup team), Ashe would go on to advocate against South African apartheid and the negative treatment of Haitian refugees. He pushed for colleges to set higher academic standards for athletes, particularly for minorities. He raised millions for inner-city tennis centers, and posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
There was plenty of inspiring material from Ashe’s life for Jaxson to pull from, but he decided to focus on the 1975 singles championship at Wimbledon and the decisive match between Ashe and another tennis great, Jimmy Connors. To this day, Ashe is the only Black man to win the title at Wimbledon.
Jaxson describes the composition. “It starts with an introduction of Arthur Ashe, characterized by a theme on the euphonium, a very British brass band instrument,” Jaxson says. “Then I try to capture the groove, the excitement of the final match against Jimmy Connors: the joy and the tension.”
He continues, “One of the main sections of this piece is when I take the audience directly to the tennis court. So, we have to make them feel like they’re actually sitting watching the match between him and Connors. And one interesting perspective I [create starts] from a third perspective when the section comes, and then later it switches to the first-person perspective. [It’s] my interpretation of looking through Arthur Ashe's eyes as he’s trying to tire out Jimmy Connors on the [court].”
At this point in the composition, Jaxson places the audience in Ashe’s shoes. “The music becomes very centered and succinct. You hear some tennis rackets used as percussion in this section,” he says. “I’m always trying to find new, very interesting things to bring to the concert hall experience without moving too fast or doing too much with it. Hopefully I’m being very measured and calculated with certain things. So anyway, the tennis rackets are meant to be a nice added visual.”
“Born in the Iron Grip” is Jaxson’s second large-scale commission. Jaxson sees a kinship with Ashe in that both men used their skills to speak to social issues. He notes that Ashe fought against segregation and racism not always with his words, but with his actions. “His own people were calling him out for not being outspoken, and his response was, ‘I don’t say it with my mouth. I say it with my racket,’” Jaxson says. “And that instantly clicked with me. Oh, this is how I can contribute to this conversation, I can use my talent, my passion for writing music, for curating stories, to hopefully create an emotional experience for all audiences.”
The Richmond Symphony’s performance of “Iron Grip” had almost a filmlike quality. It reproduced the moments and feelings of the historic Wimbledon match through strings and percussion. The all-ages audience became visibly engrossed as it began. Near its climax, the strings rose to a crescendo, and then two symphony members started to “play tennis.” Real rackets were mixed with the sound effects of a tennis match created by the symphony, producing an added dimension to Jaxson’s piece. At its conclusion, the work received a standing ovation. Richmond Symphony Music Director Valentina Peleggi motioned to Jaxson in the audience; he took a bow, noticeably moved by the well-received performance. The applause lasted for a full minute. Many approached the composer afterward to shake his hand and express their feelings.
