Virginia Arts Festival Announces
2026 Ovation Award Recipient
Dr. Adolphus Hailstork

Virginia Arts Festival presented its fifth Ovation Award to the great American composer Dr. Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork III in a ceremony on April 28, 2026. The celebration continued on Thursday, April 30 at Norfolk State University's Wilder Performing Arts Center with a concert performed by Virginia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro JoAnn Falletta, and hosted by American Public Media's Performance Today's Valerie Kahler. The performance was a showcase of all Hailstork works, including Fanfare on Amazing Grace, An American Port of Call, Piano Concerto No. 1, Celebration, Still Holding On, To Those Who Serve, and "My Name is Toil" from Done Made My Vow.

Hailstork, a professor at Old Dominion University, has deep roots in the Hampton Roads area. He has written more than 250 works for chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, various chamber ensembles, band, orchestra, and opera. Blending musical ideas from the African, Native American and European traditions, his compositions have gained acclaim and have been performed by major orchestras and ensembles. In 2012, a Naxos recording of his piece, An American Port of Call was released featuring the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. In October 2022, he was featured as “Composer of the Week” on BBC Radio 3. In 2021, Fanfare on Amazing Grace was performed by the United States Marine Band at the inauguration ceremony of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Virginia Arts Festival Ovation Award honors the lifetime achievement of artists with a special connection to the Hampton Roads region. Past recipients are legendary dancer Lorraine Graves (2019), conductor JoAnn Falletta (2021), Broadway music director and conductor Rob Fisher (2022) and dancer, choreographer and educator Elbert Watson (2023).

“Our region has given the world many great performers,” said Robert W. Cross, Virginia Arts Festival Executive Director and Perry Artistic Director. “Adolphus Hailstork is a brilliant example. He has given the world a trove of brilliantly conceived, beautifully written, powerful, passionate music that connects African American traditions with the classical canon in ways that enhance our understanding of our history and give us hope for our future.”

The Virginia Arts Festival’s celebration of Hailstork’s work has been a feature of the Festival’s 2026 season, including performances by Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and during the Festival's Chamber Music Series, curated by the Connie & Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music, the Van Cliburn Gold Medal-awarded pianist Olga Kern.

About Virginia Arts Festival
The largest and most prestigious performing arts organization in southeastern Virginia, Virginia Arts Festival has transformed the region's cultural scene, presenting great performers from around the world and making this historic region a cultural destination for visitors from across the United States and around the world. Over the past 25 years, the Festival has welcomed visitors from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 25 foreign countries. The Festival has presented over 1,438 performances, free community events, and student matinees and workshops with a reach of over 1.2 million attendees. Each season, millions are reached through international broadcasts of Festival performances on American Public Radio's Performance Today, nationally on PBS TV, and regionally on WHRO TV. Over 32% of ticket sales come from outside the region, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to local museums and attractions and filling regional hotels and restaurants. The estimated annual economic impact of the Festival exceeds $25 million. For more information on Virginia Arts Festival please visit vafest.org.