The WPI Concert Band performs the world premiere of the musical composition “The Ride”, inspired by Major Taylor

The story of Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor, the second African-American athlete to win a world championship in any sport, has remained largely unknown. Efforts are underway to change that, as 2024 marks the 125th anniversary of Taylor’s cycling world championship victory.

On April 20, the WPI Concert Band shined the spotlight on “The Worcester Whirlwind,” as Taylor was known, when he performed a world premiere musical composition titled The path. The piece was inspired by the 1899 world cycling champion, who was born in Indianapolis, called Worcester home, fought against racism and triumphed in sports and spirit.

The concert band, led by Mitchell Lutch, assistant professor in the Department of Humanities and the Arts, commissioned the piece from Thomas O’Toole, composer, music teacher and director of performing arts at Shrewsbury Public Schools, driven by a desire to inform more people about the story of Major Taylor and his connections to Worcester. O’Toole was replacing a patient trombone during the Concert Band’s spring 2023 show. On a walk during his lunch break before the show, he discovered the Major Taylor Museum, opening in 2021 on Main Street in downtown Worcester. At that point, he was motivated to compose a musical tribute and soon suggested to Lutch that a piece for concert band would help students and the public learn about this champion’s story.

“The seed of this piece was planted literally 365 days ago, from this hall,” Lutch told the audience as he introduced O’Toole, who conducted his piece in the 2024 spring performance by the orchestra. WPI band and brass ensemble at the Worcester Area Mission Society. .

“Marshall ‘Major’ Taylor was perhaps the greatest athlete of a generation,” O’Toole said; he explained that his goal of presenting the cyclist’s story stemmed from his personal experience. “I had grown up in the sports culture of greater Boston and knew all the local sports heroes of the day, but for a large part of my life I had never heard of Major Taylor. His achievements were obscured by the racism of his time and by the racism that continued long after his death to the present day. I hope that with this piece I was able to get the message across about what a great athlete and human being he was.

Members of the concert band spent part of the past year learning about Taylor’s story as they prepared for the performance. Some group members watched a documentary about the WTIU cycling champion, Indiana Public Media, and visited the Major Taylor Museum. Others participated in a Zoom conference with O’Toole and Lutch last summer to solicit ideas from students to incorporate into the composition.

The path musically details four events in Taylor’s life that help illustrate her strength in overcoming challenges. Each is established by a short live narration set to music. During the concert, Chima Ibebunjo ’26, a civil engineering student who plays the alto saxophone and participated in the Zoom conference, set aside his instrument, stood up, microphone in hand, and proudly delivered the first narration. He says performing the piece took him on a special musical journey with its changes in rhythm, tempo and time signature, reminiscent of the rhythm changes of a bike ride. Ibebunjo adds that he learned more and was impressed by Taylor’s story through the play’s narrations, including the one he delivered. “This was important to me because I enjoy cycling as a hobby and, as a young Black/African American man, I take pride in learning about the positive contributions and success of other Black/African American individuals influential in society.

The concert also included performances by the WPI Brass Ensemble (led by Douglas Olsen, assistant professor in the Department of Humanities and Arts), the WPI Brass Quintet, the Clarinet Quartet, and the Saxophone Quartet. A performance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, by the WPI Concert Band, featured solo pianist Binan Gu, a postdoctoral researcher in mathematical sciences.

WPI’s musical ensembles, including the Concert Band, proudly exemplify how the university prioritizes and provides opportunities for students to explore the humanities and arts, embrace creativity, and consider the richness of human experience.

The performance of The path is one of the ways Taylor is honored in Worcester. There is also a statue at the Worcester Public Library; the Major Taylor Museum; and the annual George Street Bike Challenge for Major Taylor, a challenging hill climb for cyclists held each July, which raises funds for the Major Taylor Association.