Greenville Symphony debuts orchestral piece about SC Revolutionary War heroine Dicey Langston

With a world premiere at the Peace Center of a new orchestral work by Upstate composer Peter B. Kay, the Greenville Symphony hopes to spark greater interest in a legendary pint-sized Paul Revere-like heroine of South Carolina.

Her name was Dicey Langston. At age 15, Dicey overheard plans by Loyalist troops known as the “Bloody Scouts” to raid a Patriot camp where her brothers and others were stationed. Traveling alone on horseback and foot through woods and across the flooded Tyger River in 1781, she warned soldiers in time to avert disaster.

The premiere of “Dicey Langston: The South Carolina Girl Who Defied an Army,” written for chamber orchestra and narrator, takes place in the Peace Center’s Gunter Theatre, with music director Lee Mills leading the two performances, April 25-26.

“It’s an incredible story about a young woman in the Revolutionary War who did something so heroic and saved many lives,” said Jessica Satava, executive director of the Greenville Symphony.

In a unique collaboration, Upstate teenagers from Travelers Rest, where Dicey lived, contributed to the composition of the piece in a workshop held by Kay, the general director and composer-in-residence with the Spartanburg Philharmonic.

“It felt right to include our community in the creative process because this is a story so connected to the Upstate,” Satava said.

At the workshop, Kay read the script to the teens and elicited their ideas about how the music should sound. Happy? Sad? Should it be fast? Slow? And how should water sound in music?

“We really wanted them to contribute the music ideas,” Kay said. “We were composing it on the fly.”

‘A great inspiration’

Sage Criss, 12, and Isabel LaRoy, 13, participated in the workshop, and both came away in awe of Dicey’s courage.

“I think she was amazing for all she persevered through,” Sage said. “She’s a great inspiration.”

“She shows how incredible some of these stories were,” Isabel said. “I’m really excited to hear what we helped to build.”

The script for the “Dicey Langston” was written by Broadway director and writer Mark Waldrop, who previously penned a new version of “Peter and the Wolf” and an original story, “The Adventures of RaeLynn and Luke,” both for the Greenville Symphony.

The upcoming program also includes the chamber-orchestra version of Aaron Copland’s much-loved “Appalachian Spring.” Patrons should note that both concerts begin at 3 p.m.

For “Dicey Langston,” the Greenville Symphony partnered with the Upcountry History Museum and SC250, an agency commissioned by state lawmakers to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in South Carolina.

The historical Dicey continued to support the Patriot cause throughout the war. After independence was secured, she married Thomas Springfield and spent much of her adult life in Travelers Rest raising 22 children.