Anwar Nasir grew up versatile in the arts: growing up playing the piano, trumpet and trombone, as well as studying dance.
And when he arrived at Syracuse University, his studies ended up colliding with his interests in the performing arts, as his degree in communications was a part of the school’s visual and performing arts program.

“It allowed me to continue to study dance as a part of my major requirements,” he said. “Some folks go into journalism, some folks go into studying many other things … and mine just so happened to be in the arts.”
Now, he’s the executive director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, which will perform the Grammy-award winning album, “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina)” to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Jan. 18. Joining the orchestra is New Orleans native and original composer of the album, Terence Blanchard, who will perform on the trumpet.
For Nasir, leading an orchestra came with years of experience in other performing arts disciplines.
After college, he eventually relocated from Philadelphia to Atlanta, where he began volunteering — and eventually working part time — with the Atlanta Ballet. At the same time, he was pursuing a career as a hip-hop dancer, doing background work for various shows and choreography for different artists.
Eight years later, he retired as a dancer, which led him to landing a job at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and eventually coming to New Orleans to join the LPO.
“As a performer, or as an artist, you want to share your gift with the world and as many people as possible,” he said. “But when I came on the administrative side of being a facilitator for the art form, and really understanding that you can really change your community around you by bringing people together … you are really changing people’s lives on a daily basis.”
But while Nasir has used his experience to promote traditional orchestral music in the community and build partnerships with those like NOLA Public Schools, he also credits much of the orchestra’s to its own musicians — as it’s the oldest full-time musician-governed orchestras in the country.
What that means, he said, is that since its founding in 1991, the orchestra’s musicians have been “actively involved with every decision that gets to be made.” This not only included what guest conductors and artists they get to work with, but also being involved in building out those education and community programs.
“Something that truly makes this special is we get to share in all the wins, and also get to work through all the challenges,” he said. “We’re all a team and working towards our collective goal together.”
And that work together has resulted in award-winning collaborations with local artists and collaborators, such as performances with rapper Big Freedia, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and Terence Blanchard, which Nasir said has been a major part of their strategic plan for the last few years.
Blanchard specifically, he added, was the perfect choice to kick off the year that will see many events around the city commemorating the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The LPO had been trying for the past few years to bring back Blanchard to play with the orchestra, which has made the upcoming performance that much more special.

“We’re always looking for milestone things or things we want to be able to uplift and celebrate or commemorate,” Nasir said. “Bringing Terence here to do that with us is something that’s really stuck, and I think it’s going to be a fantastic event.”
The effects and impact of Hurricane Katrina is something that “really changed the trajectory of our city and our community,” Nasir explained, and “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina)” was the right piece of music for the occasion.
While Nasir himself isn’t from New Orleans and didn’t experience the 2005 hurricane, he’s seen those changes in the community — the memorials, the markers showing how high the floods reached, the lost family members of community members.
But at the same time, he’s also seen that the city “has not lost its joy” from the natural disaster, and he’s seen the community continue to support one another especially as New Orleans has had other major hurricanes like Ida in the past few years.
“It’s forever moving to me,” he said. “To say we want to be able to commemorate this in a way that’s meaningful, I think is really a testament to say that … we’re not victims in this case, but that we can maintain agency over our own destiny.”
For the concert itself, Nasir believes that every audience member’s relationship with it “is going to be personal.” And while Hurricane Katrina was a part of the community’s past and will always be a part of its story, “it doesn’t define us.”
“I implore anyone who hasn’t listened to the music before, that it’s not depressing, it’s not downtrodden, it’s actually very uplifting,” Nasir said. “I want us to really think about it from the perspective of being able to say we are a community that’s stronger together.”
For more information visit The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
