Since last August, cities across the country have been paying tribute to Lafayette’s Farewell Tour through hundreds of events, from exhibits in Baton Rouge— “The Biggest Celebrity of His Time”—to reenactments of the Marquis in a horse-drawn carriage down Main Street in Suffolk, Va., where spectators were advised that period attire was “admired, but not required.”

The College has its own celebration on April 27, when musicians from the French National Orchestra of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes will put on a special performance at Williams Center for the Arts. Called The Lafayette Musical & Immersive Bicentennial Tour, the program is more than music—it’s also a visual journey, with an accompanying video element that retraces the route of the Marquis de Lafayette as he crisscrossed 24 states in 13 months.

During his Farewell Tour, 200 years ago, the Marquis attended balls and parades in his honor, visited battlefields where he fought, and reunited with former presidents and comrades from the Continental Army. Throughout April, the orchestra is scheduled to perform in some of those same key cities—South Carolina’s Charleston Music Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to name a few—while ending the U.S. tour with a symbolic stop in Easton, Pa. “The program was created for this moment in time,” says Ty Furman, director of the Performance Series at Lafayette, “and we are thrilled to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

To purchase tickets to The Lafayette Musical & Immersive Bicentennial Tour, visit williamscenter. lafayette.edu/lafayette-tour.

1.

Virginie de Pusy Lafayette, a direct descendant of the Marquis de Lafayette, is the official ambassador of the tour project. Ahead of each performance, she is scheduled to speak about the heritage and legacy of her famous great-great-grandfather. After the Easton program, Virginie will join orchestra members and concert attendees for a reception hosted by the College.

2.

The 120-minute concert kicks off with a display of sounds and lights that tells the story of the Marquis de Lafayette.

3.

Principal conductor Thomas Zehetmair, an internationally acclaimed Austrian violinist, composed a new work especially for the program: Passacaglia, Burlesque, and Chorale for String Orchestra.

4.

Some of the compositions for this program include those by classical music icons Beethoven and Mozart.

5.

The ensemble hails from the same region as the Marquis’ birthplace, called the Auvergne region in central France. It is also the first French orchestra to create a fully free accessible digital label; its work has been streamed more than 400,000 times in at least 160 countries.