Thu 1/14-4/15
Typically, on MLK Day, Severance Hall is filled with activity — not just an orchestra concert, but performances and artwork of all kinds throughout the building, honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Since that’s not possible this year, the orchestra is offering an online content, including a rebroadcast of its January 14, 2018 MLK concert, available for free listening beginning on Thursday January 14 and continuing through April 15 at adella.live.
That concert, led by orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, featured The Cleveland Orchestra, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus, soloist Ryan Speedo Green and narrator James Pickens, Jr. They performed music by Beethoven, Ottori noRespighi and George Walker, as well as spirituals such as “Down by the riverside,” gospel songs such as “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” and the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Starting on MLK Day, Monday January 18, the orchestra will release videos on its social media channels including members of the orchestra performing music by African-American composers such as Clevelander (and Oberlin grad) Leslie Adams, Florence Price and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. They’ll also be featuring videos honoring King’s life from partners including musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Karamu House, Djapo Cultural Arts, Inlet Dance Theatre, Cuyahoga Community College, and Cleveland School of the Arts/ Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
For complete information on programming go to clevelandorchestra.com.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106