The Cleveland Orchestra's free, annual concert in celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. takes place in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center on Saturday, June 4, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. led by Associate Conductor Vinay Parameswaran featuring soprano Jacqueline Echols and narrator Tony Sias. A highlight of this annual event is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus, an all-volunteer community chorus directed by Dr. William Henry Caldwell. This concert is supported by community access partner KeyBank and sponsor Medical Mutual.
Originally scheduled for January 16, the concert was rescheduled due to a surge in Covid-19 cases. The Orchestra will now celebrate Dr. King in June, bringing the community together near the June 19 Juneteenth holiday.
This uplifting concert will showcase the music of prominent Black composers - such as
Dolores White, Mary D. Watkins, Carlos Simon, Brian Raphael Nabors,
William Grant Still, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor - as well as music in the African American spiritual tradition. The program concludes with
James Weldon Johnson and
J. Rosamond Johnson's beloved hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
Although the concert is free, tickets are required and available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., through the Severance Ticket Office in person, by phone at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or online at
clevelandorchestra.com. Due to high demand, tickets to this concert go quickly. There is a limit of four tickets per household.
Simultaneously with the in-person concert at Mandel Concert Hall at Severance, this concert will be livestreamed free on the Orchestra's Adella app,
Adella.Live, and
youtube.com/clevelandorchestra bringing music in celebration and reflection of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to homes around the globe.
Adella is The Cleveland Orchestra's digital streaming service, which premiered in October 2020. The Adella app and digital media offering is named after the Orchestra's founder, Adella Prentiss Hughes. Adella is free to download and access, and more information can be found at
clevelandorchestra.com/attend/adella.
The longstanding relationship between The Cleveland Orchestra and Ideastream Public Media continues, with audio of the June 4 concert to be broadcast live on 90.3 WCLV Classical, 89.7 WKSU, on
ideastream.org, and on the Ideastream Public Media app, expanding access to this great music.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 2022 Community Service Awards will be presented as part of the June 4 concert. The awards are presented by The Cleveland Orchestra to individuals who have made a positive impact on the city of Cleveland in the spirit of the teachings and example of Dr. King. Information about the winners Joan Southgate,
Dolores White, and the Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center can be found in
this press release and
this video.
Musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra will perform a program titled Honoring Black Composers on May 24, 27, and 28. The program showcases music by African American Classical composers including Cleveland's own H.
Leslie Adams, Melika Fitzhugh, Brian Raphael Nabors,
William Grant Still,
George Walker,
Dolores White, and Allison Loggins-Hull (The Cleveland Orchestra's Lewis Composer Fellow beginning with the 2022-23 Severance season). A version of this program was presented by musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra at the Cozad-Bates House in University Circle in October 2021.
On Tuesday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m. the concert will be presented at Karamu House, which is recognized as the oldest, producing African American theater in the U.S. Following this one-hour performance, there will be a talkback discussion and dialogue with composers and Cleveland Orchestra musicians. Tickets are required and available for free through Karamu House at the link
here, or by calling their Box Office at 216-795-7077.
Performances will also be presented at Severance Music Center's Reinberger Chamber Hall on Friday, May 27 at 6:30p.m. and Saturday, May 28 at 7:00 p.m. These performances will run for 30 minutes as a prelude for the evening concerts in Mandel Concert Hall. The prelude concerts are available to concertgoers who have tickets to the evening's performances.
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