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The Oakland Symphony and Chorus will share the stage with a host of guest artists in celebration of the holidays and a tribute to Oakland's tradition of activism and the arts as part of the annual Let Us Break Bread Together concert Sunday, December 11, at 4 pm at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland.
Oakland Symphony Music Director and conductor Michael Morgan will bring together guest artists including the award-winning Mt. Eden High School Choir, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Linda Tillery and Friends, Vocal Rush from Oakland School of the Arts and perennial favorites the ebullient Klezmer band, Kugelplex.
For the past few seasons, Morgan has included musical tributes to American activist icons as part of the annual event that has come to be recognized as the Bay Area's most non-traditional holiday tradition. The past two years' homages to composer-activists Pete Seeger and Frank Sinatra were extremely popular.
This year the legacy and music of the era of the Black Panther Party-which was founded in Oakland 50 years ago--will be the subject of Let Us Break Bread Together in choral and orchestral arrangements of popular, gospel, Motown and resistance music. As it has for the past 24 years, the event will also feature holiday music from many cultures and observances and, of course, audience sing-alongs. Pre-concert no-host drinks and free lobby entertainment begin at 3 pm. Tickets are $25-$80 and may be purchased at www.oaklandsymphony.org .
In addition to the concert, a special, free OakSym Essentials event Thursday, December 1, at 6 pmat Oaktown Jazz Workshop, 55 Washington Street in Oakland, featuring performances by vocalist and cultural historian Linda Tillery, Jason Ditzian and members of the Kugelplex band, and students from Oaktown Jazz Workshops. Doors will open at 6:00 PM for pre-show refreshments. The performance will begin at 6:30 PM, followed by a fireside chat with Maestro Michael Morgan and the performers. Seating is limited, RSVP here.
For the December 11 concert, Linda Tillery & Friends will perform Little Ghetto Boy (Donny Hathaway,arranged by Ellen Hoffman), Lady Day and John Coltrane (Gil Scott-Heron, arranged by Linda Tillery) and Winter Wonderland (Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith) Vocal Rush will perform Rise Up (Andra Day, arranged by William Southall) and All I Want For Christmas (by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, Arranged by Lisa Forkish). Oakland Symphony Chorus will sing Lean on Me (Bill Withers), Everyday People (Sly & the Family Stone) and People Make the World Go Round (the Stylistics)arranged by Ellen Hoffman. Vocal Rush will perform A Change Is Gonna Come arranged by Ellen Hoffman (with orchestra), Merry Christmas! (from Home Alone II) arranged by John Williams, Lux Aurorum (from Paradise Lost) by Eric Whitacre. Kugelplex will perform Nit Keyn Mol (Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Song) by Hirsh Glick, arranged by Kugelplex with soloist Linda Tillery and Awesome Holiday Song by Kugelplex. Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choirwill perform What's Going On? (Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Al Cleveland and Marvin Gaye arranged by Ellen Hoffman and Terrance Kelly and Deck The Halls arranged by Terrance Kelly. The Oakland Symphony will perform Stand! (Sly and the Family Stone).
