Friday, August 23, 2013

OurWeekly Los Angeles: 'Black, White, Korean musicians come together to honor King'

OurWeekly Los Angeles: "Afro-Asian violinist Annelle Gregory and pianist Phoenix Park-Kim play Negro spirituals."

AfriClassical congratulates John Malveaux on the success of the Symphony of Brotherhood, to which he devoted several months of his life:


OurWeekly Los Angeles

Symphony of Brotherhood concert

Stanley O. Williford | 8/22/2013
The Martin Luther King Jr. 50th Anniversary Concert Symphony of Brotherhood at the downtown Colburn School’s Zipper Hall on Sunday was just that—a symphony of brotherhood. It offered a gathering of Black musicians and composers, Korean musicians and composers and White musicians and composers—all in a musical show of solidarity. The concert was the brainchild of event promoter John Malveaux.
The extravaganza got under way with the all-African American MusicUNTOLD String Quartet playing the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Then there was Korean-American Phoenix Park-Kim playing piano as Afro-Asian violinist Annelle Gregory played the old Negro spiritual, “Talk About a Chile that Do Love Jesus” and Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Deep River.”
Korean-American cellist Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun played African American composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Lamentations: Black Folk Song Suite for Cello Solo, IV. Perpetual Motion.”
Anglo pianist Polli Chambers-Salazar and flutist Laurel Zucker added Taylor Perkinson’s “Little Light of Mine.”
Anglo soprano Juliana Gondek sang African American composer John Carter’s “Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees” with James Lent on piano.
But of course, there were operatic juxtapositions such as African American bass-baritone Mark Steven Doss singing Gaetano Donizetti’s “Cruda Funesta Smania,” and African American soprano Anita Johnson singing Duke Ellington’s “Heaven” and “Almighty God” as Richard Thompson played piano.
And there was African American bass-baritone Cedric Trenton Berry singing Hall Johnson’s “Ride on King Jesus” and Langston Hughes’ “I Dream a World” from composer William Grant Still’s opera “Troubled Island.”
In between the presentations, narrators Dennis Bartel, the morning host of classical radio station KUSC, and Zanaida Robles, a teaching assistant at USC, offered historical sketches. 
...

To cap the evening off, soprano Jumi Kim sung a new work titled “Candlelight for Soprano” written by Korean composer Joopoong Kim to honor the late Dr. King. Most of the audience couldn’t understand the words, but the sentiment was heartfelt.

[Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004), William Grant Still (1895-1978) and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) are profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features a comprehensive Works List for each by Prof. Dominique-RenĂ© de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com

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