Saturday June 13, 2009
12:00-5:00 PM
Martin Luther King Jr. Park
1950 Lemon Ave., Long Beach
Emcee: Leo Stallworth, ABC7
West Coast Premiere Composer Roy Harris
Bicentennial Symphony MusicUNTOLD
ORCHESTRA & CHORALE
Joseph R. Taylor, Conductor
MIGHTY MO ROGERS
THE NEW BLUEZ
BOBBY RODRIGUEZ LATIN JAZZ
FREE ADMISSION Children's Area
Information Booths
Chairs & Blankets Welcome
John Malveaux of
writes:
The Long Beach Central Area Association, co-sponsored, with the City of
Long Beach Parks Recreation & Marine, the 2009 Long Beach JUNETEENTH
Celebration. The year 2009 marked the 200th birthday of Abraham
Lincoln and Juneteenth (June 19, 1865) is the oldest known celebration marking
the ending of slavery in Texas.
The Long Beach Central Area Association board was a volunteer small
group. MusicUNTOLD consisted of only five LBCAA board member in 2009.The Long
Beach Juneteenth Celebration was a popular annual event at Martin Luther King Jr.
Park that traditionally featured gospel music. LBCAA previously presented
Hollywood Walk of Fame recipients and multi-Grammy winners Andrae Crouch and
Shirley Caesar during previous succeeding Juneteenth Celebrations.
In honor of American composer Roy Harris and President Lincoln, both
born February 12th, I proposed performance of Roy Harris “Bicentennial
Symphony” for the 2009 Juneteenth. The composition premiered in Washington
D.C., February 10-12, 1976 with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts. It is the strongest text based musical
statement on U.S. History, slavery, and race relations ever made by an American
composer. The chorus carries the larger part of the work with passages from the
Preamble to the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, and the Emancipation
Proclamation as well as original passages. The work had not been performed in
33 years and for all practical purposes or general awareness DID NOT EXIST.
The City of Long Beach Parks & Recreation department embraced the
idea but members of MusicUNTOLD were divided due to the financial commitment
and the departure from popular programming to perform an unknown symphony.
MusicUNTOLD treasurer Ahmed Saafir decided to approve the project and he was
dedicated throughout the project. We contracted
Maestro Joseph Taylor, conductor of Bellflower Symphony, to hire a pick up
orchestra of approximately 68 and Zanaida Robles to contract a chorus of
approximately 28 singers. An 11th hour decision was reached to hire
Michael Dwyer, USC film student, to video the performance..
I was sensitive to board member disagreements
and scheduled the “Bicentennial Symphony” as opening act of the daylong
celebration followed by more popular Blues and Jazz performances. The “Bicentennial
Symphony” performance was endorsed by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Commission, a federal agency in Washington DC. Classical radio KUSC provided
public service announcements. Eric DeWeese, KUSC station manager, and members
of the Harris family attended the opening “Bicentennial Symphony” performance.
Please see attachment-event flyer and Press Telegram interview https://youtu.be/P71ECBhClKM.
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