Monday, April 5, 2021

Challenge the Stats Team: RHYTHM OF THE ROOTS 2021 Concert to Honor BIPOC Artists Saturday, April 10, 8 PM ET


Angelica Hairston writes:

The highly-anticipated Challenge the Stats (CTS) RHYTHM OF THE ROOTS 2021 virtual concert will stream on Saturday, April 10, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET. Rhythm of the Roots will honor BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) legacy makers, and amplify the need for racial justice through engaging chamber music, dance and activism. "After what has been such a difficult year, we look forward to celebrating artists of color and using our voices and our music in the resounding call for justice," says Angelica Hairston. Angelica is the executive director of Challenge the Stats, an organization she founded to empower classical artists of color. 

Concert highlights include: An all-female string quartet performing the compositions of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musician Juan Ramirez and Atlanta native Joel Thompson; Verena Anders, co-founder of Conductors for Change, performing the piano works of Navajo composer Connor Chee; Harpist Angelica Hairston and Hornist Marie Douglas performing a tribute to George Floyd in “Listen to the Cry of Your Fellow Man,” composed by Charles Overton and Gus Sebring; flutist Tara Byrdsong performing Atlanta native Carlos Simon’s “Move It,” a piece written during the COVID 19 pandemic; Verena Anders, Tara Byrdsong and Ricky Saucedo performing the works of Black female composer Valerie Coleman; Poet Niani Braxton recites poems of Langston Hughes; Dancer Michael Morris Jr. performs Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” arranged for string quartet by Atlanta native composer Joel Thompson. Rhythm of the Roots is co-presented by Challenge the Stats and Concerts @ First as part of Challenge the Stats in Residence at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. For more information visit www.challengethestats.org or

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