The award-winning Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra embraces cultural diversity at every level - in its musicians, board, staff and repertoire. Founder and Artistic Director Jeri Lynne Johnson brings an ensemble from Black Pearl to WRTI for a live performance and conversation with WRTI's Susan Lewis.
Watch the broadcast recorded live on the WRTI Facebook page.
Based in Philadelphia, the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra reflects the cultural makeup of the community and serves as a model for the 21st century orchestra. Black Pearl's mission is to take the audience beyond spectatorship to participation in the musical experience by combining artistic excellence with cultural diversity and innovative community engagement.
Program at WRTI:
Mozart, Divertimento K. 136 in D Major; Go Tell It On the Mountain (Gospel); Children Go Where I Send Thee (Gospel)
Musicians Performing at WRTI:
Jeri Lynne Johnson, Conductor; Luigi Mazzocchi, violin 1; Domenic Salerni, violin 1; Chi Park, violin 1 ; Carlos Rubio, violin 2; Dana Weiderhold, violin 2; Aisha Dossumova, violin 2; Jonathan Kim, viola; Jennifer Boorum, viola; Petula Perdikis, viola; Rajli Bicolli, cello ; Tim Bressler, bass
On Saturday, December 1st, members of Black Pearl will participate in Sounds of the Season, a musical celebration in Historic Houses of Fairmount Park, with WRTI hosts at different houses. At Cedar Grove Mansion, WRTI's Debra Lew Harder welcomes Black Pearl musicians violinist Alexandra Cutler-Fetkewicz, flutist Michael Langson, violinist Vena Johnson, and cellist Gozde-Tiknaz, who will perform a variety of holiday themed works from different genres.
Black Pearl's concert programming and collaborative partnerships with the city's most prominent education and cultural institutions connects countries, cultures and communities in exciting ways. Black Pearl has received the 2018 PNC Arts Alive Award for Arts Innovation, and numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Artistic Director, Jeri Lynne Johnson sums up Black Pearl's strategy: "Diversity, equity and inclusion are not special projects or current trends for Black Pearl; DEI is in its DNA and the orchestra exists to innovate."
