Join us in celebrating the life and legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as we bring you The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 32nd annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Tribute Concert, led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, on Monday, Jan. 16 at 3 p.m. WRTI will broadcast the concert live from the historic chapel of Girard College, for the first time since 2020.
This annual concert, first presented by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1991, honors the achievements of the famed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and reflects his beliefs and convictions. Combining the traditions of Black culture and Western classical music, the event pays tribute to Dr. King’s vision of a society free of prejudice and racial divisions, and his belief in the power of music to effect change.
Nézet-Séguin will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra in works by Jessie Montgomery, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Samuel Barber. The concert opens with “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamund Johnson — long acknowledged as the “Black National Anthem,” and sung here by the combined choruses of Girard College and the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. They’re also featured in two pieces that conclude the concert: the spiritual “Children, Go Where I Send Thee” and Richard Smallwood’s “Anthem of Praise.”
In between, the program includes Starburst, a short piece for strings by contemporary composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery, and several selections from a work by Margaret Bonds inspired by Dr. King and the 1963 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama — a crucial moment in the American civil rights movement. Violin soloist Melissa White is featured in a movement from Florence Price’s First Violin Concerto, composed in 1939 but thought lost until 2009, when hundreds of scores by this important 20th-century composer were rediscovered.
In addition, Charlotte Blake Alston — The Philadelphia Orchestra’s resident storyteller, narrator, and host — offers a staple of this annual concert: the inspiring words of Martin Luther King, Jr., heard as the Orchestra performs Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.
The concert’s return to Girard College marks a welcome homecoming. In 2021, the pandemic forced the cancellation of this annual event — and when it resumed in 2022, it was held in Verizon Hall so that the audience could be socially distanced. For 2023, the concert returns to Girard College, which, along with Global Citizen, is the Philadelphia Orchestra’s partner in presenting this highlight of its season.
PROGRAM
Johnson: “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
Montgomery: Starburst
Price: Violin Concerto in D major: I. Tempo moderato
Bonds: Selections from Montgomery Variations
Barber: Adagio for Strings
Trad.: “Children, Go Where I Send Thee”
Smallwood: “Anthem of Praise”
PERFORMERS
WRTI concert broadcast hosted by Melinda Whiting
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Melissa White, violin
Charlotte Blake Alston, narrator
Girard College High School Choir (Paul Eaton, director)
Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts Chorus (Lauren Thomas-Moyer, director)
The Philadelphia Orchestra
