Maestro Paul Freeman, music director and founder of the Chicago Sinfonietta, has recovered from his illness in time to lead the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert entitled The Dream Lives On.
Maestro Paul Freeman, music director and founder of the Chicago Sinfonietta, has recovered from his illness in time to lead the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert entitled The Dream Lives On.
The concert will be held at Lund Auditorium, 7900 W. Division in River Forest, Jan. 18 at 3 p.m., and at the Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. on the official holiday, January 19, at 7:30 p.m.
The Dream Lives On will be performed mere days before the nation inaugurates its first Black president, Barack Obama. On Jan. 20, Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America.
The concert is also special for Freeman, who is celebrating his 22nd season with the Sinfonietta. He is also music director and chief conductor of the Czech National symphony Orchestra in Prague.
The performance will open with Beethoven’s Leonora Overture, No. 3 and continues with Camille Saint-Saens’ thrilling Cello Concerto No. 1 featuring Sphinx Competition winning cellist Patrice L. Jackson.
Jackson enjoys a reputation as one of music’s most fashionable cello concertos.
Following the cello concerto, the Sinfonietta will perform composer Stefan L. Smith’s Symphony No. 1, the Largo movement, while a special guest narrates excerpts from King’s Our God is Marching On speech.
Complementing the Sinfonietta will be the 200-voice Apostolic Church of God Sanctuary Choir performing such songs as A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, Agnus Dei, You Don’t Know Like I Know, and will climax with the moving finale We Shall Overcome where the audience will participate.
The Martin Luther King memorial concert is sponsored by ABC 7 Chicago, Macy’s Foundation and Peoples Gas.
Ticket prices range from $26-$40 for concerts at Lund Auditorium and from $26-$96 for concerts at Orchestra Hall.
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