Although the concert is free, tickets are required and available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning on Saturday, January 7, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., through the Severance Ticket Office in person, by phone at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or online. All tickets for this performance are typically distributed by noon on the day they are made available to the public. There is a limit of four tickets per household.
The program includes music by Black composers Florence Price and William L. Dawson, among several others, as well as Aaron Copland’s tribute to the 16th President of the United States, A Lincoln Portrait, marking 80 years since its premier. The concert concludes with the uplifting and powerful hymn, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 2023 Community Service Awards will be presented as part of the January 15 concert.
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR The Bamboula, Rhapsodic Dance No. 1
TRADITIONAL Way Over in Beulah Lan’ (arr. Gibbs)
TRADITIONAL Walk Together Children (arr. Smith)
TRADITIONAL Precious Lord, Take My Hand (arr. Floyd)
DAWON Third Movement from Negro Folk Symphony
PRICE Fourth Movement from Symphony No. 1
HERBERT Elegy: In Memoriam Stephen Lawrence
SMALLWOOD Total Praise (arr. Goss/Gittleman)
SHROPSHIRE If My Jesus Wills/We Shall Overcome (arr. Berens)
COPLAND Lincoln Portrait
JOHNSON Lift Every Voice and Sing (arr. Smith)
Performing Artists
The Cleveland Orchestra
Daniel Reith, conductor
Soloman Howard, bass and narrator
Peter Lawson Jones, narrator and emcee
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus
Dr. William Henry Caldwell, director
Radio broadcast with Ideastream Public Media
The longstanding relationship between The Cleveland Orchestra and Ideastream Public Media continues, with audio of the January 15 concert to be broadcast live on WCLV 90.3, WKSU 89.7, and live, simultaneous streaming available on ideastream.org, smart speakers and the Ideastream Public Media app, expanding access to this musical experience.