Sunday, December 14, 2008

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Plays Ulysses Simpson Kay's 'A Lincoln Letter' at 'A King Celebration'

[Ulysses Kay: Works for Chamber Orchestra; Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra; Kevin Scott, Conductor; Troy 961 (2007)]

"Target Presents the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's 17th Annual A King Celebration
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra along with the Morehouse and Spelman College Glee Clubs, will perform the 17th annual musical tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, “A King Celebration” on Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. The performance, commemorating the life and work of the celebrated civil rights leader, will take place in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, the alma mater of Dr. King. The program features music that was celebrated and loved by Abraham Lincoln and inspired by Dr. King’s legacy. In addition, the concert will be broadcast to nearly 250 radio stations across the country on American Public Media’s Performance Today, hosted by Fred Child, on Monday, January 19, 2009. For station information and broadcast times, please visit http://performancetoday.publicradio.org."

"Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Music Director Robert Spano will conduct the Orchestra and the Morehouse and Spelman College Glee Clubs in a program of Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino, Nicolas Flagello’s The Passion of Martin Luther King, Ulysses Kay’s A Lincoln Letter, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and the traditional 'We Shall Overcome.'” [Full Post] Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr. was an African American composer, conductor and professor who was born on January 7, 1917 in Tucson, Arizona. Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University has generously made his research entry on Kay available to AfriClassical.com  He tells us young Ulysses was surrounded by music at home and began learning the piano at six, with the encouragement of an uncle who was a famous musician, King Oliver. Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr. passed away in Englewood, New Jersey on May 20, 1995.






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