An energetic crowd filled the seats of Evanston’s Nichols Concert Hall Sunday for the Music Institute of Chicago’s 23rd annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration Concert.
A wide variety of performers from across the Chicago area contributed to the concert, including vocal performers, symphony flutists, children’s choirs and composers. Several performers were decorated high school artists honing their skills through local non-profit music development programs.
The concert’s rich diversity in performers mirrored the message of keynote speaker Jonathan Bailey Holland, dean of Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music.
“There is much that music can teach us,” said Holland. “Perhaps, most importantly, it can help us remember that thriving communities require thriving individuals who are appreciated for what each of them brings to the collective whole.”
Holland stressed that the “musical experience” reminds others of what is possible through cooperation and commitment to a shared goal — a belief reflected in King’s civil rights activism.
Superficial and circumstantial differences, he said, “matter not when we are performing the same work.”
The event opened with a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Soul4Real, a Black a cappella group at NU. As the song, widely known as the unofficial Black National anthem, filled the concert hall, audience members rose to sing along.
Community members also gave speeches highlighting the importance of King’s legacy throughout the event. Haven Middle School eighth-graders Lila Hall, Wes Morgan and Micah Thompson read out excerpts from King’s speeches.
“His message rings true today as it did in the 1960s,” Thompson said after reciting “Keep Moving From This Mountain.”
The Evanston Children’s Choir performed the Zulu folk song “Aya Ngena” and Evanston native Rollo Dilworth’s song “Climbin’ Up the Mountain, Children!” According to the choir’s artistic director Gary Geiger, both songs brought attention to music’s role in protest.
“In times of social unrest, art was often created by oppressed peoples to secretly mock their oppressors in order for them to keep their morale up,” Geiger said.
This message was echoed by Morgan’s reading of King’s “The Purpose of Education,” which frames education as a powerful form of resistance.
“We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half-truths, prejudices and propaganda,” he said, reciting King’s speech. “If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, brethren! Be careful, teachers!”
The concert concluded with the world premiere of “Unknown.” The piece was composed by Abisola Toukourou through the Hearing in Color and La Caccina non-profits’ Young Composer Residency. At 15, Toukourou is the youngest person to be selected for the program. Addressing the crowd, she said her song represents King’s life as well as “motifs that are known throughout the Civil Rights Movement.”
Performed by Hearing in Color’s vocal ensemble Chroma, the piece’s soaring solos and delicate riffs reflected social justice advances in the U.S.
However, verses urging people to “rise to take control of skin and bone” reminded concertgoers to continue King’s lifelong advocacy for civil rights.
“Some 60 years later, we remain very aware of the tentativeness of the democratic ideal of equality and therefore must continue to persist in the fight,” Holland said.
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