The gala concert will feature composer Nicholas Flagello’s choral masterwork “The Passion of Martin Luther King,” dedicated to the civil rights icon. It will be performed by the EMU Orchestra and University Choir.
Harrisonburg music lovers will also be introduced to renowned balafon virtuoso Balla Kouyaté on the traditional Malian xylophone with EMU ensembles. Kouyaté will perform with the EMU orchestra and Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony, EMU Jazz band and EMU Chamber Singers.
“So often truth and light go hand in hand. That is something that Dr. King taught all of us,” said Professor David Berry, music program director. “Our program begins with Flagello’s immense and rarely performed choral masterwork, which shares King’s words with emotion and power. With the orchestra and chorus, we’ll also tell the story through video images and photographs. This part of the concert emphasizes the importance, poignancy and beauty of truth. After the choral work has finished and Balla takes the stage with our ensembles, it will be pure joy and light. We need both of these in our world, the power of truth and the hope of light.”
The concert is free, with donations welcome to help support the EMU music program.
The concert will be livestreamed on EMU’s Facebook Live page.
For more information on the gala, visit emu.edu
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Crystal Graham
