Review of MLK concert at Music Institute of Chicago, Evanston, IL
sun Jan 17 virtual concert
by Maja Rios
The virtual concert at the Music Institute of Chicago was one of my favorite concerts. Diverse in genre, age, and ethnicity, performers truly represented what MLK day stands for. Jazz, classical, gospel, Blues, African chants and chorus music were all part of the program. The program opened with ” Incantation” by Wm Grant Still for oboe and piano.
Beautiful, oboe playing by Zach Allen. Next violinist Hannah White. performed Between Worlds by Carlos Simon; beautiful gifted tone. Northwestern Univ jazz professor, Victor Goines, performed 3 jazz pieces that were smooth and stately, which were originals I believe. Violinist Rachel Barton Pine did an outstanding solo of two Black composers. Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, which blended classical and gospel together “Louisiana strut blues” and a piece by modern violinist, a piece by Daniel Bernard Roumain called Hip-Hop Prayer No. (2017). Both were great. Vocalist Tammy McCann did a fine job on two gospel classics, Precious Lord and How I Got Over. Finally, the program ended with Brotherhood Chorale of the Apostolic Church of God, directed by Brother Brian Rice, with African percussionists and chanting by the choir; Martin Luther King’s dream realized in music. A dream of a better society.
