The Chamber Singers of Keene and the Grand Monadnock Youth Choirs will present a community choral event on the 55th anniversary of The Children's Crusade in Birmingham, Alabama.
On Friday, April 27, at 7 p.m., the two Keene choirs of the Grand Monadnock Youth Choirs - Elm City Singers and Keene Youth Choir - will join their adult counterparts to present The Children's March, a powerful musical depiction of civil-rights activism. The concert will be held in the United Church of Christ, located at the head of the Square in downtown Keene, and marks the first collaboration between the Choirs and the Chamber Singers.
The evening holds special significance for the Chamber Singers. The group will host composer Andrew Bleckner in the New England premiere of his work, featuring gospel, blues, and dramatic themes representing the historic music sung by 4,000 African American children as they were defiantly arrested for protesting the inequality of the Jim Crow laws of the Deep South.
The performance is narrated by Dottie Morris, Vice-President of Diversity at Keene State College; conducted jointly by Matthew Leese of the Chamber Singers and Esther Rhoades of the Youth Choirs; and joined by Walt Sayre, pianist and Michael Day, percussionist.
This is also the farewell concert for Chamber Singers musical director Matthew Leese, who took the helm in 2014.
“When I found this piece and started planning with Esther, I had no idea this would be my final concert with Chamber Singers, but somehow this feels like a very fitting way to leave the baton for the incoming director,” Leese said in a news release. “Working on this stirring piece this year has been uncanny in its timing with current politics and with me gaining U.S. citizenship.”
The Children's March, composed in 2013 by Bleckner with libretto by Charlotte Blake Alston, is a compelling work that combines original text with words from legal documents, infused with stirring spirituals.
This important piece is a new, major American composition that tells the story of a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement - a historic action that called upon children to protest the inequality of segregation. The song list includes “There is a Balm in Gilead,” “Lift Every Voice,” “Run, Mary, Run!,” and “Woke Up This Mornin' With Freedom on My Mind.”
In the first week of May 1963, thousands of children demonstrated in the streets of Birmingham, protesting the city's notorious practices of racial inequality.
The events in Birmingham signified an important crossroads - one where the youth of the city proved they had a powerful voice to enact change and where the politicians and law enforcement officials proved they would do anything to silence that voice.
The whole world watched as the marchers faced police dogs, billy clubs, and fire hoses. The courage of these children, some as young as 4 years old, culminated in pivotal civil rights legislation proposed by President John F. Kennedy, making segregation illegal.
As a gift to the community, and acknowledging the significant cultural contributions of Leese, tickets won't be sold and admission is by donation only. The concert will last approximately 75 minutes. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with unreserved seating.