AMERICAN VOICES

Name: AMERICAN VOICES
Start: 2026-01-17T19:30:00-05:00
Location: Cincinnati Music Hall

Schedule

Sat, 17 Jan, 2026 at 07:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Cincinnati Music Hall | Cincinnati, OH

Celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. in a program highlighting some of the most influential African American artists and composers of our time. Margaret Bonds’ Montgomery Variations, her tribute to civil rights leader Rosa Parks, is infused with themes of struggle, resistance and dignity. Bass Morris Robinson narrates an original poem by Rita Dove, former Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress, against Barber’s solemn Adagio for Strings, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis takes the 12-bar blues and explodes it into a lyrical, kaleidoscopic history of American music.
PROGRAM
Margaret Bonds: Select movements from "Montgomery Variations"
I. Decision
II. Prayer Meeting
III. March
VII. Benediction
Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings with poetry commissioned by the CSO
Wynton Marsalis: Select movements from "Blues Symphony"
II. Swimming in Sorrow
III. Reconstruction Rag
IV. Danzón y Mambo, Choro y Samba
ARTISTS
Cristian Mӑcelaru, conductor
Morris Robinson, narrator & bass
Rita Dove, poet
SPONSORS
CSO Season Sponsor: Western & Southern