The Drum Major Instinct

Theater of War Productions and BAM

Present

The Drum Major Instinct

A Dramatic Reading of the Sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Composed and Arranged by Phil Woodmore

Directed by Bryan Doerries

Audience discussion co-facilitated by Bryan Doerries and De-Andrea Blaylock Solar.

and will present a special, live performance of The Drum Major Instinct to commemorate MLK Day 2026, featuring Jeffrey Wright, Zohran Mamdani, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, and Jumaane Williams reading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s sermon “The Drum Major Instinct,”—a powerful, cautionary sermon about the impulse in all humans to be first—as a catalyst for a facilitated audience discussion about the relevance and resonance of Dr. King’s words today.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his sermon, “The Drum Major Instinct,” on Sunday, February 4, 1968 at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, exactly two months before his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. In it, he prophetically spoke of his own imminent death and laid out a challenge to his congregation, and also the world, to harness an inborn human drive—“the desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first”— and use it to promote justice, righteousness, and peace by channeling it into acts of service and love. More than fifty years after King’s death, his words resonate with new depth and meaning. It is in the spirit of promoting open, candid, constructive dialogue between diverse audiences that we perform “The Drum Major Instinct,” with the hope that it will lead to compassion, connection, and positive action.

The reading will be accompanied by original and arranged music composed and conducted by Dr. Philip Woodmore, featuring a diverse choir of singers, including educators, activists, police officers, and members of the faith community from St. Louis, Missouri and Brooklyn, New York.

Performances by Jeffrey Wright, Zohran Mamdani, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, and Jumaane Williams, The Phil Woodmore Singers, Marcelle Davies-Lashley and Friends, and soloists De-Rance Blaylock, Duane Foster, John Leggette, and Daniel McRath.

Please email [email protected] with any questions.

Tickets are free for this event and will be distributed onsite on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 5:30 pm on January 19 in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House lobby.

Please note that registration does not guarantee a seat.

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