Messages of liberty and equality will be delivered in the Kennedy Center’s Hall of Nations on Monday when the Let Freedom Ring Choir, directed by the Rev. Nolan Williams Jr. unleashes the power of 140 multicultural voices raised in tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In a concert that has taken place for the last six years, Grammy Award-winning vocalist Bobby McFerrin will be the featured performer this year, with previous artists including Roberta Flack, Jessye Norman, Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle.
Choir Director Williams is an ordained cleric, composer and CEO of NEWorks Productions. His calling as an American songwriter has gained for him an impressive repertoire that includes several commissioned choral works by Georgetown University, premiered works with the National Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. He has also contributed songs to Grammy-nominated gospel and R&B recording projects, as well as music for television and film.
| Onstage |
| Let Freedom Ring! featuring Bobby McFerrin |
| Where: Hall of Nations, Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW |
| When: 5 p.m. Monday |
| Info: Free on a first-come, first-served basis; 800-444-1324 or 202-467-4600; kennedycenter.org |
Each year, Williams composes or adapts a work to be included in the Kennedy Center/Georgetown University-hosted program. Researching a theme for his concert setting, a choral piece titled “Buses Are A-Comin’,” he discovered an interesting story related to the civil rights movement and that song, in particular. Seems, back in the ’60s, several students were arrested in Mississippi, and the governor, to send a warning message to further protesters, sent the offending students to a maximum-security prison.
“But the will of the students couldn’t be broken, and while in prison they made up a song to taunt the guards, and that song was ‘Buses Are A-Comin’,” Williams explained.
The polished adaptation of this song for the concert stage is given new dramatic treatment and setting by the Let Freedom Ring Choir under Williams’ direction.
McFerrin will perform solo numbers and then work with the choir. Special guest Nova Nelson of “3 ‘Mo Divas” fame, will deliver, along with the choir, a gospel-flavored version of “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.”
Where the King celebration is concerned, Williams’ intent is clear: “If we only treat the King Holiday as a kind of retrospective, we miss the calling that is upon all of us; to take up the mantle and continue to press forward. That is the message we hope audiences will take away with them.”
