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New Music Celebrations of the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Orchestra 2001

Date Awarded
04/02/12
Amount
$40,000
Grant Period
04/02/12 to 04/01/14
Focus Area
Fostering the Arts
Community
Philadelphia
Initiative
Knight Arts Challenge

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To celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by presenting a new concerto based on the civil rights leader's life and featuring local performers

Summary: Orchestra 2001 will present a new music project celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., featuring collaborations with the St. Thomas Gospel Choir, composer Jay Fluellen, and young musicians and composers from West Philadelphia’s “Play On, Philly!” program. The concert will include the world premiere of a new clarinet concerto based on King’s life by Curtis Institute faculty composer Richard Danielpour, featuring clarinetist Anthony McGill, a Curtis graduate. Open rehearsals and educational activities will take place in four African-American communities with a final concert at the Kimmel Center during the week of Martin Luther King Day, 2014.

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Project Team

James Freeman

Artistic Director

James Freeman, the artistic director and conductor, founded Orchestra 2001 in 1988. He was trained at Harvard University, Tanglewood, and Vienna's Academy for Music. He counts among his principal mentors the pianist Artur Balsam and his father, double bassist Henry Freeman.
Mr. Freeman's many honors include two Fulbright Fellowships, grants from NEA and NEH, the German Government, Harvard University's Paine Traveling Fellowship, and in 2009 the city of Philadelphia's Liberty Bell Award. As

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