We Shall Overcome

Music evokes history. Songs remind us of a time, a place, a moment. Songs like Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" can take us back to the dark days of segregation, and "We Shall Overcome" recalls Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream for equality and peace. Tonight at 7 p.m. at the Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra -- along with the Majestic Praise, Rocky Mountain Children's and the Spirituals Project Choirs -- present the nineteenth annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Concert. The presentation will feature eclectic and appropriate selections of sacred and secular music by African and African-American composers such as Fela Sowande and Duke Ellington while showcasing the talents of violinist Eleana Uroste, 2007 winner of the SPHINX competition, a national non-profit arts and youth organization with the goal of building diversity in classical music.

Also tonight, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Awards Committee will honor those who have selflessly volunteered their time and talents to help the community and continue Dr. King's mission. The program will finish with the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome," a reminder of how far we've come and how far we still need to go in the struggle to fulfill dream.

The concert is free to the public, but a ticket is required for admission; call 303-308-2466 or 303-308-2467 or visit www.coloradosymphony.org for more information.
Thu., Jan. 17, 6 p.m., 2008