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Martin Luther King Jr
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Performance Today®

A King Celebration 2011

On this Martin Luther King Day, our entire show is devoted to a celebration of the life of Dr. King. Music was an important force in the civil rights movement, and important in the personal life of Dr. King as well. We'll hear performances from the annual King Celebration concert in his home town of Atlanta. We'll hear classical musicians talk about what King's legacy means to them. And the great American soprano Jessye Norman sings a traditional spiritual.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Thomas Dorsey: Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Mahalia Jackson, singer, the Fall-Jones Ensemble

Traditional (Arranged by Clayton Erb and Jubilant Sykes): Were You There?
Jubilant Sykes, baritone, the London Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton, conductor

Joseph Schwantner: New Morning for the World: Daybreak of Freedom
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., narrator, the National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.

Mark O'Connor: Appalachia Waltz
Mark O'Connor, violin
Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland

Jessye Norman, soprano, and friends Traditional: Lord, I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray

Hour 2

John Rosamond Johnson: Lift Every Voice and Sing
The Southern Sons

Wynton Marsalis: Excerpts from Blues Symphony
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Spano, conductor
Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, Atlanta, Georgia

Traditional: We Shall Overcome
The Morehouse and Spelman College Glee Clubs, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Spano, conductor
Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, Atlanta, Georgia

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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