This is a concert of beautiful classical music by Black composers about beautiful Black lives. Guest professional vocal ensemble EXIGENCE, directed by Dr. Eugene Rogers, joins Diane Retallack and the Eugene Concert Choir & Orchestra in an artistic collaboration of deeply powerful music and social justice. These massive forces will perform:

· Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, which quotes the last words of seven African American men tragically killed, and ends with the words of Eric Garner, “I can’t breathe.”

· Scenes from the Life of a Martyr, a brilliant and moving oratorio on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Undine Smith Moore, which was performed in Carnegie Hall in 1982 but has rarely been heard since, as is historically typical of the works of Black female composers.

· “Glory,” Academy award-winning song from the film Selma, by Common, John Legend, and Rhymefest.

Acclaimed soloists of the highest professional caliber will relate the story of Martin Luther King on this 60-year anniversary of his “I Have a Dream” speech.

EXIGENCE is a professional ensemble of the Sphinx Organization, whose mission is “Transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts.”