During the month of January, we celebrate the legacy of one of the most instrumental and influential figures of the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His contributions to the movement inspired others to join him in the fight against racial inequality.

Choral Arts Link, Fisk University and Intersection CME (Contemporary Music Ensemble) are pleased to continue their partnership to acknowledge the leaders who stood with Dr. King during the Civil Rights movement.

Upon These Shoulders is a concert experience that will encompass song, orchestra, spoken word, and art to convey the trials and tribulations of yesterday, today and tomorrow and depict the evolution of the arts’ role to express needs, heal broken conversations, and build stronger communities. The program will be held on the campus of  Fisk University (1000 17^th Ave. North, Nashville, TN) on Thursday, January 12^th at the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery for the Pre-concert event 5:30 – 6:30, and the full concert at Fisk Memorial Chapel at 7 pm.

The evening begins with a sensory engaging tour of the Carl Van Vechten Art gallery featuring performances from Fisk University students. The gallery will feature images from World War I, The Great Migration, Harlem Renaissance and A Celebration of The Harmon Foundation gift. Attendees will be met with song, poetry and movement that connect the art to the concert theme and bring the art to life. Associate Professor Gwendolyn Brown and Van Vechten Gallery Curator Jamaal Sheats will curate the gallery for the evening.

The event continues in Memorial Chapel with the world premiere of My Lord What A Morning arranged by Dr. Cedric Dent, a new work by Jonathan Bailey Holland, ‘I Too Sing’,  commissioned by Intersection and performed with the MET Singers, and the Nashville premiere of Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. The evening will feature performances from The Fisk Jubilee Singers, Intersection, our MET Singers and Contralto Gwendolyn Brown.

For more information on the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery click here.

The blue star represents the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery, where we will host our pre-concert
The green star represents the Fisk Memorial Chapel, where we will host the full concert.
The P represents parking lots accessible to attendees.