The Enterprise - Open Mic Classical will Present Linking Legacies for Black History Month
Performer and educator Christopher Jenkins will be among the members of Linking Legacies who will be featured February 20 as part of Open Mic Classical. Mr. Jenkins has performed with the St. Louis Symphony and New York Philharmonic, the American Ballet Theater, and on Broadway in productions such as “Spamalot,” “Shrek” and “The Lion King.”
To recognize Black History Month, Open Mic Classical will present an online performance featuring Linking Legacies on Sunday, February 20, at 3 PM. Linking Legacies is a group composed of Ohio-based African American performers presenting works by Black composers with ties to Ohio and the Greater Cleveland area. Although Ohio’s legacy of educating Black composers is not well known, William Grant Still, Nathaniel Dett, Hale Smith, Dolores White and Leslie Adams were all educated at Oberlin Conservatory and/or the Cleveland Institute of Music. The performers who make up Linking Legacies similarly have regional ties. Pianist Dianna White-Gould is a graduate of Oberlin and daughter of composer Dolores White, viola player Christopher Jenkins is an associate dean at Oberlin and doctoral student at the Cleveland Institute of Music and lyric coloratura soprano Anastasia Rainbow is the daughter of an Oberlin alum. The program will include “The Whole World in His Hands” by Margaret Bonds, a “Watch and Pray” arrangement by Undine Smith Moore; “Spirituals” by Dolores White and “Ecstasy of Love” by H. Leslie Adams. Following the featured performers, signup to play will be open to classical musicians of all levels and ages. Performers must sign up by 2 PM on the day of the event. Each performer is allowed up to five or six minutes per time slot. Slots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. To request a signup sheet visit www.openmicclassical.org, email openmicclassical@gmail.com or call 774-353-0244. A link to view the event is available through the Open Mic Classical website on the event page.
