Colour of Music Festival Octet Debut at MOJA Arts Festival October 4, 2023
Tenth Anniversary Year Presents Black Professional Classical Musicians Performing Chamber Gems
Celebrating its tenth season showcasing leading Black classical artists from around the world, Charleston-based Colour of Music Festival is pleased to announce its debut performance at the 2023 MOJA Arts Festival at Charleston’s historic Dock Street Theatre, Wednesday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Since 2013 the Colour of Music Festival gathers international, national, and regional classically trained Black musicians of African descent to share their musical talents, knowledge, and inspiration in Charleston each year and since 2016 has performed in leading performance venues in Washington, DC, Atlanta, Houston, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Tulsa, New York City, and Sacramento.
The Colour of Music Festival will present its elite chamber ensemble honoring the legacy of Charleston-born composer Edmund Thornton Jenkins featuring his Negro Symphonie Dramatique arranged by his great-nephew Tuffus Zimbabwe. The performance also features composer Valerie Coleman’s UMOJA, Afro-Cuban composer José White Lafitte’s La Bella Cubana and culminates with Felix Mendelssohn’s iconic String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 2.
A special guest appearance by low country born and nationally known flutist Megan Bennett joined by pianist Leonard O. Hayes will offset the international roster of artists led by German-born violinist Anyango Yarbo-Davenport, French violinist Romuald Grimbert-Barré, violinists Michael L. Jorgensen and James Keene, Trinidadian-born violist Basil Vendryes, violist Alexandra D’Amico, and cellists Kenneth Law and Nathaniel P. Taylor.
“This event brings the Colour of Music Festival full circle as the Dock Street Theatre is where the Festival debuted in 2013. We are honored to present several classical gems that span several classical periods in one of America’s crown jewels for chamber music at this year’s MOJA Arts Festival under the direction of Grammy-Award winning artist Charlton Singleton,” said Lee Pringle, Founder & Artistic Director, Colour of Music Festival.
Colour of Music Festival @ MOJA Arts Festival
TICKETS: $35
Wednesday, October 4, 7:30 p.m.
Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church Street, Charleston SC 29401
Online: colourofmusic.org
At door: (credit card, cash, or check) before each performance
The Colour of Music Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and was named one of South Arts’ Southern Cultural Treasures, a program made possible by the Ford Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation. The Festival receives additional support from the South Carolina Arts Commission, The City of Charleston, SC, and Charleston County.