Presented by the Northern California Dr. Martin Luther King Community Foundation and Noontime Concerts

The NorcalMLK Foundation is proud to announce an inspiring partnership with Noontime Concerts, aligning our shared values of social justice and the transformative power of the arts.

The concerts will launch the MLK Celebration Week, with a compelling concert curated by Dr. Carl Blake and dedicated to honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Famed pianist Dr. Carl Blake will also be the program director.

This partnership combines the NorcalMLK Foundation’s mission of advancing civil and human rights with Noontime Concerts’ commitment to making high-quality classical music accessible to all. Through these concerts, we will harness classical music’s emotive and unifying strength to echo Dr. King’s vision of a more just and equitable world.

The series will feature performances by accomplished classical musicians who use their artistry to evoke themes of peace, unity, and the ongoing pursuit of social progress. These midday concerts will be easily accessible to the public, echoing Dr. King’s message of inclusivity.

Featuring: Carl Blake, Piano; Hope Briggs, Soprano; Joseph Edelberg, Violin; Daniel Glover, Piano;  Bradley Kynard, Baritone; William Underwood III, Flute

PROGRAM

Valerie Coleman: Requiem Milonga (flute and piano)

Leslie Adams: Prayer (baritone and piano)

Garrett-Martin-Nicholson: I Believe This Belongs to You (baritone and piano)

Olivier Messiaen: Louange à l’immortalité de Jésus  (violin and piano)

William Grant Still: Mother and Child (violin and piano)

Roland M. Carter: Oh, Freedom (soprano and piano)

Undine Smith Moore: Before I’d Be a Slave (piano)

Blind Tom Wiggins: Reve Charmant (Charming Dream) (piano)

Jacqueline B. Hairston: I Don’t Feel No-Ways Tired (soprano, piano)

Shawn E. Okpebholo: My Country (soprano, baritone, piano)

M. Roger Holland II: Hold On (soprano, baritone, piano)

Dr. Aaron Grizzell:  Closing Remarks                                                             

Bruce Starks: Amazing Grace (flute and piano)

CARL BLAKE (piano) holds three degrees in piano performance: Bachelor of Music (magna cum laude) from Boston University, Master of Arts from San Jose State University, and Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University. Dr. Blake has performed three times in Weill Recital Hall (formerly, Carnegie Recital Hall) and has toured in Russia, France, England, Central and South America, and the Caribbean Islands as Artistic Ambassador with cellist Kim Cook (Distinguished Professor of Music at The Pennsylvania State University) for the United States Department of State.  He serves as Director of Music of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco and teaches piano in his private studio in Oakland.  Mr. Blake is a member of the Board of Directors of Noontime Concerts San Francisco.

HOPE BRIGGS (soprano) sang Micaela in Carmen most recently with Festival Opera as well as Ava in Gareth William’s Rocking Horse Winner and Odessa Clay in D.J. Sparr’s Approaching Ali with Opéra Louisiane. She also portrayed Lucinda in Opera San José’s workshop of Jake Heggie’s newest opera, Intelligence. She repeated this role in Houston Grand Opera’s workshop under Patrick Summers, the Duchess of Parma in Doktor Faust with the San Francisco Opera and Stuttgart Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Frankfurt Opera, the title role in Aida with the Nevada Opera, Sacramento Opera and Cedar Rapids Opera and Leonora in Il Trovatore with El Paso Opera, Opera Roanoke and Festival Opera of Walnut Creek as well as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera with Festival Opera. She is a Metropolitan Opera National Finalist and a Marian Anderson Scholar.

JOSEPH EDELBERG (violin) has been the Santa Rosa Symphony Concertmaster since 1997. Joe has played for many years with the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Symphony, as well as in the Bay Area early music scene, with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, AmericanBach Soloists, Magnificat Baroque, and the Albany Consort. His guest leader appearances include the Berkeley, California, and Marin symphonies, West Edge Opera, and the San Francisco Opera Merola orchestra. He has also appeared at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming, as concertmaster at the Summer Festival Orchestras of Mendocino and San Luis Obispo, and, farther afield, as guest principal second violin of the Bavarian State Opera. Edelberg plays with the string quartet StringCircle, and new music with Earplay and Composers, Inc. His solo performances, in addition to those with the Santa Rosa Symphony, include the symphonies of Berkeley and Oakland. Edelberg has recorded with the aforementioned baroque orchestras, the Berkeley Symphony, Chanticleer, Earplay, and the Skywalker Symphony. A Massachusetts native, Edelberg graduated from Amherst College and studied with Philipp Naegele, Felix Galimir, Adolf Bruk, and Milford Graves. 

DANIEL GLOVER (piano) has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Mr. Glover trained with Eugene List, Abbey Simon, Jerome Lowenthal, Nancy Bachus, and Thomas LaRatta. He holds a master’s degree from Juilliard School of Music, where he was a scholarship student. He has served on the faculties of New York University, the University of the Virgin Islands, the University of San Francisco, and Notre Dame de Namur University. Dan served as concert accompanist for seven years for the Boy’s Choir of Harlem during which time there was a performance for Coretta Scott King.

BRADLEY KYNARD (baritone) appeared in two operatic premieres this season: The Emissary composed by Oh/Rourke and Prospero’s Island by Shearer/Stevens. He also sang the role of Zebul in Jeptha by Handel, the bass soloist in Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (BWV 212) by J.S. Bach, and filmed the cinematic version of the new opera A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil by Wold.  Past performances include Sophia’s Forest by Beecher/Moscovitch and Harriet’s Spirit by Shelby/Olvera with Opera Parallèle, Hiob by Mendelssohn, Ballad of the Brown King by Bonds with Ukiah Symphony Orchestra and the role of Dagoo in Moby Dick by Heggie/Scheer with San Francisco Opera. He performed baritone solos in Carmina Burana by Orff with the Golden Gate Symphony and sang the role of Brooke (Little Women) by Adamo with Island City Opera.

WILLIAM UNDERWOOD  III (flute) holds a Bachelor of Science in Music degree from Florida A&M University and a Master of Music in Flute Performance from Wayne State University.  Mr. Underwood has toured Japan extensively with Kyodo Tokyo Inc. and regularly works as a solo, collaborative, and recording flutist. Wiliam is a recent transplant to the Bay Area from Detroit.  He is the executive manager of Flute World in the North Beach district of San Francisco.