Around Sound: CTS Juneteenth Jubilee June 17, 2023, 8:00p.m.

Around Sound: CTS Juneteenth Jubilee

Around Sound: CTS Juneteenth Jubilee Co-presented by Challenge the Stats and Concerts @ First Series In partnership with The Atlanta Opera, Voices Found, and Proskuneo Ministries Fire Into to Looper Broken Teacup Storytime These Are the Days

Okorie Johnson

Okorie "OK Cello" Johnson INTERMISSION Three Dream Portrait Song Cycle I. Minstrel Man II. Dream Variation III. I Too, Sing America

Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)

Deep River

arr. H.T. Burleigh (1866-1949)

Ride on, King Jesus

arr. Hall Johnson (1888-1970) Indra Thomas & Will Buthod

This River Indra Thomas & CTS Juneteenth Community Choir Consolámini My Soul's Been Anchored

B.E. Boyken (1989-) Traditional Spiritual Arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003)

America Will Be CTS Juneteenth Community Choir You Make Me Smile

Dr. Uzee Brown Jr. (1950-)

Joel Thompson (1988-)

arr. Okorie Johnson Okorie "OK Cello" Johnson Indra Thomas Verena Lucía Anders & Challenge the Stats Juneteenth Community Choir

This event is presented by Challenge the Stats in residence at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta as part of Concerts @ First Series in partnership with The Atlanta Opera and Voices Found.

To help support Challenge The Stats in Residency at First Presbyterian Church, please contribute to the Challenge the Stats residency fund via: firstpresatl.org/GIVE Or scan the code below:

Created in 2021, the Challenge the Stats Residency at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta presents a collective of BIPOC artists in innovative concerts, community engagements, educational Pre K-12 workshops. The inclusive artistic partnership celebrates the vibrant cultural fabric of Atlanta and extends the work of justice beyond the concert stage; connecting with community partners such as the Atlanta Children's Shelter, East Point City Hall, FPC Community Ministries, and by providing music and learning workshops to preK students across the city. Your support enables this residency to flourish and celebrate underrepresented voices through the power of the arts. Through your gifts, we can continue making a lasting impact on the city of Atlanta.

About Challenge the Stats Challenge the Stats (CTS) exists to empower BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities by equipping audiences and artists of color with the tools needed to advocate for justice both inside and outside of the concert hall. To date, CTS has impacted the lives of hundreds of artists through concerts, workshops, and other programing in Atlanta and across the nation.

To learn more about Challenge the Stats and to support our continued work of empowering BIPOC artists, visit: https://www.challengethestats.org/

About the Artists Challenge the Stats Juneteenth Community Choir Artistic Director & Conductor: Verena Lucía Anders is a LatinX pianist, conductor, composer, vocalist and music educator. Verena is also the founder of Symphonic Revolution, an Atlanta-based chamber orchestra which advocates for diversity and inclusion, and performs affordable concerts in alternative venues. Verena was born in Berlin, Germany, of Chilean and Peruvian parents. After immigrating to the U.S., Verena began her training in music and dance at the age of four at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, MD and continued her music and dance studies at The Baltimore School for the Arts, University of Maryland, Alvin Ailey School for Dance, and the Catholic University of America.

Verena currently serves as Director of Music at St James UMC, Atlanta, and CoDirector of Voices Found, a community chorus focused on social change. Mrs. Anders has performed as a CTS artist for “Rhythm of the Roots”, with the Atlanta Symphony Chorus and Chamber Chorus, and has served as Teaching Artist with the Atlanta Music Project, an El Sistema-based music education program. She currently lives with her husband, Will Buthod, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Challenge the Stats Founder & Executive Director and Concert Co-Curator: In 2016, harpist, educator, and activist Angelica Hairston launched Challenge the Stats with a desire to advocate for BIPOC artists and create platforms that empower and uplift marginalized voices through the performing arts. She has been celebrated as one of the youngest recipients of the 2019 Governor’s Award for the Arts & Humanities and the 2020 Atlanta Magazine’s Women Making a Mark Award; both awards recognizing her significant contributions to the state of Georgia’s civic and cultural vitality through excellence and service. She is an artistic consultant for the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble, was awarded a 2021 Sphinx Organization MPower Artist Grant for research studies at the University of Ghana (Accra), and was a 2023 Artist in Residence at Palm Heights Resort in Grand Cayman, Caribbean Islands. She holds a Master of Music Industry Leadership from Northeastern University (Boston), a Bachelor of Music from The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto, Ontario), and recently completed certification in Music Therapy and Sound Healing from the University of the District of Columbia.

Featured Around Sound: CTS Juneteenth Jubilee Artists Okorie “OkCello” Johnson is an American cellist-songwriter whose artistry integrates cello performance, live-sound-looping, improvisation, and storytelling - all culminating in original compositions that collide classical with jazz, EDM, reggae, and funk. His music is inspired by the exploration of African Diasporic melodies and narratives and their intersection with people’s perceptions and assumptions about the classical and European nature of the cello.

Okorie has been an invited artist at the 2022 Democratic Republic of the Congo Biennale and the Kennedy Center's artist residence program, Office Hours. His impactful work earned him recognition in publications like InStyle and Atlanta Magazine. A documentary that Okorie scored for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Imperfect Alibi” won a regional Emmy. He also had the honor of performing at SXSW music festival. He is a recipient of the Alliance Theatre’s Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab grant; he was named Creative Loafing Readers’ Choice winner for Best Local Jazz Act. Okorie’s sophomore album Resolve was named one of ArtsATL’s top local albums.

About the Artists Indra Thomas is a Grammy and Emmy-nominated soprano who has established herself as an artist of incredible sensitivity, poise, and virtuosity.

Indra has performed with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the Hamburg State Opera in Germany, the Atlanta Opera and the American Harp Society among others.

Indra has commanded premier stages, including Carnegie Hall. Internationally, she has performed in Spain, France, South Korea and Johannesburg, South Africa. Indra’s performance of Sir Michael Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the London Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a Grammy Award in the “Best Choral Performance” category.

Indra’s performance on the nationally televised Live from Lincoln Center in New York City was nominated for an Emmy Award. In addition, Ms. Thomas was seen as Serena in Spoleto Festival USA’s lauded production of Porgy and Bess. Indra starred in a gala concert celebrating the 60th Anniversary of The Little Orchestra Society of New York and stunned crowds with a last minute performance of the title role of Aida with the Atlanta Opera. Indra is currently an Artist In-Residence at Berry College in Rome, GA. Will Buthod currently serves as Minister of Music at Holy Trinity Parish in Decatur, Chapel Organist at the Candler School of Theology (Emory University), and founder and co-director of Voices Found, a community choir focused on social action. He has served congregations in New York, Paris, Phoenix, and Atlanta, as well as throughout Oklahoma and New Jersey.

As a performer, Buthod has won numerous competitions and awards, including the Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition, the Tulsa Young Artist Competition, and the Charlotte Bagnall Scholarship for Church Musicians. He has performed with or recorded for such artists as Jimmy Heath, Denyce Graves, Martina Arroyo, Ben Vereen, Jay -Z, Fat Joe, Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Mashonda, Autumn Rowe, Nolan Williams, James Abbington, and Roland Carter. He recorded a live album with Grammy-nominated performer Maiysha at the Blue Note jazz club in New York.

With a gospel music background, Buthod earned a spot as pianist for the Harlem Gospel Choir and has played for such well-known preachers as Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Timothy Wright, James A. Forbes Jr., Johnny Ray Youngblood, and Albert Jamison, Jr. He has composed over 300 works, from classical trios to R&B tunes, which are performed regularly throughout the country and abroad.

Featured Atlanta-Based Composers Dr. B.E. (Brittney Elizabeth) Boykin is an accomplished composer and professor. Dr. Boykin has been commissioned and collaborated with several organizations, including a number of ACDA divisions, the Minnesota Opera and the Kennedy Center. Dr. Boykin’s choral piece, “We Sing as One,” was commissioned to celebrate the 133rd Anniversary of her alma mater, Spelman College. She has also been featured as the conductor/composer-in-residence for the Harry T. Burleigh Commemorative Spiritual Festival at Tennessee State University. She obtained her Ph.D. from Georgia State University with an emphasis in Music Education and is currently the Assistant Director of the Spelman College Glee Club, as well as the Director of the Treble Choir at Georgia Tech.

About the Artists Dr. Uzee Brown, Jr. is an esteemed Professor Emeritus at Morehouse College who holds degrees from Morehouse, Bowling Green State University and the University of Michigan. His immense talents as a singer, performer, composer, arranger, educator and choir director have taken him to more than twenty countries. His composition commissions include works for National Public Radio and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, including an orchestral setting of We Shall Overcome for the 70th birthday observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. His works have been performed at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, as well as internationally.

Joel Thompson is an Atlanta-based composer, conductor, pianist, and educator, best known for the choral work, Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, which won the 2018 American Prize for Choral Composition. Thompson’s works have been performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Master Chorale, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and EXIGENCE. Thompson was a 2017 post-graduate fellow in Arizona State University’s Ensemble Lab and a composition fellow at Aspen Music Festival, winning the 2017 Hermitage Prize. Thompson holds a B.A. in Music and an M.M. in Choral Conducting from Emory University and is a current Doctoral Student at Yale University.

Challenge the Stats Juneteenth Community Choir The Challenge the Stats Juneteenth Community Choir is a meaningfully curated ensemble conceived, curated and directed by Verena Lucía Anders specifically for this event. The choir unites talented singers from across the city, celebrating the diverse fabric of Atlanta and commemorating Juneteenth.

Conductor & Artistic Director Verena Lucía Anders Soprano Aliyah Auerbach Chryston Jones Arietha Lockhart Jessica Macharia Cynthia Miles-Gray Susan Ray Alto Pat Harris Alexis LaSalle Anna Ree Suzanne Shull

Tenor Tsar "Venus" Blanchard Lloyd Harrod Dennis Lau Tyrone Webb Bass Jeremiah Brown Schnieder Grandpierre Zayreton Slaton Jordan Steart Guy Powell Brian Wold

Concerts @ First 2022-2023 Donors Maestro

Angel

Orchestrator

Sally F. George

Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones in memory of Margaret Bates Block

Patron

Eberhard and Ann Voit

Susan B. Anthony

Underwriter

Lisa and Stuart Bondurant in honor of Victoria Shorokhova; in memory of Ned Case

Douglas and Mary Allvine

Elizabeth Fogartie

John Cooke

Margaret Howell

Margaret H. Murphy in memory of Patrick Michael Murphy

Charles Johnson

Charlotte and Tom Shields

Martha Stringer in memory of Jack Stringer

Mori Shizuko

Chis Theodossieu

Benefactor

Friend

Jim and Carol Dew in honor of Jens Korndörfer

Bland and Monique Byrne

Anonymous

Baker and Deborah Smith

Annika Eichenlaub

Drs. Joseph Bishop and Stuart Noel in memory on June Sanford Jenkins

Bryan Ford

Carol Brantley and David Web

Guerry and Michelle Mashburn

William Heymann

Arthur and Mamie Mendez

LeAnn and Roger Neuenschwander

Suzanne Shull

Lee Passarella

Mrs. Kenneth Taratus

Anne C. Pritchett

Gail and David Watson in memory of Cary and Brooks Lide; Bill Minnich

Eddy Walter Romero in memory of Eduardo Romero

Concerts @ First 2023-2024 Season Preview September 29, December 8, January 12, April 19 12:00 P.M. Bach’s Lunch Series Co-presented with the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta Sunday, October 8, 2023 3:00 P.M. A Night at the Opera Maria Valdes, soprano and Christopher Bozeka, tenor Saturday, November 11, 2023 7:30 P.M. Saint-Saëns Carnival Piano Four Hands Co-presented with Chopin Society Sunday, December 10, 2023 10:00 A.M. Christmas Concert FPC Choir and Orchestra Friday, February 9, 2024 7:30 P.M. Baroque Splendor

Co presented with Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and Georgia State University Sunday, March 3, 2024 3:00 P.M. Atlanta Chamber Player Saturday, June 15, 7:30 P.M.

Challenge The Stats And more!

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