January
9, 2002
Lincoln
University Presents A Musical Celebration of Dr. King's
Legacy
Erie,
Pa., Musician Performs Slain Civil Rights Leader's Personal
Favorites
Lincoln University will
hold "A Musical Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Dod
Brown Memorial Chapel. Singer, actor, and composer Rev.
Charles Kennedy, Jr., a resident of Erie, Pa., presents
the songs and spirituals that touched Dr. King personally
as well a selection of folk music and an original song
commissioned by the Erie Chamber Orchestra.
Rev. Kennedy also illuminates
Dr. King's accomplishments by presenting dramatic scenes
of similar history makers.
Sponsored by Lincoln's
Lectures and Recitals Committee, the event is free and
open to the public. For further information, contact the
University's Lectures and Recitals Committee at 610-932-8300,
ext. 3261.
A baritone, Rev. Kennedy
has performed internationally in Europe, Africa and Asia
as well as the United States. His best known composition
is the music/drama "Deep River - The Burleigh Legacy,"
a celebration of Harry T. Burleigh, the 'Father of the
Spiritual,' which has been performed at the prestigious,
non-profit educational center, the Chautauqua Institution
in Chautauqua, N.Y. His repertoire includes German lieder
(art songs that lack the scope but rival the complexity
of standard operatic works), contemporary gospel music,
and of course, the spirituals.
Rev. Kennedy has a master's
degree in vocal performance from Fredonia State University
of New York and a bachelor's degree in drama from Scarritt
College in Nashville, Tenn. He has composed music for
orchestra and ballet.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. (Jan. 15, 1929 to April 4, 1968) won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1964 for his leadership in civil rights
activism. He was assassinated in 1968. On January 18,
1986, heeding a national grassroots campaign to create
a holiday in Dr. King's honor, then-President Ronald Reagan
signed a proclamation declaring every third Monday in
January to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Founded in 1854, Lincoln
University is a premier, Historically Black University
that combines the best elements of a liberal arts and
sciences-based undergraduate core curriculum and selected
graduate programs to meet the needs of students living
in a highly technological and global society.
Lincoln University is ranked
first in Pennsylvania and second in the nation in graduating
African Americans with baccalaureate degrees in the physical
sciences. Lincoln is also the only university in the Commonwealth
and one of but 20 universities nationwide where 40 percent
or more of its physics graduates are women. * * * *
