June 9th @ 7:00pm
*Reception & self-guided "Education Stations" @6:00pm
African American Meeting House
46 Joy Street, Boston, MA
*Reception & self-guided "Education Stations" @6:00pm
African American Meeting House
46 Joy Street, Boston, MA
"Today there are more African-Americans under correctional control — in prison or jail, on probation or parole — than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began." Freedom Rising is a musical and dramatic exploration into the prison system of the United States. Narrators read facts, personal accounts, and quotations concerning incarceration systems throughout US history. This text supports the artistic beauty that lies within the souls of prisoners, as revealed through their poetry. The program is further enhanced by inspiring, emotionally packed music, with song arrangements, improvisations, and original works by Jeffrey Mumford, Frederick Rzewski, Ed Bland, Yusef Lateef, Renee’ C. Baker, and Anthony Green. Altogether, Freedom Rising clarifies – through narration, poetry, and music – the similarities between incarceration systems from 1800s America to the America of today. Yet in this deluge of dark fates and overwhelming circumstances, Freedom Rising also reveals a glimmer of hope: needed reform is coming, perhaps slowly, but surely.
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Tickets:
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Performers:
(click on the NAME to learn more about the musicians) Shaw Pong Liu, violin Ashleigh Gordon, viola Lizzie Burns, double bass Seychelle Dunn-Corbin, saxophone Ulysses Thomas, narrator Nina LaNegra, narrator Anthony Green, concert curator This program is supported in part by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council, a local agency which is funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council,
administrated by the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture. |
Full Program:
*PLUS poetry by current and former convicts, facts and thought-provoking narration. |
