Chicago Sinfonietta's Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: THUNDER

Sinfonietta’s annual MLK Tribute Concert is a beloved yearly tradition. This year, come and join us for an inspiring program full of power and intensity. Opening the program, 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence winner Carlos Simon’s piece was inspired by a journal entry from Beethoven in 1815, about the unpredictable nature of life: “Iliad. The Twenty-Second Book: But Fate now conquers; I am hers; and yet not she shall share In my renown; that life is left to every noble spirit. And that some great deed shall beget that all lives shall inherit.” The concert continues with Valerie Colemans’s “Umoja,” the Swahili word for Unity and the first principal of the holiday Kwanzaa. Through the two decades, “Umoja” transformed from an original version for women’s choir to the woodwind version. Rounding out the program, Kathryn Bostic’s newest commissioned “Letters From Moral Courage” encompasses the powerful impact from all types of people making a choice to abide in integrity, truth and fearlessness.