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Missed your chance to buy tickets? You can still see the show online!

View the full program here with performer bios.

Donations are appreciated. Suggested donation by check or Paypal: $5.

2025 Martin luther king, jr. commemorative concert: we shall overcome

Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, Montpelier Community Gospel Choir and Shidaa Projects and special guests present a new downtown Montpelier event on Sunday, January 19th, 2025 4 pm - 6 pm at City Hall Arts Center in the Lost Nation Theater. The MLK, Jr. Commemorative Concert is part of Spice on Snow, Music Festival, a roots music event, produced by Montpelier Alive.

The program will include:

- Fifty-five performers presenting various artistic works over 2 hours with a post-concert reception with the artists..

- Montpelier Community Gospel Choir singing songs of the civil rights movement.

- Shidaa Projects performing West African-style dancing and drumming featuring International award winning Samuel Maama Marquaye accompanied by the Shidaa drumming team led by Artistic Director Jordan Mensah.

- Montpelier Chamber Orchestra strings playing the works of African American composers, including Matthew Evan Taylor and Florence Price.

- Michael Arnowitt, pianist, performing the works of African American composers, civil rights music, as well as a piece he composed in honor of George Floyd. 

- Reverend Joan Javier Duval leading a grounding invocation and sharing her legacy tour experience.

- Verdis LeVar Robinson serving as Master of Ceremonies, with a background as both a Universalist Unitarian Minister and a professor of African American studies.

The event will be livestreamed to accommodate those who can not manage the steep steps. Llivestream provided by ORCA Media. The event is sold out.

MCO is proud to bring virtuoso pianist Michael Arnowitt to perform on the piano gifted to the orchestra and Lost Nation Theater this summer. Thank you to Front Four Gallery for supporting our piano tuning fund.

Our Commemorative Concert is funded in part by a grant award from Montpelier Alive, with funds from the Montpelier Downtown Improvement District.

Event sponsors include: Montpelier Alive, Ben and Jerry’s Foundation, Front Four Gallery, Lost Nation Theater, Paul Perley Cellos, and TURNmusic.

Concession sponsor: Cold Hollow Cider Mill.

The MLK, Jr. Commemorative Concert is part of Spice on Snow, Music Festival, a roots music event, produced by Montpelier Alive.

For parents and caregivers:

Learn about the history of the song, We Shall Overcome.

Learn about the role music, particularly protest songs, played in the Civil Rights Movement. How did these songs contribute to the movement's goals and message? Listen on Spotify.

Elevator Outage:

Due to the July 2023 Catastrophic Flooding, LNT/City Hall’s elevator is inoperable, requiring climbing stairs to attend in person. The concert will be available digitally on ORCA media to make the show accessible to those unable to physically join us. We appreciate your understanding during this emergency situation.

2025 spring program

Featuring the Holberg Suite by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), Mozart Symphony #40 and Gwyneth Walker’s “Fanfare, Interlude & Finale.”

About the Holberg Suite: https://ton.bard.edu/griegs-holberg-suite/

Dates: March 23rd at 3 pm

Location: Lost Nation Theater at City Hall, Montpelier

Admission by donation. Suggested: Adults $20, Seniors $15, Kids ages 11-17 $10, ages 10 and under FREE.