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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.