Nona Hendryx, Abby Dobson, Toshi Reagon, Joel Thompson, Carlos Simon, Courtney Bryan, Troy Anthony and more will take people on a sonic quest with “The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout.”
The June 1 event, produced by the National Black Theatre and The Apollo, will take place in the Kennedy Center’s Opera House.
With virtual host Mahoghany L. Browne as the guide, along with the American Composers Orchestra and NEWorks Voices of Inspiration, this experience is meant to be a space to collectively center the social impact issue of the time to awaken joy as a source of liberation and to find love as a form of possibility and resistance, event organizers said.
Through diverse musical genres, this one-night-only event is the signature celebration for the Kennedy Center’s Conflux partnership with the National Black Theatre running May 26-June 2.
“Technology, along with social media have not just invited but commanded the world to join the ongoing conversation about American police brutality and our nation’s flawed criminal justice system,” said Sade Lythcott, CEO of the National Black Theatre. “For generation, we’ve borne the brunt of America’s unrelenting ways and in response, NBT has continually answered this call by empowering artists, fostering community, prioritizing advocacy, and creating a space for a spectrum of voices to be heard. The Gathering is the coming together of all these elements. What Jonathan McCrory conceived is nothing short of a miracle; a sonic and spiritual salve to help our communities and our country to see itself healed and whole. Much gratitude to our long-time collaborators and neighbors at The Apollo and Art for Justice for joining us as partners to bring this powerful work to the Kennedy Center.”
From May 26-June 2, a week of family-friendly programming curated by NBT will aim to provide a central space for people to dialogue with each other and to unearth the compounded/dynamic narratives that rest in the Black Diaspora existence in America, organizers said.
This is certainly wonderful, preserving a history with a climactic concert at the World Renowned Kennedy Center Opera House, never seen before in such a wonderful place as the Kennedy Center-“Sonic of the Ring Shout”, and it is my understanding members of the public will have an open opportunity to attempt to set the “Guinness book of world record” With the largest Ring Shout assembled anywhere in the world, it’s great to have an opportunity to do some thing larger than yourself, but I hope all of us will be a part of this Ring Shout to preserve history in a very positive symbolic way. I believe the date will be the weekend of May 31 “Guinness book of world record attempt”. Public invited to make history together, with a full Orchestra Concert, Chorus and the Ring Shout on June 1.