From One To Another Concert

Attend From One to Another, an immersive walking concert at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, presented by Concertnova at the Freedom Center on May 7 and 8!

From One to Another leads audiences through the Freedom Center itself — room by room, gallery by gallery — encountering live musical duos along the way. Each duo performs in direct response to a specific exhibition and to the building’s place on the Ohio River, a historic crossing point for people escaping slavery. The music doesn’t comment on the museum from a distance. It inhabits it. By the end of the evening, the two have become inseparable.

The Freedom Center sits on the banks of the Ohio River at the site where countless freedom seekers crossed from Kentucky into Ohio, many guided by the Underground Railroad’s network of abolitionists and allies. Its galleries hold stories of resistance, courage, and survival — and on these two evenings, those stories will have a soundtrack.

Tickets

Tickets range from $10 to $40.

The Program

The program centers Black composers and the Black musical tradition. Jessie Montgomery’s Strum for string quartet brings rhythmic urgency to the space. Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson’s arrangement of Walkin’ All Over God’s City Called Heaven for violin and cello reaches back into the spiritual tradition.

Carlos Simon’s where two or three are gathered and Courtney Bryan’s Fanfare for Moments of Courage — for solo clarinet — represent two of the most compelling voices in contemporary American composition. William Grant Still and Dolores White contribute works for soprano and piano that anchor the program in the deep lineage of Black classical music. The evening closes with the National Anthem performed by soprano and guitar — a choice that lands differently inside these walls.

Performers

Performers include Victoria Ellington, soprano; Citlalmina Hernandez, clarinet; Brianna Matzke, piano; Brandon Coleman, guitar; Anna Reider, Korah Cuff, and Kun Dong, violins; Joanne Wojtowicz, viola; and Drew Dansby and Daniel Kaler, cellos.

Concertnova is a Cincinnati-based nonprofit chamber music organization dedicated to presenting classical music in conversation with history, community, and contemporary life.

The Voice of Black Cincinnati is a media company designed to educate, recognize, and create opportunities for African Americans. Want to find local news, events, job postings, scholarships, and a database of local Black-owned businesses? Visit our homepage, explore other articles, subscribe to our newsletter, like our Facebook page, join our Facebook group, and text VOBC to 513-966-3328.