January 10, 2018 – The Bethel AME Church Choir of Marysville will headline KVMR’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Gospel Concert for the 36th time this coming Monday, January 15.
The largely African-American choir will be featured in a free noon performance at the Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad Street, downtown Nevada City, with a live broadcast on KVMR (89.5 FM, kvmr.org streaming). Later, at 6 p.m., the Nevada City community radio station will broadcast an hour of Monday’s concert highlights.
And for the sixth consecutive year, the local Trinity Community Chorus will join the Marysville choir to perform in memory of the legendary civil rights leader.
According to Trinity chorus director Stan Thomas-Rose, the concert has “put the holiday on the map” in a mostly white, rural county.
“Now King Day has a sizable presence here,” he added.
One of the musical highlights each year is the classic civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome”, which gets sung by the entire audience standing and singing.
Zenobia Brown, the longtime Bethel choir director, grew up in New Orleans with such a love for Dr. King that her parents took her to the “I Have A Dream” March on Washington speech in 1963.
Meanwhile, KVMR 89.5 FM will broadcast King-related programming and music throughout the day, as the non-commercial station has done since the early 1980s.
THE VITALS:
WHO: KVMR 89.5 FM and the Nevada Theatre
WHAT: 36th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Gospel Music Concert & Celebration, featuring the Bethel AME Choir of Marysville and the local Trinity Community Chorus.
WHEN: Noon, Mon., Jan. 15 (doors open 11:15 a.m.) and broadcast live on KVMR (89.5 FM, kvmr.org streaming) with an hour of highlights rebroadcast at 6 p.m. Mon.
WHERE: Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad St., downtown Nevada City
ADMISSION: Free and open to everyone (donations accepted)
INFORMATION: kvmr.org or 530/265-9073