Americans We
Americans We
Celebrating Our Shared Story in Music
Atlanta Freedom Bands’ (AFB) 90-member Concert Band will mark our nation’s 250th anniversary with a concert titled “Americans We: Celebrating Our Shared Story in Music”. Taking place on Saturday, June 20, at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College, this Semiquincentennial musical offering features a diverse array of composers representing a wide array of American voices in music.
This will NOT be your typical patriotic concert. We have something unique to offer our community. Our concert celebrates the diversity, the varied voices, and shared stories that make up our country. The music will challenge, inform, entertain, and delight.
The program’s centerpiece is the premiere of a work AFB has commissioned for the occasion, “We the People” by Christopher Kyle Green. Mr. Green is a graduate of Kennesaw State University and has written a growing catalog of music performed by top wind ensembles. Mr. Green says, “This work stands as both a reflection and a declaration: that even in times of division, there remains an unyielding drive toward progress. It is a tribute to those who continue to raise their voices and a reminder that the story of ‘We the People’ is still being written.” The Jon Sims Endowment Fund has provided funding to support the work.
The program features legendary composers such as Florence Price and Aaron Copland paired with today’s counterparts such as Erica Svanoe, Quincy Hilliard, Omar Thomas, and Chandler Wilson. The selections tell the stories of women who dared to expand beyond their traditional roles, the achievements of the African American community, Marsha P. Johnson (an important early activist in the transgender community), and more.
Led by Artistic Director O’Shae Best in his first season with the ensemble, AFB’s Concert Band will bring these stories spanning the breadth of our nation to life.
We are excited to invite you to experience the concert in a new venue, the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College. This state-of-the-art performance venue features a beautiful auditorium, a large stage, more plentiful and comfortable seating, and plenty of nearby parking. We can’t wait to see you there!
Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 seniors, $10 students.
The concert will also stream live from AFB’s YouTube channel.
The concert program features:
“Fanfare for Freedom” by Quincy Hilliard
“American Overture for Band” by Joseph Wilcox Jenkins
“Adoration” by Florence Price
“Conversations” by Chandler Wilson
“Mother of a Revolution” by Omar Thomas
“She Dares, She Leaps” by Erika Svanoe
“Elegy for a Young American” by Ronald Lo Presti
Premiere: “We the People” by Christopher Kyle Green
“The Soulful Sixties” arr. Michael Brown
“Promise of Living” by Aaron Copland
“From Atlanta to the Sea” by Frank Duarte
ACCESSIBILITY
An accessible entrance is available with a flat path from the parking deck behind the parking area behind the theater to the front entrance. The standard complement of symphonic percussion will be in use. The concert will not have any special lighting or audio effects. For accessibility questions, please email development@atlantafreedombands.com.
| GETTING HERE PARKING is available along West End Ave, in a grassy lot near the theater, and in the campus parking deck (entrance on Greensferry Ave SW). Open Google Maps > | VIEW THE PROGRAM Concert programs are available the week before the show so you can read more about the pieces and composers. The program will be available closer to the concert > |
| DINNER AND A SHOW Support our favorite neighborhood restaurants before the show. Make your pre-show dinner plans at these fine locations. View our Recommendations > | WATCH THE STREAM All of AFB’s 33rd season concerts will stream live on our YouTube channel. The stream will be available for a short time after the concert. Stream the Concert > |
 |  |  |  |
“Americans We” is supported in part by the City of Atlanta – Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. Funding for this program is also provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of Fulton County Arts & Culture. This program is supported in part by Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency – the National Endowment for the Arts.
