“A ten-year landmark has just passed in this city. Only a few thousand people took notice of it, but wow, did they stand up and cheer!,” writes Eric A. Gordon in Tuesday’s (7/3) People’s World. “The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles is celebrating its first decade of serving minority youth, especially African-American and Latinx, helping them to master musical instruments and learn the great orchestral literature of the world…. ICYOLA devoted a part of its season-finale concert [at Walt Disney Concert Hall] to the young unarmed African-Americans who have been victimized by gun violence, particularly at the hand of police.” Among other works, ICYOLA conductor, founder, and executive director Charles Dickerson “presented the world premiere of his 12-minute cantata with full orchestra, This Is Why We Kneel. In conjunction with the performance, the orchestra gave its Empowering Life award to football player Colin Kaepernick, who initiated the movement to ‘take a knee’ during the playing of the national anthem before NFL games as a peaceful, nonviolent way of calling attention to the continuing issues of racial injustice and excessive police violence.… The orchestra started off with insistent, low pounding rhythms, which grew in power from repetition as the [50-man] chorus joined in with its achingly sorrowful words.”
Posted July 5, 2018
