Rise, a concert and piece by faculty composer Judah Adashi (MM ’02, DMA ’11, Composition) with poetry by Tameka Cage Conley, was featured in an article in City Paper titled “Four events related to Freddie Gray and racial justice this week,” and in and article in The Baltimore Sun by Mary Carole McCauley and Wesley Case titled “Baltimoreans use photos, music, other outlets to make sense of Freddie Gray’s death, ensuing unrest.” Dr. Adashi’s recent Johns Hopkins HUB interview was shared in The Johns Hopkins Berman Institute Bioethics Bulletin, along with info on his upcoming project, Unseen: Kalief Browder and Solitary Confinement in America, funded by the JHU Exploration of Practical Ethics Program.
The concert was on Tuesday, April 19 at Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist Church. The performance featured Afro Blue, the Howard University Choir, the Occasional Symphony, and the Peabody Community Chorus. The event began with a conversation on art and activism in Baltimore, featuring Aaron Maybin, Sonja Sohn, Tariq Touré, and D. Watkins. At 7:30 pm, cellist Lavena Johanson (MM ’13, Cello) premiered The Beauty of the Protest, inspired by the photos of Devin Allen.