Thomas Beveridge, Artistic Director 

P.O. Box 6691, McLean, VA 22106-6691 

president@newdominion.org

www.newdominion.org, 202-244-7191

The Heritage Signature Chorale
Stanley J. Thurston, Artistic Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW DOMINION CHORALE TO PRESENT FREE CONCERT HONORING DR. KING

New Dominion Chorale, directed by Artistic Director Thomas Beveridge, will present a concert in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. The concert will take place at The National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C.  THERE WILL BE NO ADMISSION CHARGE FOR THIS EVENT, AND NO TICKETS WILL BE REQUIRED.

The Chorale will be joined by The Heritage Signature Chorale, Stanley Thurston, Founder and Artistic Director.

The principal work to be performed will be Thomas Beveridge’s cantata, ONCE: IN MEMORIAM MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., featuring Jouelle Roberson as soprano soloist.  Organist Todd Fickley will be joined by an instrumental ensemble of brass and percussion.

Each of the choruses will be featured in a group of American Divine Hymns and African-American Spirituals.

Mr. Beveridge’s cantata, written in 1968 on commission from The Choral Arts Society of Washington, is a synthesis of spirituals (“In-a That Mornin’,” “We Shall Overcome,” “Free at Last,” and “Balm in Gilead”), the complete Dies Irae from the Roman Mass, and “Once to Ev’ry Man and Nation Comes the Moment to Decide” by James Russell Lowell. There are also narrated texts from the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and The Union Prayer Book for Jewish Worship. The work was hailed at its first performance at the Washington National Cathedral as “a vast score, highly original, with moments of staggering power” (The Washington Post), “fresh, exciting…electrifying” (Evening Star).

New Dominion Chorale was founded in 1991 and has been directed by Thomas Beveridge ever since.  Hailed by The Washington Post critic Joseph McLellan as “opulent, precise and powerful,” it is widely regarded as one of the jewels of Washington’s vibrant choral scene. It has performed most of the major works for chorus and orchestra, including the premieres of many of Thomas Beveridge’s works, notably his Yizkor Requiem, which went on to be performed over 25 times and recorded by Sir Neville Marriner and the orchestra and chorus of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in London. For more information, please go to www.newdominion.org or president@newdominion.org, or call 202-244-7191.

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New Dominion Chorale is a 501(c)(3) organization supported in part by grants from ARTSFAIRFAX, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts.