CCM's Choral Series Proudly Presents Dave Brubeck's 'The Gates of Justice' in Concert on April 19

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s (CCM) Choral Concert Series comes to a close this month with a special performance of Dave Brubeck’s

The Gates of Justice

at

3 p.m.

on

Sunday, April 19

. Under the direction of CCM Associate Professor of Ensembles and Conducting

Brett Scott

, the CCM Chorale and Brass Choir will welcome the Phil DeGreg Trio and special guests from the Martin Luther King Chorale for this performance. This powerful and moving work will be presented at Hyde Park’s Knox Presbyterian Church.

Originally premiered in 1969 for the dedication of Cincinnati's Rockdale Temple, Dave Brubeck’s

The Gates of Justice

was a co-commission by CCM and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, with a premiere conducted by the legendary Cincinnati Pops conductor and former CCM faculty member Erich Kunzel.

Brubeck's second large-scale sacred composition, the piece was a plea for brotherhood between blacks and Jews during a period of strife in the 1960s, immediately following the 1968 death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It was a tremendous hit," Kunzel recalled of the premiere in a

Cincinnati Enquirer

feature in February of 2004. “There was a standing ovation. I remember it very vividly; it was very exciting. Everyone loved it. It's a very meaningful piece, and we were all so happy with what the result was."

In that same story, Brubeck observed, "It was an emotional time. The idea was to bring these two cultures together, to show similarities rather than their differences."

The Gates of Justice

is a cantata based on biblical and Hebrew liturgical texts—together with quotations from Martin Luther King’s speeches, as well as from Negro spirituals and from the Jewish sage Hillel, and with lyrics by Brubeck’s wife, Iola, with whom he collaborated on this and other works. Brubeck pointed to the explicit connection between the historical experience of the Jewish people and that of American blacks, and he expressed his conviction that both peoples possess traditional spiritual values with important meaning for contemporary society.

Performance Time

3 p.m. Sunday, April 19

Location

Knox Presbyterian Church

3400 Michigan Avenue

Cincinnati, OH 45208

Purchasing Tickets

Tickets to

The Gates of Justice

are $12 general, $6 non-UC students, UC students FREE. Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at

ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/brubeck-gates-of-justice.html.

Tickets will also be available beginning at 2 p.m. on the day of the performance at Knox Presbyterian Church; cash and check only at the door.

Parking and Directions

Please note that this performance does not take place on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Knox Church is located on the corner of Observatory and Michigan, at 3400 Michigan Avenue, in the heart of Hyde Park in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Parking at Knox can be a bit challenging. The best advice is to arrive a little early for the event you are attending.

Please visit

www.knox.org/directions

for more details on parking and directions.

____

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

Sponsored by: The CCM Harmony Fund: Challenging Hate and Prejudice through Performing Arts