NORFOLK, VA – Celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 18with a special virtual ceremony aired on COX channel Norfolk TV48, NorfolkTV You Tube channel, and Norfolk Facebook page. The in-person ceremony and march will not be held this year due to current COVID-19 restrictions.
The virtual ceremony will include special messages from Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander and Vice Mayor Martin Thomas, Jr. and look back to the January 2020 celebration at the Attucks Theatre and wreath-laying ceremony. Please join as we revisit the moving keynote address delivered by humanitarian and civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Yvonne Y. Delk, and several special musical performances that included singer, songwriter, actress and Norfolk native, Ms. Jessie Wagner.
The 2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr virtual ceremony will air on COX channel TV 48 beginning Monday, January 18 through Saturday, January 23 at the following times:
Watch the 2021 virtual ceremony on the City of Norfolk Facebook page www.facebook.com/NorfolkVA beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, January 18.
Also, as part of this tribute, presented in collaboration with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and HARMONY Project partner churches, the annual “Songs for a Dreamer” concert will be presented virtually this year, including welcoming remarks by Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander. In addition to the traditional invocation, delivered by Pastor Robert Lee of Collinswood Agape Baptist Church, excerpts from inspiring speeches made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be recited by Pastor Jerome Barber of Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Temple and Pastor Geoffrey Guns of Second Calvary Baptist Church. A string quartet will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing” with featured vocal soloist, Dr. Gregory Gardner of Norfolk State University; George Walker’s “Lyric for Strings”; the African American hymn, “He Looked Beyond My Faults”, and Adolphus Hailstork’s, “Adagio for Strings”.
This year, the Dreamer Award will be presented to Beverly Kane Baker, former principal violist of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, based on her outstanding example of the King legacy relative to areas of diversity and inclusion and furthering their impact in the orchestral arena.
This shortened but powerful presentation, honoring Dr. King’s life and accomplishments, will be pre-recorded and available to the Hampton Roads community at large via the Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s YouTube Channel for 45 days beginning January 18, 2021. The “Songs for a Dreamer” concert has been presented by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the HARMONY Project and the City of Norfolk since January 2012. Since its inception in the 2005-2006 season of the Orchestra, the HARMONY Project continues to serve as an example of how the power of music can bring all people together.
For more information, please visitwww.virginiasymphony.org/MLKtribute.