UPDATE: Photos, Video From “Dallas Sings/Dallas Strong”

ArtandSeek.net July 14, 2016 20

UPDATE: Watch the full “Dallas Sings/Dallas Strong” program above. [Program starts at 10:38].

Gina Gentile of the Dallas Symphony Chorus finds a spot in the choir, which has spilled off the stage and into the audience seats. Photo: Francesca Paris
Ava Pine sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Photo: Francesca Paris
Hundreds of singers join conductor Jonathan Palant on stage at the Meyerson Thursday night.
Paul Mason sings “Total Praise.” Photo: Francesca Paris
Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez hugs conductor Jonathan Palant. Photo: Francesca Paris
Singers in the choir share music during a two-hour rehearsal before the concert. Photo: Francesca Paris
Liz Mikel sings “Glory.” Photo: Francesca Paris
Tania and John Ward wait to sing in the concert. Photo: Francesca Paris

After a week of so much violence, performers in Dallas and Minneapolis are turning to music to respond to tragedy.

Dallas Sings/Dallas Strong 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Meyerson Symphony Center. Doors at 7. If you’d like to sing on stage, attend the rehearsal at 5:30 p.m. The concert streams live at ArtandSeek.org.

“Dallas Sings/Dallas Strong” is a free concert co-hosted by Credo Choir and the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs at the Meyerson Symphony Center — and the choir is you. Everyone is invited to join the choir, which Jonathan Palant, founder and director of Credo, hopes will number in the hundreds. Local singers like Liz Mikel, Denise Lee and Ava Pine will perform, and leaders will speak, including Bishop Michael McKee of the United Methodist Church of North Texas and Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez. Will Richey, Alejandro Perez Jr. and Thom Browne will perform a spoken word piece.

Art&Seek will stream the concert live, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Palant hopes that the concert will be an uplifting response to the violence of the past few weeks: the deaths of five police officers here in Dallas: Senior Cpl. Lorne Ahrens, Officer Michael Krol, Sgt. Michael Smith, DART Officer Brent Thompson and Officer Patrick Zamarripa; and the deaths of two men killed by police: Philando Castile in Minneaplis and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge.

“Music has the power to unite people of all backgrounds and of all being,” Palant says. As the city grieves over the loss of the officers, Palant believes many have lost hope, and he wants to restore that with songs.

“Through music, I hope that we see that light,” he says. “I hope that we come together to say we are living breathing individuals who can do something, who can stand up and say it’s not acceptable to fight the way we are fighting.”

To join the choir, just get to the Meyerson by 5:30. If you can’t carry a tune, the performance is also free for audience members. Doors open at 7.

At the north end of I-35, in Minneapolis, where Castile died, Classical Minnesota Public Radio is hosting a similar concert tomorrow. It’s called “A Bridge of Song.” At one point in the evening, both crowds will sing the same song, “Why We Sing,” at the same time.