Founder Lee Pringle is bringing his groundbreaking Colour of Music Festival to the West Coast in November, with seven performances in Sacramento and Davis over the course of four days. SFCV readers read about the Charleston, South Carolina-based festival in our virtual pages via Mark MacNamara’s 2020 feature article, “The Last Water Fountain: The Struggle Against Systemic Racism in Classical Music,” and attentive listeners tuned in to the online-only festival earlier this year. Now music enthusiasts can attend live, in-person performances by select “Festival Pétit” members of the South Carolina ensemble.
According to an article in The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento City Councilman Rick Jennings, along with former councilmen Larry Carr and Allen Warren were keen to see the festival come to the Sacramento area. In an interview, Carr said, “Sacramento is a very diverse city — it’s made up of many different cultures, many different ethnicities. The Colour of Music fills an important niche because we have not seen a classical orchestra, performed by all Black members.”
Colour of Music’s Pringle was also enthusiastic about the choice for the festival’s first foray west. He commended the self-sufficiency of Sacramento’s Black communities and businesses, and noted, “This city is becoming a pace setter for the others to emulate, and I’m excited we can be a part of it.”
Tickets are available for purchase online here.
Here are the events slated:
Nov. 10 at the Guild Theater at 2 p.m.: Matinee recital with soprano Laquita Mitchell and pianist Kyle P. Walker, featuring music by Dvořák, Reynaldo Hahn, Richard Strauss, Florence Price, William Grant Still, and Hale Smith
Nov. 10 at the Guild Theater at 7:30 p.m.: Colour of Music Festival Virtuosi All-Female Chamber Orchestra with Director/Soloist Anyango Yarbo-Davenport, featuring music by Karl Jenkins, Rachmaninov, and Astor Piazzolla
Nov. 11 at the Guild Theater at 2 p.m.: Matinee recital with soprano Kimwana Doner and pianist Leonard Hayes, featuring music by Beethoven, Verdi, Hall Johnson, and Margaret Bonds
Nov. 11 at the Mondavi Center at 7:30 p.m.: Colour of Music Festival Octet, in a program featuring the Mendelssohn Octet
Nov. 12 at the Guild Theater at 7:30 p.m.: Colour of Music Chamber Music Spotlight with the Paris-based Grimbert-Barré Trio, program to be announced
Nov. 13 at the Guild Theater at 11 a.m.: Colour of Music Literary Spotlight with biographer Christopher Brooks discussing the career of soprano Shirley Verrett
Nov. 13 at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.: Colour of Music Orchestra with the Grimbert-Barré Trio and sopranos Kimwana Donor and Laquita Mitchell, in a program honoring the legacy of Shirley Verrett, featuring music by Ahmed Alabaca, Puccini, Mary Watkins, Umberto Giordano, Samuel Barber, Edmund Thornton Jenkins, John Wineglass, and Jonathan Grimbert-Barré
