The musicians and guest artists of the African American Composer Initiative return to the Performing Arts Center at Eastside College Prep, East Palo Alto, to present benefit concerts dedicated to the rich heritage of music by African American composers. The concerts feature vocal and instrumental music in a broad range of styles: spirituals, jazz, blues, and instrumental and vocal concert music.
Composers featured on the concert include Regina Baiocchi, Valerie Capers, Duke Ellington, Jeremiah Evans, Jacqueline Hairston, Betty Jackson King, Melba Liston, and John Robinson.
Performing on the program are soprano Yolanda Rhodes, tenor Othello Jefferson, pianists/vocalists LaDoris Cordell and Deanne Tucker, The Picasso Ensemble: pianist Josephine Gandolfi, violinist Susan C. Brown, cellist Victoria Ehrlich; clarinetist Carol Somersille, percussionist Jim Kassis, trumpeter John Worley, trombonist John Monroe, flutist Stephanie McNab, and saxophonists Oscar Pangilinan and Tod Dickow. Featured guest artists are Valerie Capers, piano, and John Robinson, bass.