About The Atlanta Music Festival:
The Atlanta Music Festival is a contemporary annual event that draws on a century-old musical and cultural heritage. In the wake of Atlanta's 1906 race riots, Henry Hugh Proctor, pastor of Atlanta's First Congregational Church, launched programs to improve black communities and encourage racial harmony. In May of 1910 white Atlantans produced a highly publicized grand opera week, featuring New York's Metropolitan Opera. Reverend Proctor in turn formed The Atlanta Colored Music Festival Association, which produced its first concert that August. Thanks to the association's cordial invitation, the 2000 attendees in Atlanta's Auditorium-Armory included a large contingent from the white community. The festival featured the most prominent African American concert artists of the day. Years later, Proctor recalled: "Our Music Festival brought the best musical talent of the race to the city, and attracted great audiences of both races. As a matter of fact, we found that music was a great solvent of racial antipathies, just as David found it a solvent for personal antagonism with Saul." The concert was presented annually through 1917.
Dwight Andrews, current pastor of First Congregational Church, revived his congregation's music festival tradition in 2001 through collaboration with the nonprofit worship-arts organization Meridian Herald, led by Steven Darsey. Since then the music festival, sponsored by Meridian Herald and First Congregational Church offers annual performances, engaged scholarship, lectures, and a conservatory for youth. Honoring Proctor's vision, the Atlanta Music Festival explores evolving racial and societal landscapes.
Reverend Andrews comments, "We are concerned about concert music and cultural activities in America, and, with an ear to voices that have not been heard, are striving to create a musical world of reconciliation and empowerment. We are not taking a quick, small scale view, but, imagining what American musical culture can and should be, are plotting a journey toward that goal. With collaboration among universities and communities-and emphasizing children-we are making an investment, anticipating a return that will shape the American musical and cultural landscape of the future."
DWIGHT ANDREWS, PASTOR OF ATLANTA'S FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, HAS REVIVED HIS CONGREGATION'S MUSIC FESTIVAL TRADITION IN A COLLABORATION WITH STEVEN DARSEY AND MERIDIAN HERALD BEGINNING IN 2001. The May 2010 concert represented the 100th anniversary of First Church's original music festival. Andrews, artistic director, and Darsey, music director, explore their race's historic relationships through inherited musical forms and their evolutions into contemporary classical expressions. This collaboration among Meridian Herald, First Congregational Church, Emory University, and other community partners, commemorates our shared histories, celebrates progress, and lays claim to an inclusive future.
