**NEW LOCATION: Kleinhans Music Hall**
Click here for a map to Kleinhans from the Johnnie B. Wiley Pavilion.

While we had hoped the weather would cooperate, the BPO has made the difficult decision to move the location of A Concert for Healing, originally scheduled at the Johnnie B. Wiley Pavilion, to Kleinhans Music Hall. The concert will take place at its originally scheduled time: Sunday, July 24 at 4:00pm. Lobby doors open at 2:30pm.

In the spirit of providing comfort and hope for all affected by the recent mass shooting tragedy in the Buffalo community, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and BPO Diversity Council will present A Concert for Healing on Sun Jul 24 at 4:00pm. This free performance, conducted by Maestro JoAnn Falletta along with Assistant Conductor Jaman E. Dunn, will feature the full orchestra and vocalists Sirgourney Cook and Rev. Julian Armand Cook performing music that allows for moments of quiet reflection and celebrates the resiliency of the City of Good Neighbors, including such works as Adolphus Hailstork’s Three Spirituals and Fanfare on Amazing Grace, and William Grant Still’s Mother and Child.

This performance is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required.

Program

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Jaman E. Dunn, conductor
Sirgourney Cook, soprano
Julian Cook, baritone

ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK  Fanfare on Amazing Grace
GEORGE WALKER  Lyric for Strings
WILLIAM GRANT STILL/arr. Sheldon Bair  Here’s One
WILLIAM GRANT STILL  Mother and Child
arr. Margaret Bonds  He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand
VALERIE COLEMAN  Umoja: Anthem of Unity
FLORENCE PRICE  Adoration
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK  Spirituals
Kum Ba Yah
Every Time I Feel The Spirit
EDWARD KENNEDY “DUKE” ELLINGTON/arr. Henderson  MLK from Three Black Kings
J. ROSAMOND JOHNSON/arr. Carter  Lift Every Voice and Sing

About Sirgourney Cook

Sirgourney Cook, a professional opera singer and educator, is a Chicago, IL native. In 2010, she earned a Bachelor of Music Degree and a minor in Philosophy from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and completed her graduate education at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA in May of 2016.

Prior to pursuing graduate education, for more than three years, Sirgourney toured as the soprano background vocalist for Oscar and Grammy Award Winning actress and recording artist, Jennifer Hudson, performing nationally and internationally at events such as President Barack Obama’s 50^th Birthday Celebration and Second Campaign Party, the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, and The Grammy Academy’s 2019 Tribute to Aretha Franklin. Sirgourney was the featured soloist in Duke Ellington’s “Concerts of Sacred Music” conducted by Ellington’s protégé, Maestro Randall Keith Horton, at Boston University’s 2017 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Commemoration.

Sirgourney continues her work in harnessing the transformative power of arts and education through her involvement in the Buffalo public and charter school systems and educational and family programming as the Executive Director of Buffalo’s King Urban Life Center, and through her membership in the Erie County (NY) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

About Julian Cook

A native of Chicago’s South Side, the Reverend Julian Armand Cook, Ph.D. ABD, is the Director of Houghton University Buffalo and the proud Senior Pastor of the historic Macedonia Baptist Church of Buffalo—a beacon of hope and service to Buffalo for over 100 years.

Cook is a classically-trained baritone vocalist whose gifts have afforded him a number of opportunities, including performing for notable figures like Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and Congressman John Lewis. In May 2009, Cook was named U.S. Presidential Scholar of the Arts by President Barack Obama—the nation’s highest honor that can be awarded pre-collegiate artists. As a result, he debuted in concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

A graduate of Houghton University (‘13), he majored in Music and Biblical Studies and minored in African American Studies. Cook returned to Houghton University in July 2018 to serve as director of Houghton University Buffalo—East Side, where the Associate of Arts degree program provides underserved students access to debt-free, high-quality college education that promotes the intellectual, moral and spiritual development of a cadre of emerging leaders who are academically excellent, spiritually rooted, locally connected, globally minded, socially aware, courageously creative.

A Community Weekend of Healing

The 36th Annual Gospel Fest will take place on Sat Jul 23 from 2-8pm at MLK Jr. Park. This free event features national recording artist Carrington Gaines plus appearances by Moe Badger, Kimera Lattimore, Malcolm Wilson & Joshua’s Generation, Lady Kathy Bowman, Wynetta McElveen, Robin Adams, and more.