Press Release

For Immediate Release:
January 13, 2005

Bringing the message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into the present day, Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, the New England Conservatory Millennium Gospel Choir and many interfaith, labor and community leaders will join together to Let Justice Roll, Monday, Jan. 16, 2006. The celebration conjoins Dr. King’s birthday and Living Wage Day and is intended to raise awareness about minimum wage legislation pending on both the national level and in many states. Music and messages will be offered up at 2:30 p.m. at United First Parish Church Unitarian of Quincy (the historic “Church of the Presidents”), 1390 Hancock St., Quincy.

Founded in 2000 through NEC’s Community Collaborations Program, the NEC Millennium Gospel Choir was created to give praise and prayerful welcome to the coming of a new age. The 200 members, drawn from church choirs throughout the greater Boston area, were individually selected because of their superior dedication, vocal technique, range, and commitment to gospel music.

During its debut year, the choir shared the Jordan Hall stage with Richard Smallwood as part of NEC’s 21st Annual Thomas A. Dorsey Gospel Jubilee. The Boston Globe was captivated: “Always, the power of the choir was palpable, and its ability to sound reverent, even tender, was riveting.” That same weekend, an unprecedented performance took place at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross, with support from the Archdiocese of Boston, the Boston Cultural Council, and Gillette.

The Millennium Choir is ministered to and directed by an ensemble of preeminent ministers of music/choir directors at churches across the city. Each musical director is a recipient of NEC’s prestigious Gospel Music Award. The directors are: Min. Freda Battle, James A. Early, Herb Jones, Renese King, Dennis Montgomery III, Donnell Patterson, George W. Russell, Jr., Dennis Slaughter, and Hobert S. Yates. Choir coordinators are Patricia Dance and Donnell Patterson.

Sponsors of the Let Justice Roll event are the Unitarian Universalist Association, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, UU Urban Ministry, United for a Fair Economy, and the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Coalition. The latter group, a national non-partisan interfaith and community association, has organized many such celebrations throughout the country in its efforts to get minimum wage laws passed.

Senator Kennedy has introduced federal legislation to raise the national minimum wage. He will speak on the moral obligation and urgent necessity for generating support for this measure to alleviate poverty. Other speakers include Rev. Sheldon Bennett, Minister of United First Parish Unitarian Church in Quincy, Mayor of Quincy William J. Phelan, Wayne Smith of UU Service Committee, National Council of Churches Gen. Secy. Robert Edgar, Local SEIU 615 President Rocio Saenz, and Rev. Hurmon Hamilton, Pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church.

A reception and tour of the Church and Adams Crypt follow the event. ASL interpreted and wheelchair accessible.

For more information, visit: www.LetJusticeRoll.org. To learn more about NEC’s Community collaborations and partnerships, go to: http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/community_collaborations/

ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY

Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.

The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.

NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.

NEC is co-founder and educational partner of “From the Top,” a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by more than two hundred stations throughout the United States.