Colour of Music Festival Chamber Music – Free Concert Thursday, May 2, 2024 (Registration Required)

Colour of Music Festival Chamber Music – Returns to North Charleston Arts Fest Thursday, May 2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Charleston SC April 4, 2024—Colour of Music Festival Inc., the country’s largest black classical music organization headquartered in Charleston, SC, showcasing gifted classical composers and performers of African descent, is proud to announce its return to the North Charleston Arts Fest Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 7 p.m. at the Eternal Father of the Sea Chapel (on the former Charleston Naval Base), 1096 Navy Way, North Charleston, SC.

Free and open to the public. Online registration is required as space is limited. https://www.colourofmusic.org/event/nchs-5-2-24 with promo code NCHS2024.

The performance features works by three noted Black composers including Charleston-born composer Edmund Thornton Jenkins, the father of Black classical music for the low country. The evening will open with the premiere of Edmund Thornton Jenkins’s Sonata for Violin and Piano featuring violinist Anyango Yarbo-Davenport and pianist Elizabeth G. Hill. His never before performed composition for violin and piano was edited and arranged by Jenkins’ great-nephew, Tuffus Zimbabwe, keyboardist for Saturday Night Live. The evening also features works by Black-British composers: Tequesta Song for Piano Quartet by Dame Shirley J. Thompson, OBE, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Piano Quintet in G minor Op. 1.

“Edmund Thornton Jenkins was an extraordinary talent whose extensive classical contributions has acquired more interest after the Black Lives Matter movement. His composition Charlestonia: A Folk Rhapsody was among the first the Festival debuted during our inaugural year (2013). We are honored to premiere another one of his compositions in the city where the historic Jenkins Orphanage is located,” said Lee Pringle, Colour of Music Festival Founder and Artistic Director.

“The City of North Charleston is very excited to welcome back our second Colour of Music performance as part of our annual North Charleston Arts Fest. Presenting this spotlight performance in such an intimate setting is a wonderful way for the North Charleston Arts Fest and the Colour of Music Festival fans to enjoy a premiere of a composition never performed anywhere, and it’s happening in the City of North Charleston!” says Kyle Lahm, North Charleston Cultural Arts Director.

About the Colour of Music Festival

Based in Charleston, South Carolina, and organized in 2013, the Colour of Music Festival, Inc. presents a diverse classical repertoire of baroque, classical, and 20^th century music at the highest of musical standards. The Festival has also presented in Washington, DC, Atlanta, Houston, Nashville, New York City, Richmond, Pittsburgh, Columbia, SC, Sacramento, and Tulsa. www.colourofmusic.org

The Colour of Music Festival gratefully acknowledges support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the South Carolina Artis Commission and is also named one of South Arts’ Southern Cultural Treasures, a program made possible with support from the Ford Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.

Media Contact: Allison Savicz

Publicist, Colour of Music Festival

(919) 923-2791; public.relations@colourofmusic.org

COLOUR OF MUSIC FESTIVAL NORTH CHARLESTON PSA

About the North Charleston Arts Fest

The North Charleston Arts Fest features five days of events highlighting regional and local artists and performers in the areas of Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Literature. Residents and visitors are invited to experience a diverse array of free performances, exhibitions, and activities in a variety of venues, including libraries, businesses, community centers, and parks. The festival schedule offers something for everyone, including concerts, theatre presentations, dance performances, children’s programs, demonstrations, exhibitions, and more. www.northcharlestonartsfest.com