The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's King Celebration Concert is back. Here's how to watch it on MLK Day

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Gregory Porter performs at the King Celebration Concert at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Jan.4, 2025.

Credit: Rand Lines

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Dr. Patrice Turner performs at the King Celebration Concert at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Jan.4, 2025.

Credit: Rand Lines

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Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock speaks at the King Celebration Concert at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Jan.4, 2025.

Credit: Rand Lines

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The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus are pictured at the King Celebration Concert at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Jan.4, 2025.

Credit: Rand Lines

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Attendees including Dr. Bernice King and Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock are pictured in the audience at the King Celebration Concert at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Jan.4, 2025.

Credit: Rand Lines

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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Jennifer Barlament speaks at the King Celebration Concert at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Jan.4, 2025.

Credit: Rand Lines

Friday, Jan. 3 was an unusually chilly afternoon in Atlanta. A streetcar passed by a group of tourists outside the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, with its famous neon sign on the red brick chapel where Martin Luther King Jr. preached until his murder in 1968. Across Auburn Avenue, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra rehearsed inside the new sanctuary for a performance with the church for the first time since 2012.

The King Celebration Concert featuring the Ebenezer choir and band along with the ASO and ASO Chamber Chorus came together when the orchestra's executive director, Jennifer Barlament, had a chance meeting with the Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who serves as senior pastor to the congregation. She said she ran into him unexpectedly at the Woodruff Arts Center campus one day last fall.

"I said, 'Hey, Reverend Warnock, nice to meet you,' and introduced myself," she recalled during an interview as the musicians prepared in the background. "And one thing led to another. We just had a really nice conversation about music and how much he loves music, how great the acoustics are here at Ebenezer and how the orchestra and the church had this relationship in the past. And so he basically said, 'Well, come on down, let's do something together.'"

The concert planning would be a whirlwind for both the ASO and Ebenezer, Barlament said. Musician and educator Dr. Patrice Turner, who serves as a worship director at the church, said she was the mastermind behind the event — a curation process which fulfilled her childhood dream of showcasing the full breadth of music in the Black church tradition.

"People know about Ebenezer being a home for social justice," Turner said. "They know about the great preaching that has happened at this church, but they might not necessarily realize that there was a wealth of musical and arts-related production that has come out of Ebenezer. And so this particular concert reflects that."

Turner guided a program showcasing Black women composers including Alma Bazel Androzzo, Margaret Bonds and Florence Price, plus a range of genres from jazz and gospel to choral, as well as the symphonic brass work of Morehouse College alum Carlos Simon, whose 2017 composition "Amen!" is featured.

Simon said he hopes his music informs growing conversations around issues of social justice.

"I think that more composers are having the courage to speak about what's happening in the world, whether it be politics or socioeconomic problems, and embed that into the music," he said. "And so that there is a cultural awareness that happens and people, hopefully audience members, will leave and say, 'Wow, I had no idea, you know, this was happening' or 'I had no idea about this segment of the Black church. Let me do my research. Let me understand, maybe go to the church, you know, and visit.' So I think there's a lot more emphasis to reflect our society."

Joel Thompson is a composer in residence at the Houston Grand Opera but spent many years in Atlanta and wrote his contribution to the King celebration, "Act of Resistance," in the city.

"The point of the piece is to frame love as an act of resistance," he said. "[It] starts with music that is associated with resistance. It's martial in nature. [The conductor, Jonathan Taylor Rush] described it in rehearsal today as militaristic. But really, the resistance is the lush music, the music that is tied to hope and empathy and connection. And that's made evident by the very end when the orchestra members have to choose whether or not they're willing to stand up and sing the word 'love.'"

Concertgoers packed Ebenezer's pews on Jan. 4 for the performance and recording of the King Celebration Concert, with remarks by Warnock and Dr. Bernice King, CEO of the King Center and the youngest child of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

In an interview with GPB a few days after the concert, one of many events leading up to the Jan. 20 holiday, King explained the theme of this year's observances: "Mission Possible."

"What is possible is that we can continue to cultivate and protect freedom, justice and democracy," King said, "if we if we align ourselves with the teachings of my father, nonviolence and not just the actions, but the mindset that he left for us to consider."

The King Celebration concert is available to watch on GPB.org beginning Jan. 20.