River City Mixed Chorus

Join River City Mixed Chorus and special guests at the Holland Performing Arts Center as they premiere Sincerely Yours, Pauli Murray, by composer Steve Milloy and lyricist Kim Hines. This multi-movement composition highlights the life and work of American civil rights activist, Reverend Pauli Murray. Murray was a legal scholar whose seminal work in 1950 on States’ Laws on Race and Color was described as “the bible” of the civil rights movement by Thurgood Marshall, then general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In her later life, Murray became the first African American woman to be ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. All during her life and certainly after her death in 1985, Murray, was considered a trailblazer in the fight for equality for women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Murray was not alone in being a fierce rebel with a cause, of course, and for all who fought for equity and human rights in the mid- to late-20th century there was a diverse and distinctive musical soundtrack for the era. RCMC will perform a selection of these protest songs that undoubtedly inspired Murray and fellow angelic troublemakers, including Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come, John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance, and Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi.

Come experience an evening dedicated to those whose courage, tenacity, and artistry have left a legacy that RCMC continues to build: Standing for many. Singing as one. One night only!