King Committee of Greater Attleboro Hosts 32nd annual King Holiday Program

On Monday, January 21, 2019, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Committee of Greater Attleboro will host its 32nd annual commemoration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Events will be held at Attleboro City Hall and Murray Unitarian Universalist Church, Attleboro. The program theme is “A Reflection in Words and Music: Dr. King’s Teachings on Economic Justice.”

The Committee’s King-day celebration begins at 1:00 p.m. with a Municipal Program at Attleboro City Hall, 77 Park Street. The program will feature local and state representatives and the Attleboro High School Select Choir, under the direction of Gary Hyman.

At 2:00 p.m., the Committee will host an Interfaith Service at Murray Unitarian Universalist Church, 505 North Main Street, Attleboro. This year’s program will feature a cantata that will pay tribute to The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with words from his sermons and speeches and with musical selections that reflect the spirit of his message.

The cantata, which is under the direction of Anna McReynolds, musical director at St. Mary’s Church, Norton, will feature performances by the Chaminade Singers, pianist Jacqueline Schwab, soloist Stacey Geer, cellist Emma Boucher, and a wind combo group that includes Amy Conley on flute, Liam Daly on clarinet, Mary Clare Earnst on oboe, Janda Nuovo on bassoon, and Dominic St. Pierre on horn.

The cantata readers include Rodney Clark, dean of Bristol Community College, Attleboro Campus; spoken-word artist Caroline Harvey, and Attleboro resident, Max Volterra.

Jacqueline Schwab, a folk and classical improvisational pianist, has performed on the soundtracks of two films produced by Ken Burns—the Grammy award-winning Civil War, and the Emmy award-winning Mark Twain. She performed at the White House for President Clinton in 1997 to celebrate Ken Burns’ Lewis and Clark series and in May 2009, Schwab accompanied Scottish singer Jean Redpath on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Caroline Harvey is a poet, educator, and activist who tours internationally as a spoken-word artist. Harvey’s poetry and narrative nonfiction have been published in national and academic literary journals, including Gertrude Press, Radius, The Legendary, the Cantab Poetry Anthology, the National Poetry Slam Anthology “High Desert Voices,” and The Lowestoft Chronicle. Harvey has shared stages and classrooms with Alicia Keys, Livingston Taylor, Melissa Ferrick, Donna De Lory, Mary Lambert, Danez Smith, and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), and has writing published alongside Gillian Welch, Mike Reid, and Pat Pattison.

A goodwill offering also will be taken up during the service. Half of the offering will be donated to the Bartek Recreation Center, Attleboro. The remainder of the offering will fund the Committee’s W. Duane Lockard Scholarship and general operating fund.

Members of the committee include Sonia Aguiar, Attleboro; Ethel Garvin, Attleboro; The Rev. Jewel Hardmon, Attleboro; Melissa Martin, Attleboro; Jermaine T. Patterson, Attleboro; and Mary Whelan, Attleboro.