Northgate Kiwanis Club of Washington Opera Fundraiser

by Carolivia Herron, Ph.D.

The opera Let Freedom Sing: The Story of Marian Anderson, with libretto written by Northgate Kiwanis Club member Carolivia Herron, will be produced at the Atlas Theater and several other Washington area locations March 24-27, 2011. The music was composed by Bruce Adolphe of NYC. The opera was commissioned by the Washington National Opera and the Washington Performing Arts Society and was written to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Marian Anderson's famous concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Carolivia Herron's mother, Georgia Herron, also a Kiwanis Club member, attend the 1939 opera with her brother Jack in 1939. The attached photo of the 2009 premiere of the opera shows Carolivia and Georgia with Jack's son, Daniel Johnson. The Northgate Kiwanis Club of Washington, DC and Maryland is promoting this opera as a fundraiser for the Takoma Educational Campus (TEC) and for the Takoma Theatre Conservancy. TEC, an Arts Integration DC Public School, suffered a devastating fire in December 2010 and lost $100,000 in new art materials. The Conservancy, a partner of TEC and of Northgate Kiwanis, seeks to restore the Takoma Theatre as a cultural arts and education center. Performances: 3/24/2011 7:00 PM Takoma Educational Campus at Meyer, $25.00. 3/25/2011 8:00 PM Gala at Washington Ethical Society, $50.00. 3/27/2011 4:00 and 6:00 PM Atlas Theatre. Tickets available early March www.TakomaTheatreConservancy.org or 202.379.4838.