A Celebration of Music
From the Civil Rights Movement
"In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement," is a concert in the White House East Room. President and Mrs. Obama will host the event in honor of Black History Month, and the evening will feature songs from the Civil Rights Movement performed by top entertainers, as well as readings from famous Civil Rights speeches and writings. Artists include Yolanda Adams, Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Seal, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Howard University Choir and The Freedom Singers, featuring Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Rutha Harris, Charles Neblett and Toshi Reagon. Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Queen Latifah and Joanne Woodward will be guest speakers. The music special airs on February 11 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings).
Watch the entire performance of "A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement" beginning Friday, February 12.
Watch a preview of In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement.
In Performance at the White House
"In Performance at the White House" has been produced by WETA since 1978 and spans every administration since President Carter's. The series began with an East Room recital by the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Since then, "In Performance at the White House" has embraced virtually every genre of American performance: pop, country, gospel, jazz, blues, theatre and dance among them. The series was created to showcase the rich fabric of American culture in the setting of the nation's most famous home. Past programs have showcased such talent as cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, dancer/choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov, country music singer Merle Haggard, the United States Marine Band, soul singer Aretha Franklin, leading Broadway performers, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
"In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement" is a production of WETA Washington, D.C., in association with The GRAMMY Museum, AEG Ehrlich Ventures and the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC). The executive producers of "In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement" are Dalton Delan and David S. Thompson of WETA. The producers are Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of The GRAMMY Awards; Smokey Robinson, legendary Motown singer, songwriter and producer; and Bob Santelli, executive director of The GRAMMY Museum. Corporate funding for the program is provided by Pepsi-Cola. Foundation support is provided by The Annenberg Foundation.
Major funding is also provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and public television viewers.
