Rothko Chapel’s MLK Birthday Celebration

Coinciding with the Chapel’s annual observance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday on January 15, 2022, the program opens with a performance of and discussion about music central to the US Civil Rights Movement. The Community Music Center of Houston Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dr. Anne Lundy will share a selection of music central to Dr. King’s transformative leadership and Black Americans’ historic and contemporary protests for equity. Dr. Shana L. Redmond, scholar of music, race and politics, will discuss the broader history surrounding the role of music in activism in the U.S., the importance of music in Rev. King’s life, and the strategic use of music within the Civil Rights Movement. The Rothko Chapel started the annual MLK Birthday Celebration in 1979 to connect the contemporary implications of Dr. King’s legacy to the ongoing struggle for civil and human rights, captured by artist Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk. This sculpture, located on the plaza adjacent to the Chapel, is dedicated to Dr. King.