Riverside Opera Company Black Voices to Celebrate Black History Month

Celebrating Black History Month, the Riverside Opera Company's live performance of ROC Black Voices features Black musicians, vocalists, dancers and poets who have performed around the globe. ROC Black Voices is Saturday, February 15th at 5:30 at the Brighton Heights Reformed Church 320 St. Marks Place in St. George, Staten Island. Admission is $15 in advance $20 at the door. 

Featured performers are American singer/pianist Jeannine Otis and, Bim Strasberg, Baritone Dorian Lake and dancer Nubia Braithwaite. Joining the salute to Black History Month is The Brighton Heights Reformed Church Youth Orchestra, conducted by Yvette Washington Wheatley.  Co-host of Black Voices is Dorcas Meyers. The music performed will include traditional spirituals, classic rhythm and blues songs, poetry and dance.  

About the Co-Hosts

Born and raised in Detroit and based in Staten Island, NY, Jeannine Otis has been a singular and substantial voice for decades. She draws equally from jazz, classical, dance, gospel and pop genres. She is a graduate of Wellesley College (Presser Music Scholar), the only African American to win that award and she also holds a Masters Degree from Emerson College in Boston where she was a teaching fellow. She has toured as a vocalist with many distinguished artists, including Donald Byrd, Grover Washington Jr., Vishnu Wood, and Arthur Prysock.

Dorcas Meyers is the Founder and C.E.O of Roc-A-Natural, LLC, which is dedicated to educating, empowering, and inspiring communities in health and wellness, arts, and culture.

She has worked for the National Park Service for over 13 years connecting underserved communities to the 23 beautiful national parks in the New York and New Jersey harbor. 

She has partnered with the JCC Beacon Program at I.S. 49, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden and other local organizations to educate and empower through annual Black History, Kwanzaa, and Juneteenth programs.  In 2021, Dorcas collaborated with the National Lighthouse Museum for the annual summer program, On The Waterfront...Taking It To The Streets: Free Friday Night Films.

ABOUT RIVERSIDE OPERA COMPANY 

Founded in 1996, the Riverside Opera Company (ROC) is the longest running and only opera company on Staten Island. ROC performs fully and semi-staged productions with a full orchestra conducted by Maestro Alan Aurelia, who has conducted in Italy as well as in the U.S.