Atlanta Symphony To Perform Free Concert at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 7/17

Guest conductor Charles Floyd will lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a free concert in the Horizon Sanctuary at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Sunday, July 17, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. The concert, which celebrates a partnership between the Orchestra and the National Black Arts Festival that spans more than 20 years, is free and open to the public.

This year, two student musicians will again be featured on the program. Violist Paul Laraia, the winner of the 2011 Sphinx Competition, will perform Bruch's Romance in F Major. Harpist Angelica Hairston, a member of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and Talent Development Program, will perform the first movement from Still's Ennanga. Both the Sphinx Competition and Talent Development Program provide support for African American and Latino student musicians who are interested in pursuing careers classical music.

Also on the program is the Overture to Verdi's La forza del destino and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5, "Reformation."