Park City Institute Opens Its 21st Main Stage Season With A Cappella Gospel Ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock

Park City Institute opens its 21st season on the Main Stage at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center, with GRAMMY Award-nominated female A Cappella vocal ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock.

"We have a lot to be thankful for, this year-Sweet Honey in the Rock returning to our stage to perform, makes the list," said PCI Executive Director Teri Orr. "They have performed all over the world, bringing people together in celebration of inclusion, diversity, and hope, for more than four decades, and we are thrilled to be part of their landmark year."

Founded 45 years ago, the group, originated as a part of the D.C. Black Repertory Theater Company, the brainchild of Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. Sweet Honey in the Rock now includes original members Carol Maillard and Louise Johnson, as well as long-standing members Nitanju Bolade Casel and Aisha Kahlil, ASL interpreter Shirley Childress, and featured musician Reomier Mendez, on upright acoustic bass and electric bass, and vocalist Rochelle Rice.

Sweet Honey in the Rock's mission is to create positive, loving, and socially conscious music, taking an activist stance on making the planet a better place for all. Their performance at the Eccles Center will feature music from their 24 albums, a mixture of original work, covers, and spirituals. Their latest album, #LoveInEvolution, incorporates elements of hip hop, jazz, and R&B, and tackles topics relevant to our culture today-systemic injustice against people of color-past and present-police brutality, gun control, and the Black Lives Matter movement. The group earns consistent praise for their musicianship, which The Guardian wrote, "can still raise goosebumps." NPR said, "The sound moves into your heart and pushes it open wider."

Among their many awards and accolades, Sweet Honey in the Rock has been appointed the Don Michael Randel Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Chicago for the 2018-19 season. The group will bring its mission of empowerment, education, and entertainment to the University of Chicago campus through a wide variety of programs designed to impact the campus, the community, and the city of Chicago. During its three residency weeks in 2018-19, Sweet Honey will work with students in the Department of Music's choral ensembles - the Motet Choir, Women's Ensemble, University Chorus, and Rockefeller Chapel Choir - in a sequence of workshops, coaching sessions, and free public performances. They are the first the choral ensemble to serve as the Don Michael Randel Ensemble-in-Residence.

Other recent highlights have included: four U.S. Embassy tours with performances and community outreach in Ethiopia, Peru, Jamaica, and Swaziland, and Paraquay in 2017. They were headliners of the internationally acclaimed 9th Annual Mountain Bushfire Music Festival (which attracted 20,000 people) in Swaziland; featured artists at the 11th Annual Festival of Voices in Hobart, Tasmania; and part of a tour that also included Launceston, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. They made their 32nd appearance at New York's historic Carnegie Hall (with noted guest artists trumpeter and bandleader Terence Blanchard and violinist Regina Carter); performed at the official grand opening Music Festival for National African American Museum of History and Culture and at the National Memorial Service for Nelson Mandela at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC; debuted their first orchestral collaboration writing original lyrics for composer William Banfield's, "Symphony 10: Affirmations for a New World," at the Kennedy Center; and they were invited by former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama to perform at the White House within 100 days of his first term in office.

Tickets for Sweet Honey in the Rock start at $29. Members may purchase tickets to any two regular shows in the 2018-19 Main Stage Season, and receive tickets to a third show, free. Membership information may be found on parkcityinstitute.org. Discounts are also available for children (17 and under), seniors, and Summit County students (K-12). Call the Box Office at 435-655-3114 for more information

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