Chamber Music at Old Zion: Celebrating Black Voices

GSO Assistant Concertmaster Robert Givens has selected an intimate program for string quartet especially suited to the exquisite acoustics of the Old Zion Heritage Museum on Lemon Street in the heart of Marietta. Built in 1888, the Museum once served as Zion Baptist Church’s sanctuary-a congregation established by formerly enslaved men and women in 1866. The quartet of GSO players will present music in this treasured space from significant yet often overlooked Black composers across the African diaspora. The program features compositions following a trajectory from the Classical-era idiom of Joseph Bologne to the distinctively American voices of Florence Price and William Grant Still, with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor contributing European Romanticism and early modern expression.

Prior to the concert, Governor Roy Barnes will reflect on the rich history of Zion Heritage Museum. Following the performance, guests are invited to a reception at the Marietta Fire Museum and opportunity to meet the artists.