CSU Presents Special Black History Month Concert

Violinist Mark Dumm and Pianist Sharon Brown Cheston Perform Sunday, February 9, at Trinity Cathedral

CLEVELAND – Violinist Mark Dumm of the Cleveland Orchestra and pianist Sharon Brown Cheston, an educator and Cleveland State University alumna, will mark Black History Month with a special concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, February 9, at Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland.

The program will feature music by William Grant Still (1895-1978), known as “the dean of African-American classical composers.” With more than 150 compositions to his credit, Dr. Still was the first African-American to conduct a major American orchestra, the first to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra and the first to have an opera performed by a major company, among other accomplishments.

Also on the program will be selections by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, George Gershwin, Sergei Rachmaninoff and others, as well as original music by Sharon Brown Cheston.

“This is a Black History Month concert, but we’re pleased to be able to celebrate with a very eclectic program of music by a wide range of composers,” said Dr. Regennia Williams, associate professor of history at Cleveland State University and director of CSU’s Initiative for the Study of Religion and Spirituality in the History of Africa and the Diaspora (RASHAD). “Amazing things can happen when we embrace diversity.”

The performance – the first installment in RASHAD’s 2014 “Concerts Around Cleveland” series – is presented by RASHAD, the CSU Alumni Association and the CSU Department of History.

Admission and on-site parking are free; donations will be accepted. For more information, call (216) 523-7182.