January 13, 2001
After two days of chamber and orchestral concerts with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and its members, jazz clarinetist Don Byron concluded NPR's "King Celebration" week by performing with his own band at at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta's Little Five Points neighborhood. Byron, who has played salsa, classical, and even klezmer music in his wide-ranging career, demonstrated not only his ability to deftly switch musical gears, but also how he has intergrated those many genres into his own unique style of jazz.

Playing mostly selections from his latest Blue Note CD A Fine Line: Arias & Lieder, Byron and ensemble played two sets that ran into the early hours. The concert interspersed his own compositions with unique arrangement of '60s and '70s soul and pop hits, including "Stand" by Sly and the Family Stone and the Four Tops' "Reach Out (I'll Be There)." They also rendered the theatrical "Glitter and be Gay" from Bernstein's Candide and the mournful "Zwielight" by Robert Schumann.

Between sets, Byron took time to meet backstage with eight-year-old Edward Culton, who was attending the show with his mother. Edward had recently taken up clarinet at school and Byron offered a few words of advice for the young musician before taking the stage for his second set.

Byron's band featured all of the personnel from Fine Line including pianist Uri Caine, Jerome Harris on bass and guitar, Paulo Braganca on drums, and vocalists Mark Ledford and Patricia O'Callaghan. The concert will be broadcast in March on NPR's JazzSet, hosted by Branford Marsalis.

January 12, 2001
The day's performances began at 1 p.m. in the Park Street Music & Arts Complex at Clark Atlanta University. Clarinetist Don Byron joined Atlanta Symphony Orchestra members to present a program of chamber music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the bi-racial 19th century composer whose mother was English and whose father was a doctor from Sierra Leone.

Also on hand for this event was Dr. William Tortolano, a Coleridge-Taylor scholar and professor of music at St. Michael's College in Vermont. Dr. Tortolano spoke primarily about the compositional elements of Coleridge-Taylor's music, but also took a moment to discuss the many challenges the composer faced in getting his music performed in turn-of-the-century America.

Later that evening, the second night of "A King Celebration 2001" performances were presented at the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel on the campus of Morehouse College. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, was greeted with a standing ovation as she arrived on stage to speak about the legacy of her late husband.

Listen to Coretta Scott King's comments from the "A King Celebration 2001."

Also speaking at the event was Kevin Klose, President and CEO of National Public Radio, who hailed the many parties whose efforts contributed to "A King Celebration 2001." On January 15, NPR will  broadcast this concert, "A King Celebration 2001" on its daily classical music program Performance Today.

January 11, 2001
It was an early morning for mezzo-soprano Carmella Jones, a featured performer at Thursday night's concert.
Jones, who spent 12 years as a registered nurse in Los Angeles before deciding to pursue a full-time career as an opera singer, got up bright and early to tell her story on Good Morning Atlanta. She also rocked the TV studio with a live performance of "Ride On King Jesus!"

In the evening, the opening of "A King Celebration 2001", a two night musical celebration in honor of Dr. King, was held at the Martin Luther King, Jr Chapel on the Morehouse College Campus. Performers for this event included mezzo soprano Carmella Jones, soprano Laura English Robinson, clarinetist Don Byron, the Spelman College Glee Club, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Guest conductor William Eddins, whose parents were activists in the 1960's civil rights movement, presided over the evenings music.

On the program were works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Johannes Brahms, Scott Joplin, Duke Ellington, and Kurt Weill. In a moment of reverence, members of the audience came to their feet and bowed their heads in tribute to Dr. King as the Morehouse Glee Club and the ASO performed composer Uzi Brown's arrangement of civil right's anthem "We Shall Overcome." Mr. Brown, who was present at the concert, is the Chair of Music at Morehouse College.

This is the eleventh year of this annual concert.

January 10, 2001
At Freedom Hall in the Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, a welcoming reception was held Wednesday evening for those collaborating on the MLK 2001 event. Others present at this reception included Coretta Scott King, widow of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., members and staff of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Morehouse College, Spelman College, NPR's Atlanta member stations WABE, WCLK, and Georgia Public Radio, and the crew for NPR's Performance Today. Mrs. King said she is pleased that the King Holiday is getting so much attention, both in Atlanta and around the nation. She said she hardly imagined this much attention when she first suggested a national holiday in Dr. King's honor in 1969. This year marks the 15th Anniversary of the Federal observance of Dr.King's birth.

After the reception, William Eddins, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, mezzo-soprano Carmella Jones, and the Morehouse and Spelman College Glee Clubs held a final rehearsal for the King Celebration program at King Chapel.