Voices of the Movement: Honoring Mahalia Jackson and the Soundtrack of Civil Rights
This Kronos Quartet program explores iconic activist voices of America from the 20th century and beyond. Kronos pays homage to the beloved voice of Mahalia Jackson and her vital friendships with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and oral historian/activist Studs Terkel. A daughter of Jim Crow Louisiana and the Great Migration, Jackson was a woman of deep faith, whose key role in historic moments in the fight for civil rights lays the groundwork for two major works on this program — Zachary J. Watkins’s Peace Be Till, featuring the recorded voice of Dr. King’s lawyer and speechwriter Clarence B. Jones, and Stacy Garrop’s Glorious Mahalia, featuring a recorded interview between Jackson and Terkel.
Program Repertoire:
Stacey Garrop: Glorious Mahalia
Abel Meeropol: Strange Fruit
John Coltrane: Alabama
Zachary Watkins: Peace Be Till
Link Wray: Rumble
Ken Benshoof: John Brown’s Body
Charlton Singleton: New work feat. Quentin Baxter, percussion
For 50 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet — David Harrington (violin), Gabriela Díaz (violin), Ayane Kozasa (viola), and Paul Wiancko (cello) — has challenged and reimagined what a string quartet can be. Founded at a time when the form was largely centered on long-established, Western European traditions, Kronos has been at the forefront of revolutionizing the string quartet into a living art form. Today, with new voices and renewed vision, Kronos continues to forge the sound of the people and issues of our time.
Contact Us
We invite you to contact us now about finding a date to bring Glorious Mahalia to your series in the 2026/27 season.