IF YOU GO
WHAT: A Conversation with Lara Downes
WHEN:Â Thursday, June 2, 2022, 4:00pm
WHERE: Clifford Brown Performance Space, Christina Cultural Arts Center, 705 N. Market Street, Wilmington, DE 19801
TICKETS: Attendance is free, but advance registration is required atÂ
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WILMINGTON, Delaware – The Delaware Symphony (DSO), Christina Cultural Arts Center, Inc. (CCAC), and The Grand Opera House have collaborated to welcome award-winning pianist Lara Downes to CCAC for “A Conversation with Lara Downesâ€Â Thursday, June 2, at 4:00pm in the Clifford Brown Performance Space of CCAC.Â
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The event is an honest, open discussion about Downes’ experiences as an artist of color in the historically white-based genre of classical music. WHYY host Cherri Gregg will moderate the discussion. The event is free to attend, but advance registration is required at .
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“We’re pleased and fortunate that Lara is willing to extend her time here to connect and to dialogue with our community,†said DSO Executive Director J.C. Barker. “We’re certain her wisdom and insight will be invaluable to all young artists and arts supporters in Delaware, especially during this period of change in our society.â€
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The conversation precedes Ms. Downes’ guest artist performance with the DSO on Friday, June 3, at 7:30pm as part of its rescheduled Classics Series concert, Celebrate! Ms. Downes and the Delaware Symphony will perform works including Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue, as well as Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Tickets for that performance may be purchased at DelawareSymphony.org.
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“We are equally excited to present Ms. Downes at CCAC, to discuss her plight as an artist of color in a field dominated by the majority and in one that is highly competitive and with many obstacles and challenges to overcome,†said James “Ray†Rhodes, Executive Director of Christina Cultural Arts Center.
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“This wonderful partnership project between Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Christina Cultural Arts Center, and The Grand Opera House exemplifies the collaborative spirit of the Wilmington arts community,†says Mark Fields, The Grand’s executive director. “We were really good at working cooperatively even before COVID, but our struggles during the pandemic have only reinforced our commitment to being better together.â€
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Pianist Lara Downes has been called “an explorer whose imagination is fired by bringing notice to the underrepresented and forgotten†(The Log Journal). An iconoclast and trailblazer, her dynamic work as a sought-after performer, a Billboard Chart-topping recording artist, a producer, curator, activist, and arts advocate positions her as a cultural visionary on the national arts scene. Ms. Downes’ musical roadmap seeks inspiration from the legacies of history, family, and collective memory, excavating the broad landscape of American music to create a series of acclaimed performance and recording projects that serve as gathering spaces for her listeners to find common ground and shared experience.
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Cherri Gregg is the afternoon drive host/news anchor for WHYY radio. Prior to her current position, the award winning journalist covered civil rights, social justice, race and public affairs issues impacting marginalized communities in the Greater Philadelphia region, spending nearly a decade on air at KYW Newsradio. She served as the station’s Community Affairs reporter and was the creator, host and executive producer of the weekly, syndicated radio show and podcast, Flashpoint with Cherri Gregg. Under her leadership, the show earned two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, an NABJ Salute to Excellence Award for Best Podcast and a Pennsylvania Bar Association Media Award all in 2021. Cherri, who is also a licensed attorney, is a past president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists.
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The Delaware Symphony Orchestra is supported, in part, by a grant from the  a state agency, in partnership with the   The Division promotes Delaware arts events onÂ
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ABOUT THE DELAWARE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Established over 100 years ago, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra is among the premier regional orchestras in the U.S., and the only professional orchestra in the state. The DSO’s performance season presents classical and contemporary repertoires in full orchestra and chamber music concerts. Along with its educational programs and performances as well as other special events, the DSO attracts audiences of all ages throughout the state.
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ABOUT CHRISTINA CULTURAL ARTS CENTER
The mission of Christina Cultural Arts Center Inc. (CCAC) is to change the trajectory of a child’s life by making affordable arts, education, career pathways, gallery exhibitions and live performances accessible to all in a welcoming environment. Christina produces the only comprehensive arts and education program in Delaware with a core mission to utilize arts education to promote school success, career training, and positive social behavior. Christina Cultural Arts Center Inc. was founded in 1945 by the Women’s Club of Trinity Episcopal Church to provide activities for immigrant Polish and Swedish working class families. In 1969, the Christina mission was re-aligned to serve as a community-based arts center with an emphasis on preserving African-American cultural heritage. In 1993, CCAC completed a capital campaign to purchase and renovate its central location in downtown Wilmington at 705 N. Market Street. Through CCAC’s programs, more than 2,200 students in the school of the arts, public schools, outreach sites and parks experience quality arts and cultural programs annually. More than 10,000 arts supporters annually attend public dance, music, drama performance and visual art exhibitions hosted by Christina Cultural Arts Center.
The mission of Christina Cultural Arts Center Inc. (CCAC) is to change the trajectory of a child’s life by making affordable arts, education, career pathways, gallery exhibitions and live performances accessible to all in a welcoming environment. Christina produces the only comprehensive arts and education program in Delaware with a core mission to utilize arts education to promote school success, career training, and positive social behavior. Christina Cultural Arts Center Inc. was founded in 1945 by the Women’s Club of Trinity Episcopal Church to provide activities for immigrant Polish and Swedish working class families. In 1969, the Christina mission was re-aligned to serve as a community-based arts center with an emphasis on preserving African-American cultural heritage. In 1993, CCAC completed a capital campaign to purchase and renovate its central location in downtown Wilmington at 705 N. Market Street. Through CCAC’s programs, more than 2,200 students in the school of the arts, public schools, outreach sites and parks experience quality arts and cultural programs annually. More than 10,000 arts supporters annually attend public dance, music, drama performance and visual art exhibitions hosted by Christina Cultural Arts Center.
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ABOUT THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE
Celebrating 150 years in December 2021, The Grand has been one of the region’s premier performing arts presenters, offering music, dance, comedy, and family-focused programming, along with the best of touring Broadway. The organization is a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization and operates three venues on Wilmington’s Market Street arts corridor (Copeland Hall, the baby grand, and The Playhouse on Rodney Square). The opulent and historic Grand Opera House has been a landmark for the residents of Wilmington and the surrounding region for 150 years. Opened in 1871 as a home for the Grand Lodge of the Masons, The Grand played host to thousands of renowned entertainers and performing artists over the years, including Ethel Barrymore, Buffalo Bill Cody, John Philip Sousa, political cartoonist Thomas Nast, and the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. Reopened in 1973 after falling into disrepair in 1960s, the current organization has had artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Willie Nelson, The White Stripes, Trey Anastasio, Wanda Sykes, Sinbad, Lewis Black, Ron White, Lisa Lampanelli, Pete Davidson, and more grace their stages. Between The Grand, its resident performing companies, and rentals, the building hosts more than 300 events a year bringing more than 120,000 people into downtown Wilmington and through its doors.
Celebrating 150 years in December 2021, The Grand has been one of the region’s premier performing arts presenters, offering music, dance, comedy, and family-focused programming, along with the best of touring Broadway. The organization is a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization and operates three venues on Wilmington’s Market Street arts corridor (Copeland Hall, the baby grand, and The Playhouse on Rodney Square). The opulent and historic Grand Opera House has been a landmark for the residents of Wilmington and the surrounding region for 150 years. Opened in 1871 as a home for the Grand Lodge of the Masons, The Grand played host to thousands of renowned entertainers and performing artists over the years, including Ethel Barrymore, Buffalo Bill Cody, John Philip Sousa, political cartoonist Thomas Nast, and the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. Reopened in 1973 after falling into disrepair in 1960s, the current organization has had artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Willie Nelson, The White Stripes, Trey Anastasio, Wanda Sykes, Sinbad, Lewis Black, Ron White, Lisa Lampanelli, Pete Davidson, and more grace their stages. Between The Grand, its resident performing companies, and rentals, the building hosts more than 300 events a year bringing more than 120,000 people into downtown Wilmington and through its doors.