By Lucy Gellman | New Haven Arts
Steel pan vibrated through the core of First and Summerfield United Methodist Church, knitting sound into prayer. Violins, violas and cellos unfolded across the carpet, the sound enmeshed with the bounce and roll of the pan. Sheaves of mid-afternoon sunlight streamed in through the stained glass, as if they had been called to appear. Aaaaaa-men! sang over 100 voices, all in unison.
Strings and steel summoned the revolutionary, intersectional, and too-often whitewashed spirit of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, as Music Haven and St. Luke’s Steel Band came together for their first Martin Luther King, Jr. Day concert since January 2020. Bathed in the church’s honeyed light, musicians honored King the activist, labor organizer and sharp-tongued orator, carrying his legacy into the present.
First and Summerfield felt like the right setting: it is home not just to a sanctuary congregation, but also to the labor union Unite Here!. It marks the concert’s 11th year, and the first since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Over 150 people attended.
“He fought for freedom and for Black folks to have a voice, and it just feels good being here today and just celebrating him,” said Kenneth Joseph, who has directed the steel band since 2011. “Performing for me, music is just such a blessing. While playing today, [I was] just thinking about him and what he would have done in his latter years of life. Hopefully he would have been doing more things like this.”
The tradition, which this year highlighted Music Haven’s Harmony In Action orchestra, has taken on a life of its own. In January 2011, the concert started with a few Music Haven students and steel band members at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Whalley Avenue, where the band holds its weekly practices and concerts. In over a decade, the event has traveled from St. Luke’s to Christ Church on Broadway Avenue to First and Summerfield, and has included spoken word poetry, guest speakers, community awardees, visiting vocalists.