by André De Shields

Baltimore – the toe of the North ; the head of the South – is in my blood . There must be some mojo working in my life . I made it out of B ’ MO , and reached the ripe young age of 75 . Against all odds ! I wasn ’ t supposed to make it out alive . That ’ s why I ’ ve come back . To make good on my vow that someday I would achieve such stature that Baltimore would be proud to claim me as its native son . In other words , to transfuse back into the soul of The City some of that blood that transformed my life . My collaborating in the renaissance of Charm City has powered my imagination since the day in 1964 , I hopped a Greyhound Bus to begin my journey through four years of college , the first , in my family of ten siblings , to entertain such an uncool , un-colored , totally alien vision . I hopped off that Greyhound at Wilmington College in Wilmington , OH . Here ’ s where the mojo gets its due . You see , I had been seen . For the first time in my young life , an entity other than myself looked and saw me , a gifted child , who might otherwise rot on the vine . Or worse yet , become captive of drug abuse or captured by an officer in blue , if not but for his unlikely combination of Negroboy hubris . The other entity was the Central Scholarship Bureau , which provided the scholarship that ignited my college career . 57 years later , I ’ ve managed to transform that kernel of self-confidence into Black-Man Majesty . And in collaboration with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra , I ’ ve created a concert of music that celebrates the courage , stamina , persistence ,

determination , and heartiness of mind and body that I learned during my formative years attending one of the nation ’ s leading high schools , Baltimore City College .

The choice of music is meant to emphasize Baltimore as a character in the narrative , which is not so much linear as organic . For instance , while the overture is a paene to Baltimore ’ s ragtime genius and master of popular song Eubie Blake , other choices , such as “ Smile ” and “ Shine ” will serve to illustrate moments of personal epiphany . There is even a moment , “ Saturday Picture Show ,” that apotheosizes the now defunct Royal Theatre , once the crown jewel of architecture on electric Pennsylvania Avenue , Black Baltimore ’ s cultural spine . Of course , there are songs included just for their sheer bravado , lest we forget that big fun is the preferred way to support big ideas . Look for a raucous iteration of “ Let the Good Times Roll .” We bring it all home in a medley of songs appealing to the citizens of Baltimore ’ s embrace of diversity , equity , and inclusion . We pray that our mélange of songs familiar and new , spirit-moving and emotionally bracing , historic and contemporary , self-penned and from the American songbook , will bring you as much thought provoking joy as it has caused us to experience .

I conclude with a salutation borrowed from the network of Bantu languages spoken in the southeast of the African continent : UBUNTU ! “ I am because you are .”

NOV-DEC 2021 / OVERTURE 25