Baltimore Rock Opera Society Presents: Rock Opera 101, a three-part online concert series about the history of rock and roll, rock theater, and Black American Music.
Black music is American music. Black theater is American theater. Black culture is American culture.
Join us for Rock Opera 101, an online concert series featuring Baltimore musician and powerhouse vocalist Jonathan Gilmore. Over the course of three live-streamed concerts, a full stage of jaw-droppingly talented local musicians and singers will give a high-energy performance of a variety of songs from the Black musicians who created American music, leading up to the birth of rock opera and taking the audience into the future of the genre. African rhythms, blues, jazz, gospel, bluegrass, country, R&B, rock n' roll, concept albums, and musical theater classics will be featured. We’ll discuss the roots of American music in the Black community and explore how the evolution of the craft led to and continues to influence rock theater.
The first installment, titled American Music, streams live on July 1st, just in time for our country’s birthday party. Get inspired and hear incredible renditions of influential songs from early blues, early rock n' roll, soul, and funk that laid the foundations for modern music.
Wednesday, July 1st - American Music, where we inspect the question “Who owns American music? How did the erasure of black people from its history take place?
Thursday, August 13th - Onto the Stage, in which we delve into the creation of rock theater and its influences.
Thursday, September 10th - Into The Future, where we examine current trends and extrapolate a future for rock theater. We look at contributions from LGBTQ creators, Latinx creators, and other groups who are finding their voice in rock opera.
We hope that you will accompany us on this journey through rock history!
For sponsorship opportunities, please email Development Director Naomi Davidoff at naomi@baltimorerockopera.org.
This event is free for all, but we suggest you please consider a donation to one of the following sources:
To sign up for our newsletter visit www.baltimorerockopera.org/#newsletter
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