The annual "Freedom Rings: an artistic celebration of the life of Martin Luther King Jr." took place Sunday, Jan. 21 at the Koger Center for the Arts.
“Tonight we have a celebration of Martin Luther King through the arts. This has been traditionally what has been called the Gospel Festival,” said Chief Diversity Officer John Dozier. “This year, because it being the fiftieth anniversary death of Martin Luther King we decided to change things up a little bit.”
The event involved a diverse selection of performers from across Columbia working together to honor the life of King.
"At one point is was full of gospel choirs, it was a big gospel event. Sometimes it was a quartet, the show. But today, we've kind of reimagined it," producer Darryl Izzard said. "We've got a little bit of gospel music, we have the Columbia City Ballet, we have members of the South Carolina Philharmonic, we've got a jazz band — it's really celebrating the life of MLK through the arts."
Even though involving dancers, singers and musicians in one production may seem overwhelming, Izzard said it made the production even better.
“Music and arts is like a universal language, and so when we all come together as artists around a central theme," Izzard said. "We enjoy it.”
Putting together a production of this size is no easy feat. Izzard and the performers have been working since the summer of 2017 to create something incredible.
“We’ve been preparing for tonight for almost six months. We started last year ... started getting in touch with people in our community,” said Izzard.
This event is primarily attended by members of the community, but through the university hosting it, students are more involved in this traditional celebration.
“When the university contacted me about producing the show ... I really thought it was a great opportunity as a university for us to reach out to students in the community,” Izzard said.
Freedom Rings is an unforgettable celebration of King’s life and legacy that leaves the audience with a timeless message of unity.
“Those who come to the event tonight will leave with the message of the power of unity, oneness and peace. In our world today with ... so much tension and division going on we took the time tonight to honor Dr. King and his legacy by putting our gifts and talents to spread the message of the power of oneness," Izzard said. "In fact, tonight our theme as artists, we're coming together with this theme ... together we win with love for humanity."