Celebrating MLK the musical way

The Santa Monica Symphony, with Music Director and Conductor Allen Robert Gross and soprano Juandalynn R. Abernathy, daughter of civil rights leader Rev. Ralph Abernathy, will celebrate Martin Luther King Day with a free concert in the SGI Auditorium at 525 Wilshire on Monday, Jan. 15, at 2:30 p.m. The concert is the final event in Santa Monica’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration, which begins at 9 a.m. at the SGI Auditorium.

The program will feature Abernathy singing traditional spirituals and “Old American Songs” by Aaron Copland, as well as the orchestral “Epitaph” by Adolphus Hailstork and excerpts from the “Afro-American Symphony” by William Grant Still.

Music was a major part of Martin Luther King’s life and the Civil Rights Movement. Marchers and demonstrators sang as they peacefully resisted oppression. Their anthem “We Shall Overcome” is now used around the world.

The music on the program pays tribute to the African-America roots of so much of our America’s music, and to today’s African-American composers who have brought that tradition to symphonic music.

The great tradition of African-American spirituals has been preserved and adapted for the concert hall by many gifted arrangers.

Daily Press



Library gives free pass for overdue visits

The Santa Monica Public Library is offering an amnesty on fines for overdue materials returned in good condition to the Main and branch libraries during the week of Jan. 6 through Jan. 13.

The purpose of the amnesty is to promote the return of needed library books and media and to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the new Main Library. The amnesty does not include overdue fines accrued from previously returned materials or items owned or borrowed from other library systems. The amnesty also does not excuse billings for lost or damaged materials.

“The primary purpose of fines,” says City Librarian Greg Mullen, “is to encourage prompt return of materials. We want our materials back and into the hands of the next borrower who wants them.”

For more information on the amnesty program, call the library at (310) 458-8600.

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Marina del Rey dredging set to begin

The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors announced that the United States Army Corps of Engineers will begin dredging of the north entrance to Marina del Rey today, until the approximate completion date of March 15. The dredging will eliminate current problems with storm-generated sediment shoaling and vessel groundings that are occurring at the north entrance.

At various times during the dredging, the Marina del Rey Harbor Master will notify mariners about north entrance closures during the dredging operation.

An estimated 255,000 cubic meters of clean sand dredged from the north entrance will be placed offshore, in water approximately 15 to 30 feet deep, at Dockweiler State Beach, adjacent to its main entrance at Imperial Highway. Local wave action will gradually move this sand onshore, replenishing the beach at Dockweiler and other South Bay beaches.

For additional information, contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at (213) 452-3908 or visit their Web site at www.spl.usace.army.mil

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