The Miami University Symphony Orchestra will present their first concert of the 2018 season in celebration of The Daniel Pearl World Music Days on October 5, 2018, in Hall Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The Tigerland Concert: When Music Meets Literature was inspired by the 2018 Summer Reading Program selection, Tigerland by Wil Haygood, and explores themes covered in the book including the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Admission to the concert is free.

Tigerland was a perfect selection to celebrate the mission of The Daniel Pearl World Music Days "to inspire audiences with a sense of unity and purpose, reaffirming our commitment to international friendship by taking a stand against divisive forces." The performance will be part of an international network of concerts that use the power of music to spread commitment to tolerance and humanity.

The 1960s were a time of turbulence and powerful social change that moved our nation forward. The program will begin with the key anthem of this movement, We Shall Overcome, performed as an instrumental rendering by the Miami University Symphony Orchestra under the conducting of Ricardo Averbach. The piece will be followed by Three Black Kings, the last major work written by Duke Ellington, and created in celebration of his good friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In this version, created for a saxophone soloist and orchestra, the audience will have the unique opportunity of hearing Professor Jeremy Long perform both tenor and soprano saxophone.

The concert will conclude with the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein, a landmark product of the 1960s that addressed the racial tensions of that era and continues to resonate with the social climate of today. The concert will also pay tribute to Leonard Bernstein at the centennial of his birth on August 24, 1918.

The concert will host two very special guests: Wil Haygood, author of Tigerland and Derrick Harkins, former National Director of Faith Outreach for the Democratic National Committee.