Southwest Chamber Music

Ten Freedom Summers is a three-evening composition by Wadada Leo Smith performed by Southwest Chamber Music and Smith’s Golden Quartet. Conducted by Jeff von der Schmidt of Southwest Chamber Music, this multi-movement work is inspired in general by the activity of the civil rights movement from 1954-1964. The composition is in suite form and reflects the spiritual condition and attitude surrounding many incidents that changed American history. Ten Freedom Summers is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the MAP Fund, the James Irvine and the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundations. Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Foundation commissioned "America" for the Golden Quartet, which inspires the opening of Ten Freedom Summers. The world premiere performances celebrating Southwest Chamber Music's 25,th anniversary were held at the REDCAT Theater in Walt Disney Concert Hall. Southwest will develop and implement an outreach program for educational and community events in Southern California that will engage new audiences through established programs and through engagement of major African-American churches, the NAACP and other civil rights organizations.