AfroSolo Arts Festival: We Come This Far by Music
In-person TicketsOnline-only Tickets
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Now in its 31st year, the AfroSolo Arts Festival is thrilled to return to Commonwealth Club World Affairs with "We Come This Far by Music—Let Freedom Ring! Part 2," featuring African American artists and music.
The AfroSolo Arts Festival, directed by Thomas R. Simpson, is showcasing a cast of classically trained artists. This program is led by Dr. Carl Blake, pianist and director, and features Bradley Kynard, baritone; Shawnette Sulker, soprano; William Underwood, flutist. It's a joyful, soul-stirring program of music based on African American experiences, as part of San Francisco's Juneteenth Celebration—a national celebration that commemorates the freeing of enslaved people in Texas two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
AfroSolo Arts Festival is made possible through the support of the California Arts Council, Grants for the Arts, Dream Keeper Initiative, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, SF Arts Commission, and The Friends of AfroSolo.
About the Performers
Dr. Carl Blake, piano and program director. Carnegie Recital Wigmore Hall (London) and L’Hermitage St. Petersburg, Russia Toured in France, England, Central and South America, Caribbean as artistic ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. Currently, director of music, Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, San Francisco, and a board member, Noontime Concerts.
Bradley Kynard, baritone. This season: The Emissary by Oh/Rourke and Prospero's Island by Shearer/Stevens, Zebul in Jeptha by Handel, Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (BWV 212) by J.S. Bach, A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil by Wold, Sophia's Forest by Beecher/Moscovitch, and Harriet's Spirit by Shelby/Olvera with Opera Parallèle, Moby Dick, Heggie/Scheer with San Francisco Opera. Brooke. In Little Women, by Adamo.
Shawnette Sulker, soprano. Featured artist with San Francisco Opera; Die Königin der Nacht, Cleopatra, Porgy and Bess, Jake Heggie’s Intelligence, Allen Shearer’s Prospero’s Island. Soloist, Carmina Burana, Messiah, and Mahler’s symphonies concert performances at Teatro di San Carlo, Lincoln Center, and Leipzig’s Gewandhaus.
William Underwood III, flutist. Performs in traditional, avant-garde, social and sacred arenas as a solo, collaborative and recording flutist. A veteran of AfroSolo Festivals in San Francisco. Toured Japan extensively with Kyodo Tokyo Incorporated .
This program has 2 types of tickets available: in-person and online-only. Please pre-register to receive a link to the live-stream event. If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one.
Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.
An Arts Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.
Photos courtesy the speakers; Blake photo by Jim Dennis.
Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs.
All ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.
The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
Dr. Carl Blake
Pianist; Director
Bradley Kynard
Baritone
Shawnette Sulker
Soprano
William Underwood
Flutist
Thomas R. Simpson
Founder/Director, AfroSolo Arts Festival
5 p.m. doors open & check-in
5:30–6:30 p.m program
(all times Pacific Time)
COST
Members receive 30–50 percent discounts (not a member? Join)
In-person:
$22
Free for Leadership Circle members and for students
Online:
$5
