Damien Sneed Embarks on a 36-City 2019 North American Tour, ‘We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’
(New York, NY – Multi-genre
recording artist Damien Sneed embarks
on a 36-city North American tour, “We
Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
The Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient will bring his brand of classical,
jazz, and gospel music to concert halls and universities in the U.S. and
Canada. The tour kicks off at the Empire Center on Friday, January 11, 2019, at The Egg in Albany, NY, and will
conclude on March 3 at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, CA.
This year marks the 35th Anniversary of Martin
Luther King, Jr. Day, which was signed into law and made a federal holiday in
1983. The “We Shall Overcome” tour will continue through Black History Month
and the early part of Women’s History Month.
Sneed adds, “I look forward to honoring the life and legacy
of the great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in my upcoming
tour as well as many other great artists and public figures who used their
voices and their art to let the world know that one day we will truly overcome.”
Joining Sneed on tour is an ensemble of multi-genre
vocalists and instrumentalists including Chenee Campbell (vocalist), Markita
Knight (vocalist), Anitra McKinney (vocalist), Alicia Peters-Jordan (vocalist), Annalisha Jacobs
(vocalist), Tekesha Russell (vocalist), Linny Smith (vocalist), Aaron Chisholm
(vocalist), along with special guest
artist, and jazz newcomer Camille Thurman, and classical recording artists
Patrice Eaton, Audrey DuBois Harris, Brandie Sutton, and Kierra Hogan, who will
all appear on select tour dates. The musicians include Mark Clark (drums), John
Matthew Clark (bass), and Marquéz Cassidy (organ and keyboard).
Damien Sneed is a pianist, organist, conductor, composer, producer,
arranger, vocal coach, and arts educator
whose work spans multiple genres. Sneed
has worked with jazz, classical, pop, and R&B legends including the late
Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Jessye Norman, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross,
Ashford & Simpson, Lawrence Brownlee, and
many others.
Sneed’s boutique label, LeChateau Earl Records, established in 2009,
reflects Sneed’s varied musical interests and features critically-acclaimed
artists from classical, jazz, gospel and other musical genres. He has released
several CD projects including his forthcoming album, Damien Sneed: We Shall Overcome (January 2019). Other releases
include The
Three Sides of Damien Sneed: Classical, Jazz and Sanctified Soul (July 2018), Broken
To Minister: The Deluxe Edition (March 2015), Spiritual Sketches (June 2013), and
Introspections LIVE (January 2010).
Sneed is the founder and artistic director of Chorale Le
Chateau, which has gained a global reputation for
its vivid interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance period pieces
to art songs to jazz, spirituals, gospel, and avant-garde contemporary music. He is featured on the
recording of Wynton Marsalis’ Abyssinian
Mass as a conductor, with Marsalis,
the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Chorale Le Chateau.
A graduate of John S. Davidson Fine
Arts School, Sneed has studied at some of the finest conservatories and
universities, including Howard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music
– Piano Performance; the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University; New
York University, where he earned a Master of Music in Music Technology: Scoring
for Film and Multimedia; and the Manhattan School of Music. Sneed
will also graduate with his doctorate in
Orchestral Conducting from USC in 2019.
Sneed recently joined the acclaimed staff of the Houston Grand Opera
(HGOco) as Music
Director and Composer in Residence and serves as cover conductor for HGO mainstage
productions under Patrick Summers, Artistic and Music Director. He has been
commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera to compose a new opera, which will have
its world premiere on March 5, 2020, at
the Cullen Theater.
Sneed was recently named a 2019 Artist-in-Residence
at the Carr Center in Detroit, MI, along with Debbie Allen, George Shirley and
Savion Glover.
The tour will stop in Manass, VA on Tuesday, January 20 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center: 10960 University Blvd.; $26-$44.
The tour will stop in Manass, VA on Tuesday, January 20 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center: 10960 University Blvd.; $26-$44.