“Hold Out for Joy: Music of Hope and Resilience by African American Composers”

Now in our 15th year of welcoming the community to concerts celebrating the music of African American composers, we invite you to join us on Saturday January 31 and Sunday Feb 1, 2026 at 3 pm at the Performing Arts Center of Eastside College Preparatory School, East Palo Alto. 

Together we perform music of hope, resilience, and joy – spirituals, instrumental,  jazz, and popular music to uplift and inspire. Composers historic and living include William Grant Still, Harry Burleigh, Margaret Bonds, Betty Jackson King, Zenobia Powell Perry, Regina Baiocchi, Joshua McGhee, Valerie Capers, and Earth, Wind & Fire. 

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT: http://www.Purplepass.com/AACI

PREVIOUS CONCERTS:

Click on a date below to view the program from that concert. You may then click on a composition name to view video of that performance.

• February 2025: We Are A Family
• January 2024: What’s Going On: A Concert of Music by African American Composers
• January 2023: Together Again! Celebrating the Music of African American Composers
• January 2020: Hold Fast to Dreams
• October 2019: Tawawa House Opera Concert Performance
• January 2019: Where Freedom Rings: A 10th Anniversary Concert Celebrating the Music of African American Composers
• January 2018: Out of the Blues: The Gift of Song
• January 2017: Let the Knowing Speak
• January 2016: A Musical Celebration of Valerie Capers
• January 2015: Walk Together: A Musical Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr, and the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
• January 2014: Let Freedom Ring: The Resounding Music of African American Composers
• January 2013: Music of African American Composers: The Story Retold
• January 2012: A Musical Sojourn: Two Hundred Years of Music by African American Women and Men
• January 2011: Music by African American Composers: Yesterday and Today
• January 2010: A Concert in Tribute to African American Composers
• January 2009: Palo Alto Performances (program only, no video)