We honor the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington - brought to the present by their living descendant, Kenneth Morris, Jr. - through a collaborative commission with Emmy-winning composer Daniel Bernard Roumain. And Still We Cross is an artistic statement on migration, resilience, and the enduring struggle for freedom, from the Underground Railroad to the Rio Grande.
The program includes an intergenerational collaboration with the Evergreen Quartet, a student ensemble from Kinder HSPVA, who will premiere an adapted version of the work. This underscores education and mentorship as vital extensions of Apollo’s mission and the democratization of artistic expression.
The concert also reflects the ancestral echoes of Felix Mendelssohn, whose lineage traces to his grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, a key figure in the Jewish Enlightenment whose ideals helped shape the values of America’s founders and moral leaders. Finally, Apollo’s early commission Sorrow Song & Jubilee by American composer Libby Larsen draws on the spiritual tradition where sorrow and despair give way to resolve and collective hope.
The program includes an intergenerational collaboration with the Evergreen Quartet, a student ensemble from Kinder HSPVA, who will premiere an adapted version of the work. This underscores education and mentorship as vital extensions of Apollo’s mission and the democratization of artistic expression.
The concert also reflects the ancestral echoes of Felix Mendelssohn, whose lineage traces to his grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, a key figure in the Jewish Enlightenment whose ideals helped shape the values of America’s founders and moral leaders. Finally, Apollo’s early commission Sorrow Song & Jubilee by American composer Libby Larsen draws on the spiritual tradition where sorrow and despair give way to resolve and collective hope.
APOLLO CHAMBER PLAYERS
Matthew J. Detrick, Founder, Executive & Artistic Director
CORE ARTISTS
Matthew J. Detrick, violin
Anabel Ramirez, violin
Aria Cheregosha, viola
Matthew Dudzik, cello
GUESTS
Kenneth Morris, Jr., narrator & speaker
Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer
Penelope Campbell, soprano
Elizabeth Tait , alto
Wayne Ashley, tenor
Keaton Brown, baritone
Mali Gatewood, speaker (HSPVA Creative Writing Dept.)
Marlo Saucedo, visual/word artist
EVERGREEN QUARTET
part of the Kinder HSPVA/AFA Chamber Music Partnership
Naoto Osako, violin
Claire Loggenberg, violin
Drayden Johnson, viola
Rashaud Lawrence, cello
Program Partners: Frederick Douglass Family Initiative
Commission Underwriter: DatumSure & HSPVA Friends
Major Support: Tom & Terri Kosten
Matthew J. Detrick, Founder, Executive & Artistic Director
CORE ARTISTS
Matthew J. Detrick, violin
Anabel Ramirez, violin
Aria Cheregosha, viola
Matthew Dudzik, cello
GUESTS
Kenneth Morris, Jr., narrator & speaker
Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer
Penelope Campbell, soprano
Elizabeth Tait , alto
Wayne Ashley, tenor
Keaton Brown, baritone
Mali Gatewood, speaker (HSPVA Creative Writing Dept.)
Marlo Saucedo, visual/word artist
EVERGREEN QUARTET
part of the Kinder HSPVA/AFA Chamber Music Partnership
Naoto Osako, violin
Claire Loggenberg, violin
Drayden Johnson, viola
Rashaud Lawrence, cello
Program Partners: Frederick Douglass Family Initiative
Commission Underwriter: DatumSure & HSPVA Friends
Major Support: Tom & Terri Kosten
Evergreen Quartet (HSPVA / AFA Chamber Music Partnership)
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EMPOWER by Marlo Saucedo
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PROGRAM
View Full Program
And Still We Cross (2026)*......................Daniel Bernard Roumain (b. 1971)
Version for string quartet
WORLD PREMIERE
Sorrow Song & Jubilee (2014)**......................Libby Larsen (b. 1950)
String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80.............Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Intermission
And Still We Cross (2025)**.........................Daniel Bernard Roumain (b. 1971)
Version for string quartet, vocal quartet (SATB) & narrator
Words/Text by Kenneth B. Morris, Jr.
*Commissioned by Apollo Chamber Players and Kinder HSPVA for the Evergreen Quartet
**Commissioned by Apollo Chamber Players
And Still We Cross (2026)*......................Daniel Bernard Roumain (b. 1971)
Version for string quartet
WORLD PREMIERE
Sorrow Song & Jubilee (2014)**......................Libby Larsen (b. 1950)
String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80.............Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Intermission
And Still We Cross (2025)**.........................Daniel Bernard Roumain (b. 1971)
Version for string quartet, vocal quartet (SATB) & narrator
Words/Text by Kenneth B. Morris, Jr.
*Commissioned by Apollo Chamber Players and Kinder HSPVA for the Evergreen Quartet
**Commissioned by Apollo Chamber Players
VENUE INFO
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