Mahogany Chamber Music Series: “Dreaming in Forward Motion”: An MLK Jr. Celebration
01/17/27 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
$25 – $35
Mahogany Chamber Music Series: “Dreaming in Forward Motion”: An MLK Jr. Celebration
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Sunday, January 17th, 2027
Doors open at 2:30 PM | Show begins at 3:00 PM
$25 in advance (plus fees) | $30 at the door | $10 student tickets
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Join us for an inspiring musical celebration honoring the life, legacy and enduring dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. MLK’s dream is not static–it is alive, evolving, and moving toward fulfillment.
Curated by Artina McCain and featuring acclaimed artists performing works by William Grant Still, H. Leslie Adams and the powerful tradition of African American spirituals. This concert weaves together music with compelling visual imagery to reflect on our shared history and collective responsibility. We invite audiences to be inspired, uplifted and empowered to carry the vision of justice, unity and beloved community forward–in Memphis and beyond.
Hailed by the New York Times as a “virtuoso pianist,” Artina McCain has established a prominent career as a multifaceted creative. As a recitalist, her credits include performances at Wigmore Hall in London, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie in New York City, and more.
A multi-faceted artist, McCain has been featured in a mirage of spaces. From mistress of ceremony at the Cliburn competition to a regular artist on the El Dorado Ballroom Series curated by Solange Knowles. After years of battling a performance injury, she uses her miraculous recovery to serve as an advocate of musicians’ wellness. Most recently, the BBC featured her on the podcast Sideways, telling her healing story.
Known for promulgating the work of the unsung, she has multiple album collaborations and commissions with duo partner Martin McCain, bass trombone. She arranged 24 African American Folk Songs for the Hal Leonard series for beginning and intermediate pianists. In 2026, she will release the first edition of Grammy nominated composer, Joseph Joubert’s virtuosic spiritual piano transcriptions through the Frances Clark Center.
Currently, she is chair and piano professor at University of Memphis. McCain is an avid tea drinker and fashion enthusiast.
Flutist Shantanique Moore is a sought-after freelance musician who is often noted for her “brilliant sound and technical mastery.” Shantanique has built a dynamic freelance career as an orchestral musician, performing with the Pittsburgh, Detroit, Seattle, Minnesota, and National Symphonies, and internationally with the Chinecke! Orchestra in London (among others). As an advocate for promoting musicianship and flute playing, Shantanique has served on the board of directors of the Southeast Michigan Flute Association as secretary, and as the SEMFA Flute Choir director. Shantanique loves teaching enthusiastic flute students and takes pride in the development and success of her students. Her students frequently garner high ratings at State and Regional Solo & Ensemble, are active members of youth symphony programs such as the Detroit Civic Youth Ensembles, and have gone on to pursue music at the collegiate level.
Dr. Marcin Arendt is a violinist, chamber musician, soloist, and educator, serving as Professor of Violin at the University of Memphis’s Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. He maintains a vibrant studio of undergraduate and graduate students while performing with his string-faculty colleagues in the Ceruti String Quartet. An active performer, Dr. Arendt is a core member of the Iris Collective, collaborating closely with colleagues in both concert performances and innovative community engagement projects. He also performs regularly with the Arizona Music Festival in Scottsdale, AZ, and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, OH. Through his work with Iris Collective, Dr. Arendt engages in initiatives that bring music into spaces where it can foster connection, healing, and inspiration.
Ann Marie McPhail, a seasoned performer and Atlanta native, has established herself as a versatile lyric soprano. She received a BM in Music Education from Clark Atlanta University, a MM in Voice Performance from Georgia State University and is pursuing a DMA in Voice Performance at The University of Southern Mississippi.
Ms. McPhail made her career debut as the Countess with the Houston Ebony Opera, in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and portrayed the “Diva Goddess” in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, Closing Ceremonies.
For Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls, she is seen onstage singing at the opera. She has also portrayed Strawberry Woman in Gershwin’s, Porgy and Bess while touring with the Atlanta Opera, for which she received honorable mention in Opera News.
In 2019, under the baton of Maestro Charles Dickerson, she was soprano soloist in the premiere of Bill Banfield’s Shine Symphony at the NANM 100th Convention in Chicago, Illinois. In 2020 she was guest soloist for the Atlanta Ballet’s premiere of “Sunrise Divine” by renown Choreographer Dwight Rhoden and composer Dr. Kevin Johnson of the Spelman College Glee Club.
She is a past winner of the Madame Rose, American Traditions and the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta Competition where she received stipend and entry to the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Austria, Vienna in 2022.
Ms. McPhail has served as lecturer and artist affiliate at Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Agnes Scott College, Talladega College and Grambling State University. She has sung with the San Francisco Opera, Paris Comique Opera, Atlanta Opera, Houston Ebony Opera, Opera Ebony, Macon Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Chambers Players and the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra.
She is currently a staff singer at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Laurel, Mississippi, and a board member of the Atlanta Chamber Players.
She will be in concert with the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the American Traditions Competition.
While she excels in singing classical music, she is supremely skillful in her heart-rending interpretations of the negro spiritual.