Paul Sanchez

Paul Sánchez, director of the Piano Studies Program at the College of Charleston.

The College of Charleston’s Director of Piano Studies Paul Sánchez will be performing a live virtual concert with collaborative partner, baritone Will Liverman, available through Valhalla Media at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, June 26, 2020.

Featuring all African American composers – including Leslie Adams, Damien Snead, Robert Owens and Margaret Bonds – the concert will conclude with the world premier of a piece titled “Two Black Churches.” Composed by Shawn Okpebholo specifically for Sánchez and Liverman, the piece is a musical diptych of two poems by Dudley Randall and Marcus Amaker exploring the impact of two watershed moments in the American Civil Rights Movement: the Birmingham church bombing in 1963 and the 2015 Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston.

Sánchez and Liverman – who are also currently recording an album of art songs by black composers – discuss “Two Black Churches” with Okpebholo in the below interview:

Tickets to the live broadcast of the concert are available for purchase on the Valhalla Media website. The tickets are on sale with the option to pay what you want; the suggested price per ticket is $14.99; the minimum price is $7.99 per ticket. Please note that, if tickets are purchased after the broadcast has begun, the concert must be viewed within 72 hours of the purchase. Live broadcast will begin approximately 15 minutes prior to curtain.