Who We Are

A Concert with Christian McBride featuring Tonality!

Tonality is collaborating with Michael Abels, Kronos Quartet and the Phoenix Chorale to bring you "At War with Ourselves – 400 Years of You" in Iowa City, IA.

A new series of concerts and dialogue entitled Music and Justice will debut with a momentous concert on Feb. 26, 2023, at UCLA's iconic Royce Hall. The first part of the concert program features works by six contemporary composers addressing social justice, including world premieres by Diane White-Clayton and multi-Grammy winner Arturo O'Farrill. Part two of the program features a rare performance of the landmark 1969 cantata The Gates of Justice by legendary jazz composer and musician Dave Brubeck. A fighter for civil rights, Brubeck—who was neither Jewish nor Black—wrote The Gates of Justice in 1969 an effort to unify Blacks and Jews after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Based on Hebrew liturgical texts, African American spirituals, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches, the work is scored for jazz trio, brass ensemble, chorus, tenor, and baritone, with the tenor role written in the Cantorial style of the Jewish temple, and the baritone in the Spiritual style of the African-American church. In a historic first, Brubeck's sons Darius, Chris, and Dan perform the jazz trio in their father's work, joined by a choir of Black and Jewish singers from Los Angeles-area churches and synagogues alongside UCLA students and the award-winning chorus Tonality, led by Alexander Lloyd Blake. Soloists are acclaimed baritone Phillip Bullock and Azi Schwartz, famed cantor of New York's Park Avenue Synagogue.

Our third concert of the season will focus on the climate crisis, including the use of words from young leaders who have spoken about the urgency of action toward conserving what resources are available on this planet.

The fourth presentation of our season focuses on education and how to create a future that prioritizes unity and equality. These selections will discuss some of the issues within our school system such as the Dont Say Gay Bill, Critical Race Theory, school shootings, the school to prison pipeline, and will feature collaborations with the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA).