King’s Legacy celebration features music, poetry

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Internationally renowned violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins’ orchestral career includes performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and with the New York Philharmonic. She also has held the prestigious role as co-concertmaster of the Philadelphia-based Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra and, in 2007, concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of New York.

Internationally renowned violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Eastman School of Music graduate Craig Ketter and champion slam poets Dominique Christina and Denice Frohman will perform as part of the 2015 Expressions of King’s Legacy celebration at Rochester Institute of Technology. They will be featured in “An Evening of Music and Poetry,” at 7 p.m. Jan. 29 in the Al Davis Cafeteria in RIT’s Student Alumni Union.

Kelly Hall-Tompkins’ orchestral career includes performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and with the New York Philharmonic. She also has held the prestigious role as co-concertmaster of the Philadelphia-based Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra and, in 2007, concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of New York. She founded and directs Music Kitchen—Food for the Soul, which bring chamber music performances to New York City homeless shelters.

Hall-Tompkins will be accompanied by pianist Craig Ketter, who received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music. Ketter has performed as soloist with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, the Sacramento Philharmonic, the Oakland East Bay Symphony, the South Orange Symphony, the Raleigh Symphony, the Durham Symphony, the Rocky Ridge Music Festival Orchestra, and the American Festival for the Arts Orchestra. His solo concerts have taken him to Mexico, Argentina, France, Germany and Japan and across the United States and Canada. Ketter has also presented master classes throughout the United States and Argentina and has served as a guest professor in several institutions and venues.

Dominique Christina and Denice Frohman will perform as Sister Outsider Poetry, and their current national tour marks the first time the two Women of the World Poetry Slam champions have paired up.

All of the performers will participate earlier in the day at the keynote address by former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien, from noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 29 at RIT’s Gordon Field House and Activities Center. O’Brien, best known as a news anchor with CNN, has also produced news, documentaries and interviews for MSNBC, HBO and Al Jazeera. More than 2,000 people are expected for the event, similar to past years’ Expressions of King’s Legacy programs. Doors will open at 10:30 a.m. at the Field House. Introductions by campus leaders and musical performances by musicians and poets will take place from noon to 12:30 p.m. O’Brien will begin her address shortly afterward. The program will conclude at 2 p.m. Each of the entertainers will also be part of the mid-day program.

This is a ticketed event, free and open to campus and Rochester community members. Registration is required and can be done online. The event is sponsored by RIT’s Division for Diversity and Inclusion.

Dominique Christina and Denice Frohman will perform as Sister Outsider Poetry, and their current national tour marks the first time the two Women of the World Poetry Slam champions have paired up.

Pianist Craig Ketter received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music.

Dominique Christina and Denice Frohman will perform as Sister Outsider Poetry, and their current national tour marks the first time the two Women of the World Poetry Slam champions have paired up.