The Handel and Haydn Society will collaborate with Castle of Our Skins to present a free community concert, “Nigra Sum Sed Formosa: I Am Black But Beautiful.”

According to the press release, the performance, directed by Reginald L. Mobley, Ashleigh Gordon, and Dr. Jennifer Kane, “will celebrate the breadth and depth of black artistry with powerful music from black composers across three centuries.” David Snead, President and CEO of H+H, adds that the concert “is designed to shine a light on the diversity of talent in our city, using art and music to celebrate our differences and bring us together.”

Marlon Carey will be featured as a literary performer, alongside members of the H+H Chorus, musicians from Castle of Our Skins, and the H+H Vocal Arts Program Concert Choir. The program will include works by Daniel Bernard Roumain, Jonathan Woody, Jessica Mays, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence Price, Zanaida Robles, Sam Cooke, and André J. Thomas.

A pre-concert lecture led by L’Merchie Frazier, Director of Education and Interpretation at the Museum of African American History, will “contextualize the program’s Latin namesake as it relates to music, arts, and today’s modern time” as part of ArtWeek.

The performance will take place on Saturday, Apr. 27, 2019 at 3pm at the Roxbury Community College Media Arts Center.