At its sold-out concert honoring the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader on Sunday evening, January 14 in Severance Hall, The Cleveland Orchestra announced the 2018 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Awards, which were divided into three categories.
Richard K. Smucker, president of The Cleveland Orchestra Board, presided over the award ceremony, the winners having been announced by Jeffrey Weaver, chair of the Orchestra’s Community Engagement Committee, and presented onstage before the concert by Mayor Frank G. Jackson.
Special Recognition was given to Cleveland City Councilman Kevin Conwell for having conceived of the Community Service Awards 15 years ago.
Titus Hicks of the Baldwin Wallace University Scholar program received the Youth Award for raising others up through education.
KeyBank received the Organization Award for its commitment to community and its continued sponsorship of the MLK concert.
The performance, which was broadcast live over WCLV, 104.9 FM and WCPN, 90.3 FM, and recorded for television broadcast on WVIZ/PBS on Friday, January 26 at 9:00 pm, featured The Cleveland Orchestra and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus (prepared by William Henry Caldwell) with vocal soloist Ryan Speedo Green, under the baton of music director Franz Welser-Möst. James Pickens Jr. narrated the event.
