A hometown inaugural ball for Harris
The Oakland Symphony plans to present a virtual inaugural ball on Sunday, Jan. 17, to honor Kamala Harris, who will be sworn in as vice president next week alongside Presidentelect Joe Biden.
The program, titled “Oakland Salutes,” was curated by the orchestra’s music director, Michael Morgan, in celebration of Harris, an Oakland native. It includes short prerecorded performances and spoken contributions from more than two dozen of the city’s arts organizations and cultural figures.
“Originally it was just going to be a symphony thing, with us, the chorus and the youth orchestra,” Morgan told The Chronicle in a phone interview. “We knew the time was short, and we didn’t want to cost these organizations more money,
which we knew they didn’t have. But lo and behold — the contributions kept rolling in.”
The resulting array of videos, which range in length from 30 seconds to nearly seven minutes, came from the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, Oaktown Jazz Workshop, artists from Oakland Ballet Company and the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Chorus, Jazz Mafia and many others.
The event is hosted by Oakland Port Commissioner Michael Colbruno and includes a message from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
Black tie, the orchestra announced on its website, is optional for athome viewers, who can tune into the live stream via the Symphony’s YouTube or Facebook page.
The Oakland program is among a variety of virtual presentations connected to the inauguration of Harris and Biden. Former East Bay resident and awardwinning actor Tom Hanks is scheduled to host an Inauguration Day primetime special, “Celebrating America,” with performances by Ant Clemons, Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Lovato and Justin Timberlake.