Symphony to salute Kamala Harris with virtual concert

Orchestra, guests to perform in advance of her inauguration

Oakland Symphony and some of its musical friends are saluting Kamala Harris this weekend.

The historic triumph at the polls by the Oakland native — who is set to be sworn in as the 49th vice president of the United States on Wednesday — will be celebrated during the city’s Commemorative Virtual Inauguration Ball on Sunday afternoon.

The program will feature performances and appearances by Oakland Symphony and Symphony Chorus, Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, Jazz Mafia, pianist

Tammy L. Hall, singer Tiffany Austin, Oaktown Jazz Workshop, Oakland Ballet dancer Ashley Thopiah, Oakland Asian Cultural Center artists Van-Anh Vo (musician), members of the Chitresh Das (dance) Institute and Leela Dance Collective, soprano Shawnette Sulker, cellist Emil Miland, organist Jerome Lenk, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Chorus, Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Greer Nakadegawa-Lee, Piedmont East Bay Children’s Chorus, the Great Wall Youth Orchestra and other arts groups and individuals.

The program is hosted by Oakland Port Commissioner Michael Colbruno and includes a message from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

“We are all so proud to have an Oakland, California, native as the 49th vice president,” says Oakland

Symphony music director Michael Morgan, who is curating the program. “The Oakland Symphony has brought together so many members of the Oakland arts community to celebrate this landmark occasion and we are so excited for people around this country and around the world to learn more about her hometown and its citizens.”

This “Oakland Salutes” program debuts at 3 p.m. Sunday and will be available on demand. The free concert is being presented by the Oakland Symphony to “celebrate this historic transition of power,” given that the “pandemic is keeping all of us from gathering in Washington, D.C., and other places,” a news resays. Information: OaklandSymphony.org