[NEohioPAL] 250th Anniversary Choral Concert Featuring an Original Composition by Paul Ferguson

[Neil Thackaberry]

Chorus Performs World Premiere to Mark America’s 250th Anniversary

April 26 Concert Celebrates Liberty, Equality, Justice, and Hope

Brecksville-Broadview Heights — March 31, 2026 — Be among the first to hear
a moving new work about
democracy when the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Community Chorus presents
“The Spirit of Freedom” at 4 p.m. on
Sunday, April 26, at the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School
Auditorium. Tickets are available online and at the
door ($10 general admission, $30 VIP reserved seating). The location is
handicap-accessible and has free parking.
The program travels through 250 years of U.S. history through songs that
tell the story of our nation’s founding
principles and highest aspirations, highlighted by the premiere of a new
composition commissioned by the Chorus. “A
Declaration . . . If You Can Keep It” was composed by Paul Ferguson,
Artistic Director of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and
Director of Jazz Studies at Case Western Reserve University especially for
the Chorus, with support from Cuyahoga Arts &
Culture. The four-part work incorporates the words of Thomas Jefferson,
Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and
Martin Luther King Jr. The Chorus will be accompanied by professional
musicians.
“This suite reflects the Declaration of Independence as a living document
as interpreted from various perspectives
throughout American history,” Ferguson said.
Artistic Director Brian Suntken said, “This concert is a milestone for our
chorus, which continues to grow in
musical talent and sophistication. We look forward to sharing this
celebration with our audience.” The program also
includes well-known folk songs, popular tunes, and patriotic anthems. The
well-regarded Brecksville-Broadview Heights
Chorus, founded in 1991, includes singers from throughout Northeast Ohio.
For more information, visit bbhcommchorus.org or Facebook.
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Media contact:
Pat Thomas / pathomas07 at roadrunner.com or 561-307-3120
Brecksville-Broadview Heights Community Chorus Concert: “The Spirit of
Freedom”
Date and time: 4 p.m. Sunday, April 26, 2026
Tickets: $10 general admission. Available online and at the door.
Location: Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School Auditorium, 6376 Mill
Road, Broadview Heights, Ohio
More information: bbhcommchorus.org. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

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More about Paul Ferguson
Well-known throughout Northeast Ohio and beyond, Paul Ferguson has been
director of Jazz Studies at Case Western
Reserve University since 1988. A graduate of the University of Akron and
the Eastman School of Music, Paul has traveled
with the Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller bands as lead trombonist and
arranger and currently fills those functions with the
Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. He was principal trombonist of the Canton
Symphony from 1989-98 and has performed with the
Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Apollos’
Fire, the Cleveland Chamber Brass, the New
Hampshire Festival Orchestra and others. In 1995, Paul was the recipient of
the Gil Evans Fellowship in Jazz Composition.
He has two recordings – “Blue Highways,” recorded with the RIAS Big Band of
Berlin, and “Friends,” recorded with his
own orchestra.
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More about Brian Suntken
Now in his first full year as Artistic Director, Brian is a graduate of the
Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and
holds a certificate from the Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris, France; and a
Master of Divinity degree from The General
Theological Seminary in New York. For nine years, Brian produced a
television series, Music from the Buckeye State, for
Hudson Community Television. From 2007-2013, Brian taught at Tri-C
Community College, Cleveland, in its Encore
Series, on opera and classical music. He was lecturer for seven seasons
with Opera Carolina in Charlotte.
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More about the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Community Chorus
Founded more than 35 years ago, the Chorus draws singers from throughout
Northeast Ohio. As a not-for-profit community
chorus, its mission is to provide singers the opportunity to experience
high-quality choral music and to share that love of
music with others through outreach, education, and performance events. To
learn more, support the chorus, or join us, go to
www. bbcommchorus.org.
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