The Hope College Wind Symphony is presenting a special Rosa Parks tribute concert to honor the great civil rights leader who passed away last October. The performance will be on Thursday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

The concert will feature two works written to honor Parks. Mark Camphouse's "A Movement from Rosa" was written in 1992 and incorporates the hymn "We Shall Overcome."

Michael Daugherty was inspired to write "Rosa Parks Boulevard" after attending church in Detroit with Parks, where she told him the spiritual "Oh Freedom" was her favorite piece of music. Daugherty uses fragments of the spiritual in his piece.

The concert will also feature history professor Fred Johnson reading from poems and sermons in between the pieces. A skilled orator, Johnson will read an excerpt from James Weldon Johnson's "Listen, Lord - A Prayer," a poem by Rita Dove, and other works as well.

Audience members will be invited to join in singing "We Shall Overcome" and "Oh Freedom."

The performance will also include performances by the Hope College Faculty Jazz Trio, which consists of pianist Steve Talaga, bassist Charlie Hoats, and drummer Mike VanLente.

Guest performers and soloists will include David Jackson, professor of trombone at the University of Michigan, recent Hope College graduate Paul Wesselink, and senior Aaron Hawn, both trombonists.

Support for the performance comes from the Hope College Patrons for the Arts and the Office for the Dean of the Arts and Humanities.

Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located on College Avenue at 12th Street.