L.A. youth orchestra to perform Black History Month concert at La Sierra

 

RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- In celebration of Black History Month, La Sierra University will present a performance by the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m.

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Under the direction of Charles Dickerson III, the orchestra will present a program titled “An Evening of Inspiration” at the La Sierra University Church. The performance is part of a year of inaugural events celebrating La Sierra University’s sixth president, Dr. Christon Arthur, and leading to his inauguration on May 20. La Loma Federal Credit Union serves as the title sponsor for the inaugural year.

Dickerson is the founder, executive director and conductor of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA), a 501(c)3 nonprofit which he launched in 2009 and which has served since 2017 as the official orchestra for Cal State Dominguez Hills where Dickerson is a member of the music faculty.

ICYOLA’s stated objective is for its members to “learn and perform the great orchestral literature of the world, and equip minority youth, especially Black and Latino youth, with the tools needed to join major American orchestras.” The organization aims to use musical expression as an avenue toward personal development and to inspire the musical and academic potential of young people from Los Angeles’ inner city neighborhoods.

The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles led by Charles Dickerson III poses at Walt Disney Concert Hall. (Photo courtesy of ICYOLA)

Dickerson is also a composer whose noted works include the choral and orchestral composition “I Have a Dream” after the landmark 1963 speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was performed for the unveiling ceremonies of the King memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C., and at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles for an official celebration of the 50th anniversary of the speech. A work based on Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Day poem “The Hill We Climb” debuted in January 2022 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. 

In the 2021 academic year, Dickerson taught the new Introduction to Black Studies course in La Sierra University’s Department of History, Politics & Sociology. He attended La Sierra as a music major in 1970-71 when the school was part of Loma Linda University, then earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Howard University. He also holds a Juris Doctor from American University in Washington D.C. and a Master of Music from California State University, Los Angeles in conducting and African American music. He has held former careers in government, law and politics.

Dickerson is a graduate of the former Los Angeles Union SDA School and Glendale Academy, and he later served as Board Chair for Glendale.  He has also served as counsel to the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. His two adult children from a previous marriage, Cherie and Charles Dickerson IV, respectively attended Oakwood University in Huntsville, Ala. and La Sierra University. His son graduated from La Sierra in 2011 with a degree in communication. His daughter also attended Loma Linda University’s medical school and is a physician.

Admission to “An Evening of Inspiration” is free. La Sierra University Church is located at 4937 Sierra Vista Ave., Riverside. For further information contact gsimmons@lasierra.edu.

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