LA Sophisticated Blacks

FIRE AND BLUE SKY

June 6, 2024

At the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

The past doesn't control us. But it never leaves us.

Tenor Russell Thomas, LA Opera's Artist in Residence, premieres a major new commission: a deeply personal, evening-length concert work created expressly for him by the Emmy Award-winning composer Joel Thompson with an original libretto by the celebrated poet Imani Tolliver.

With Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados leading the LA Opera Orchestra, Fire and Blue Sky traces the origin story of an artist, a probing reflection on painful memories, deeply embedded, that reverberate into the present day.

The concert will also feature an orchestral suite from Joel Thompson's opera, The Snowy Day.

https://www.laopera.org/performances/202324-season/fire-and-blue-sky/

MISSION STATEMENT

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo celebrates and honor Black Cowboys and Cowgirls and their contributions to building the west. We highlight the irrefutable global appeal of Black Cowboys and Cowgirls in the West and the stories behind a sub-culture that is still strong today. BPIR also serves as a cultural event and opportunity for families to enjoy and embrace the cowboy culture, while being educated and entertained with reenactments, history highlights, and western adventure.

VISION

The vision of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo is to continue to educate everyone about Black Western Heritage and the significance of Black Cowboys and Cowgirls. BPIR will continue to provide a cost effective family entertainment event that is educational, fun, and safe while continuing to entertain all ages and nationalities as we have done for the past 39 years.

IN CONCLUSION

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (BPIR) will continue to reach a prime target audience and market that also has crossover appeal. BPIR enables your corporation to develop a partnership with an established organization which supports the important goal of educating Americans about the true diversity of the American West. BPIR provides your company a new and exciting event that reaches and audience of all ages, cultural diversity, medium to high income households and an opportunity to target regional markets within the framework of a national program.

BPIR provides any company an opportunity to participate in a cost-effective event that reaches African-Americans throughout the United States that spend close to 1 trillion each year on a wide range of consumer goods. The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo brings an important element of Black Western Heritage into our present day experience with family fun, education, excitement and celebration.

Valeria Vason-Cunningham
President and Producer

https://billpickettrodeo.com/index.php/schedule/bpir-legacy-series

MISSION STATEMENT

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo celebrates and honor Black Cowboys and Cowgirls and their contributions to building the west. We highlight the irrefutable global appeal of Black Cowboys and Cowgirls in the West and the stories behind a sub-culture that is still strong today. BPIR also serves as a cultural event and opportunity for families to enjoy and embrace the cowboy culture, while being educated and entertained with reenactments, history highlights, and western adventure.

VISION

The vision of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo is to continue to educate everyone about Black Western Heritage and the significance of Black Cowboys and Cowgirls. BPIR will continue to provide a cost effective family entertainment event that is educational, fun, and safe while continuing to entertain all ages and nationalities as we have done for the past 39 years.

IN CONCLUSION

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (BPIR) will continue to reach a prime target audience and market that also has crossover appeal. BPIR enables your corporation to develop a partnership with an established organization which supports the important goal of educating Americans about the true diversity of the American West. BPIR provides your company a new and exciting event that reaches and audience of all ages, cultural diversity, medium to high income households and an opportunity to target regional markets within the framework of a national program.

BPIR provides any company an opportunity to participate in a cost-effective event that reaches African-Americans throughout the United States that spend close to 1 trillion each year on a wide range of consumer goods. The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo brings an important element of Black Western Heritage into our present day experience with family fun, education, excitement and celebration.

Valeria Vason-Cunningham
President and Producer

https://billpickettrodeo.com/index.php/schedule/bpir-legacy-series