UAB University Professor Henry Panion III, Ph.D., will conduct the Atlanta Symphony with artists including Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Holliday, Peabo Bryson, Lady Tramaine Hawkins, The Blind Boys of Alabama and more in a celebration for the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery.
“His Words-Our Gift: A Musical Experience” honoring Lowery on his 90th birthday, will take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 9, 2011, in Atlanta’s Woodruff Arts Center. Lowery is known as a leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. In 2009, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The event, to be hosted by CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien, will feature performances by Wonder, Holliday, Bryson, Hawkins and The Blind Boys, Cicely Tyson, Dawnn Lewis, Cassi Davis, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Morehouse and Spelman College glee clubs and other special guests.
Panion is well known for his work as conductor and arranger for superstar Wonder. As a producer, composer, arranger, and orchestrator, Panion’s work has earned two Grammy Awards, two Dove Awards and a host of other national music awards and nominations. This year he was honored with a 2011 Governor’s Arts Award from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.