(1) The Santa Monica High School Chamber Orchestra performs during the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration at the SGI Auditorium on Monday, January 18, 2010. (2) Crossroads Jazz Ensemble performs during the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. (3) Sopranoist Savitri Labensart performs during the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. (4) Santa Monica Police Chief Timothy J. Jackman reads the Liturgy: Dialogue of Reality and Community Affirmation during the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. (5) Civic leaders hold hands while  singing, "We Shall Overcome" during the 25rd Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration at the SGI Auditorium on Monday, January 18, 2010. 

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The multiethnic, interfaith program  included inspirational readings, music and presentations of scholarships. The keynote speaker was Dr. Adena Loston, a former SMC administrator and president of St. Philip's College in Texas, the nation's only Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first celebrated as a federal holiday in 1986 under a law signed by then-President Ronald Reagan. King and George Washington are the only Americans with federal holidays celebrating their birth. King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. He was assassinated in 1968.

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(1,2,4) Conductor Allen Robert Gross leads the Santa Monica Symphony in Mussorgsky's  'Night on Bald Mountain' during the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Weekend Family Concert at the SGI Auditorium Sunday, January 17, 2010. (3) Tuba soloist Christopher Miller performs Vaughan Williams’ melodious “Tuba Concerto” during the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert.

The mission of the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra is to provide high-quality, admission-free concerts from the classical and contemporary symphony repertoire to Santa Monica and West Lost Angeles. The Symphony also extends its reach into the community by performing at local schools and community arts events, assisting the community in introducing young people to classical music and enhancing lifelong learning opportunities by providing enrichment information to adults. All of the Symphony's programming is planned to target a multi-cultural, multi-generational audience.

The Santa Monica Symphony has been a major cultural asset for the Southern California Westside community since its debut in 1945. It has grown from a fledging local orchestra into a highly acclaimed symphony orchestra which attracts music lovers from all parts of the greater Los Angeles area. Each season the Santa Monica Symphony presents four free concerts to an audience of 5,000 persons of all ages. Its repertoire of classical and contemporary music provides well-rounded programs of wide appeal. Talented community musicians and college music students form the nucleus of the orchestra, augmented by a small group of professional musicians. Many weeks of rigorous rehearsals precede each concert, resulting in the highest artistic standards.

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The Santa Monica Symphony has grown to its present excellence under the batons of six outstanding conductors/music directors: founding conductor Jacques Rachmilovich, composer Arthur Lange, Peter Meremblum, former CBS Symphony director Victor Bay, USC School of Music faculty member Yehuda Gilad, and its current conductor Dr. Allen Robert Gross of the Occidental College Music faculty. Guest soloists are a regular program feature of the symphony season. Among artists performing with the orchestra have been Sydney and Jeanne Weiss, Nathaniel Rosen, Ronald Leonard and such noted composers and guest conductors as Nelson Riddle, Miklos Rosza, David Rose, Alfred Newman, John Green, and Elmer Bernstein. The Santa Monica Symphony also has made multiple recordings and was the first orchestra in the United States to record the First and Second Symphonies of Tchaikovsky. Among its other contributions have been the Young Musicians Concerts which provide performance opportunities for aspiring young musicians.

The Santa Monica Symphony is a member of the Association of California Symphony Orchestra (ASCO), The American Symphony Orchestra League (ASOL), and the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce. This music is sponsored as a public service by the City of Santa Monica and made possible in part by the Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division. Instrumental Music for these performances funded in part by the Recording Industries Music Performance Trust Funds as arranged by Local 47 of the American Federation of Musicians, William Peterson, President. These performances are made possible in part through sponsorship of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Music and Performing Arts Commission.

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Teenage girls film a commercial for Olsonboye at the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday, January 14, 2010. Olsenboye is Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's new junior clothing brand that will be exclusive to JCPenney.

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Cyclists peddle south along the Santa Monica bike path on Sunday, December 27, 2009. The path is 22 miles long starting at Will Rogers State Beach and ends at Torrance County Beach in South Redondo Beach.

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Santa Monica Close-up on Facebook

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Internationally acclaimed performer Rajeev Taranath (left) on the Sarod and Leonice Shinneman  on the Tabla perform at Santa Monica College on Thursday, October 1, 2009.

 

Master of the Sarod, Rajeev Taranath is today one of the world's leading exponents of the Sarod. A distinguished disciple of Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, his performances masterfully combine the depth and rigor of the tradition of Hindustani classical music with an inspired imagination and emotional intensity. Hailed a prodigy in Hindustani vocal music, he had been earlier trained by his father Pandit Taranath and other eminent musicians and was a concert and radio artist before he was twenty. Rajeev has toured extensively as a performer in India, Australia, Europe, Yemen and throughout the U.S. He has also composed music for several nationally and internationally honored Indian films.

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