Bring the new year in right with Jamie Barton and company.
It looks this New Year’s Eve will be very queer. From having Billy Porter co-host Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve to watching bisexual opera singer Jamie Barton perform on PBS, according to The Advocate.
Barton, who is known for advocating for body positivity, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and other social justice initiatives on social media, will be joining a fantastic list of performers on PBS’ United in Song: Celebrating the Resilience of America. The program will air on PBS stations, PBS.org, and the PBS video app later tonight, December 31, between 8 to 9:30 p.m. The show will then be rebroadcast immediately afterward from 9:30 to 11 p.m.
Happy New Year! 🥳
Tonight at 8pm – Performers unite to celebrate the strength of Americans; featuring @theAmericanPops conducted by Luke Frazier and the @NatSymphonyDC conducted by Joann Falletta.
Watch United in Song on-air or online: https://t.co/UXq1Lvv7KZ pic.twitter.com/5lx0KIBoyS— WMHT (@WMHTPubMedia) December 31, 2020
According to PBS, United in Song is a program meant to focus on the triumphs Americans have made in the face of this taxing year.
“Despite the enormity of COVID-19 and the significant presence of social injustice, this special evening of wide-ranging music joins us in the ever-present pursuit of uniting as one America,” PBS shared in a press release.
But who will be joining Jamie Barton in the performance? Several big-name performers like Pattie LaBelle, Josh Groben, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Audra McDonald, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, Soloman Howard, Morgan James, Juanes, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Anna Deavere Smith.
But this isn’t just a concert. The program, which was recorded at the Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Mount Vernon, also includes interviews between the artists and David M. Rubenstein, the co-executive producer of the program.
“Music is a universal language and has the unique power of uniting us,” Rubenstein in the press release. “I suspect the majority of us will be celebrating this New Year’s with an inability to gather in-person. Ringing in 2021 with music performed by world-class artists provides an opportunity to celebrate what makes us American.”
Source: PBS, The Advocate,
