Don’t Sit in the Balcony

The fact that Congress chose Miami as one of 11 cities to host events celebrating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth says a lot about how far the Big Orange has come. And to its credit, the city didn’t half-step when organizing this Sunday’s culminating event, A Lincoln Town Hall: Lincoln, Miami, and the American Dream, at the Arsht Center.

Miami Heat great Alonzo Mourning will narrate a performance of Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” The star power will continue with an appearance by Harvard’s Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and a panel on Lincoln, moderated by WFOR Channel 4’s Antonio Mora, that will feature Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Knight Foundation CEO Albert Ibargüen, and Dade schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho. The foyer will feature Civil War-era memorabilia courtesy of the Norman Braman Collection, and the music will be provided by New World School of the Arts and the Ambassador Chorale of Florida Memorial University.

This one-of-a-kind event begins at 4 p.m. General admission tickets are free but must be reserved through the Arsht Center’s box office.
Sun., Nov. 1, 4 p.m., 2009