Brooklyn College Piano Professor Creates Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
Jan. 18, 2022
Jeffrey Biegel
Reflection of Equality: An Ode to Martin Luther King
“Reflection of Equality: An Ode to Martin Luther King” is part of a trilogy that also honors Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
In part to celebrate Black History Month and honor the late Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., acclaimed pianist and composer Jeffrey Biegel—along with Brooklyn College piano performance and music composition sophomore Zhi Chen and Harrison Sheckler ’21 M.Mus.—has created the musical composition "Reflection of Equality: An Ode to Martin Luther King.” Zhi Chen created the audio recording, and, Harrison Sheckler added orchestration and video montage set to Professor Biegel's composition.
The musical tribute is part of a themed trilogy titled “Three Reflections,” which began with “An Ode to Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” which launched late in 2020 and premiered with the Dallas Symphony in October 2021.
Building on the momentum of that RBG project, Biegel composed "Reflection of Equality: An Ode to Martin Luther King" and "Reflection of Freedom: An Ode to John Fitzgerald Kennedy," similarly using their names to form the themes of the music. The trilogy—composed as solo works or works for piano and orchestra—reflects ideals of humanity through historic figures in American history, with the hope of bringing those ideals to audiences throughout the world via performances.
Chen and Sheckler were key to creating part of the three musical tributes.
To commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Sheckler, who is currently working on his doctorate in piano performance at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, created a video montage set to Biegel’s orchestration. Chen, a sophomore piano and composition student of Biegel’s in the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, created the audio demos. Using one of Biegel’s live performances, Chen served as producer, mixer, and audio engineer, weaving the orchestration around it using sample libraries with the digital audio workstation Logic Pro X.
“The final mix resulted in a special and unique soundscape where the piano is always at the forefront,” Chen said. “The orchestra in the back accompanies the pianist, telling a story of the ideals of humanity that Martin Luther King Jr. fought for and the hopes that the work to achieve peace and equality for all will continue with us. It’s an honor to bring to life the music of Professor Biegel’s beautiful tribute to these three political icons of our time. I hope this project will touch people’s hearts and inspire more to live life to the fullest.”
