The Longest Walk (1942, NR)

Screening followed by a conversation with the film’s director Vohn Regensburger and Shanti Zaid of the Blair Caldwell African-American Research Library.

Join us for a special screening of a documentary celebrating the life and work of the “Jackie Robinson of Classical Music.” In 1949, Charles Burrell (1921-2025) became the first person of color to play with a major symphony orchestra in the U.S. With the exception of six years with the San Francisco Symphony, Charlie spent the entirety of his career in Denver, retiring from the Colorado Symphony in 1999. Not limited to classical music, he also ascended to the highest levels of jazz playing in some of Denver’s most hallowed Five Points venues with such legends as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and more.