Featuring Angeline Morrison / Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne / Jon Bickley / John Palmer
GRACE WILL LEAD US HOME
John Newton was a bad boy teenager. Pressed-ganged at 17, he was sold as a slave himself to an African Princess; later became a slave ship captain and after being saved from a shipwreck devoted himself to God, writing the song that’s become a worldwide symbol against oppression – Amazing Grace.
To mark Newton’s 300th birthday, Angeline Morrison; Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne; Jon Bickley and John Palmer explore his life; the inextricable link between Amazing Grace and the slave trade; its iconic status as a protest against oppression and its relevance today.
Many of those singing it don’t know the story of the man who wrote it. Many more cannot reconcile his early life with the sentiments of the song.
Grace Will Lead Us Home uses traditional and new songs, linked by 18th century diaries and writings, to highlight all aspects of his life, how Amazing Grace became such an iconic statement of protest and what it means in the modern world.
It’s the latest chapter in a three-year Arts Council-funded project that’s already produced a series of exhibitions, podcasts, videos, lectures, seminars and an album (currently being revised for the tour).
Click here for tickets just for the Q&A following the concert
