by Anthony O’Toole (Grade 5, 10:45)

Now Is The Time (A Song of Hope) was written in the Fall of 2013 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of civil rights leader Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, given on August 28, 1963 in Washington, D. C. The piece was written as a tribute to Dr. King’s life and work, as well as the many other civil rights activists who fought so courageously for equality and an end to racial injustice in the 1950’s and 1960’s. More broadly, it is a musical portrayal of the pursuit of freedom and equality that many in our country still dream of.