Press Release: SOMEDAY WE WILL ALL BE FREE; THE GENIUS OF DONNY HATHAWAY
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RENO JAZZ ORCHESTRA TO PRESENT
“SOMEDAY WE WILL ALL BE FREE; THE GENIUS OF DONNY HATHAWAY”
~ Fall 2025 Production Includes Fundraiser, Education for the Donny Hathaway Legacy Project ~
The Reno Jazz Orchestra is commemorating the 80th birthday of Donny Hathaway on September 27 and 28, 2025, at the Nugget Celebrity Snowroom in Reno, Nevada, with a full-stage production of Someday We Will All Be Free: The Genius of Donny Hathaway.
“Donny Hathaway made his mark in the 1970s as a key figure of the soul music genre. He was a singer, pianist, composer, and music genius who left us too soon,” said Chuck Reider. Reno Jazz Orchestra Board President and Creative Director for the shows.
This fall, the Reno Jazz Orchestra will take the stage at the Nugget Casino Resort to commemorate Hathaway’s 80th birthday. Reno Jazz Orchestra Music Director Dr. Greg Johnson will lead an expanded roster of artists. “This music production will be a first for the Reno Jazz Orchestra,” said Johnson. “It will showcase a unique collaboration with a string orchestra, original orchestra arrangements, featured vocalists, a gospel choir, and our jazz orchestra.”
Hathaway’s music blended gospel, jazz, and R&B, with powerful messages about civil rights.
The concert’s first half will feature Hathaway’s most well-known songs, such as Little Ghetto Boy and the second half will feature material from his album Extensions of a Man.
“In addition, Mr. Hathaway’s daughter Donnita, who is the director of the non-profit Donny Hathaway Legacy Project will be part of the community outreach,” said Reider. “Donitta created this organization to help others who, like her father, had paranoid schizophrenia that led to his suicide in 1979.”
Community outreach will begin in mid-2025 and include communication with the local school districts and free tickets for students to attend the performances.
Joining Donnita Hathaway will be Cliff Porter, who has also created a local non-profit charity to assist those with mental health issues. Porter is a member of the Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society will also be involved in community outreach.
“I established the Donny Hathaway Legacy Project during a ‘light bulb’ moment when reflecting on several critical paths in my life: the lack of acknowledgment for the tremendous contributions that my father made to the music industry, the continuation of influential and young Black people dying by suicide and having my own personal and physical chronic pain in my life,” said Hathaway.
“I lost both of my parents before I turned 20,” said Hathaway. “Fortunately, I discovered multiple holistic healing modalities, including music, laughter, and community, which helped me grieve and move forward. As a result, I adapted to clean eating, exercising, and spiritual practice, thanks to the methods and mentorship of trusted, influential people.”