Sweet Honey in the Rock

Sunday, August 30, 2009 | 4:00 pm

Sarah P. Duke Gardens

On the lush, sloping South Lawn in the corner of Duke Gardens, a free daytime show rings in a season unlike any other. D.C.-based legends Sweet Honey distill two centuries’ of black experience into a cappella harmonies shot through with the joys of rapture and the demand for a better world. They sang at the Obama White House for Black History Month. They sing here, among the magnolias, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Duke Gardens. This massive free show is open to all: bring picnics, bring children, bring your will to be moved.

The Bailey Elites, the acclaimed 14-trombone “shout band” from Durham’s United House of Prayer for All People, will open the show. An American Sign Language interpreter will translate the performance for the hearing impaired.

Sweet Honey in the Rock’s performance is funded, in large part, by the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.