LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Harlem Renaissance will be the theme of the 2012 African American Music Heritage Institute Feb. 20 at the University of Louisville.
Sponsored by the UofL School of Music, the 16th annual event honors the musical history of African Americans through concerts, clinics, lectures and workshops for elementary and secondary school students, university students and the public.
A public performance by the Core Ensemble at 8 p.m., Feb. 20, in the Margaret Comstock Concert Hall, UofL School of Music, will feature the music and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance era in New York City in a program titled “Of Ebony Embers – Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance.” The group tours the world combining chamber music works with other performance elements.
The group will examine the lives of poets Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay as seen through the eyes of painter and muralist Aaron Douglas and set to the music of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Jeffrey Mumford and George Walker.
Admission to the concert is $5. UofL students and children under 10 are free. Tickets may be reserved by calling 502-852-6907 or purchased at the door.
The institute will also feature a matinee program for middle and high school students at 10 a.m. on the 20th. In addition to music aspects related to the theme, the program will encourage students to pursue higher education in support of the community’s 55,000 Degrees initiative, a partnership that aims to increase the number of bachelor’s degrees by 40,000 and associate’s degrees by 15,000 by the year 2020.
According to institute founder and director Jerry Tolson, professor of music education and jazz studies at UofL, the institute helps foster better understanding among members of a culturally diverse community and student population.
The event is part of UofL’s celebration of Black History Month and is supported by numerous individuals including Audwin and Rae Helton, community groups and university units including the School of Music, the Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality, the College of Arts & Sciences and the vice provost for Diversity and International Affairs.
For more information, call Tolson at 502-852-6972 or email jerry.tolson@louisville.edu.