POSTPONED – Sound of History: Jazz – The Origins of an American Sound

This event has been postponed. 
In-person events at Kaufman Music Center have been suspended through July 31. See Kaufman Music Center community updates related to COVID-19.

With Professor Anna Celenza and rising star musicians from Kaufman Music Center's Special Music School, who will perform music by jazz legends Count Basie, Roy Hargrove, Frank Foster, Sam Rivers, Javier Arau and more.

This multimedia lecture featuring film clips, dance steps, historic photos and recordings explores America’s most distinctive music and its impact on global culture. Jazz is a genre broad in scope with the power to cross multiple borders: geographical, political, economic, racial and religious. Professor Anna Celenza will explore the cultural and political stories embedded in the history of jazz, from its origins in New Orleans, Chicago and Harlem to its use as a “secret sonic weapon” during the Civil Rights Era and the Cold War. Jazz was the first musical genre shaped by modern technology and the first world-wide music phenomenon. From Ragtime and Dixieland to Swing, BeBop, Cool Jazz, and Fusion, the genre offers something for everyone.

Anna Celenza is the Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music at Georgetown University. She is the author of several books, including Jazz Italian Style: From Its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra. In addition to her scholarly work, she has served as a writer/commentator for NPR’s Performance Today and published eight award-winning children’s books, among them Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite. She has been featured on nationally syndicated radio and TV programs, including the BBC’s “Music Matters” and C-Span’s “Book TV.”