The late poet Langston Hughes--whose incredible work helped shape the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s--embraced the world of jazz and gave powerful voice to the struggle for freedom during much of the 20th century. In honor of his 100th year, the University of Nevada, Reno's Performing Arts Series presents “A Centenary Celebration: The Langston Hughes Project with the McCurdy Wright Consort," a tribute to Hughes's creative vision, Wed., Oct. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the university's Nightingale Concert Hall. In advance of the evening performance, a free lecture on Langston Hughes' work will be presented by members of the McCurdy Wright Consort. Sponsored by the university's Western Traditions Program, the lecture will be held at 10 a.m. in the Scrugham Engineering Building, Room 101, on the university campus.
In a multimedia performance of spoken word, jazz quartet and visual images from the Harlem Renaissance, the Langston Hughes Project recreates Hughes's vision of the global struggle for freedom in the early 1960's. African American artists and photographers including Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, and Romare Bearden link words and music to a kaleidoscopic collection of images. Spoken word artist John Wright brings Hughes's text vividly to life. Music director and composer Ron McCurdy orchestrates the original musical based on the music cues suggested by Langston Hughes.
Drawn from Hughes' 1960 homage to the Newport Jazz Festival, “12 Moods of Jazz," the piece has been developed and is performed in part by Ronald McCurdy, Ph.D., professor of music at the University of Southern California, and by John Wright, Ph.D., professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Minnesota. The Langston Hughes Project has been performed at New York's Carnegie Hall and elsewhere to critical acclaim, promising to become a classic in the world of jazz, poetry and performance.
For more about the Langston Hughes Project, visit:
www.ronmccurdy.com
Individual tickets are $17 general, $15 senior and $9 students. University students are $5. Performing Arts Series season ticket discounts are also available. For season or individual tickets, call the University Arts Box Office at (775) 784-6847. For more information about the Performing Arts Series, call (775) 784-4046 or visit
www.dce.unr.edu/arts.
Funding for the Performing Arts Series is provided by the University of Nevada, Reno; the Nevada Arts Council, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; the City of Reno Arts and Culture Commission; and the Edna B. and Bruno Benna Foundation for Excellence in the Arts. Additional funds for student ticket subsidies and artist residency activities have been provided by the Fulton Fund; Sierra Arts; University of Nevada, Reno Department of Music; For the Love of Jazz; Associated Students of the University of Nevada; and the university's Western Traditions Program. The series is media sponsored by KUNR-FM 88.7. Accommodations for guest artists have been provided by the Sands Regency Hotel Casino.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
