News News Release

Cultural Events Presents Langston Hughes Project

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
ROXANE CASE, Cultural Events coordinator
(218) 299-4366
AMY KELLY, College Communications and Media Relations director
(218) 299-3642

CONCORDIA CULTURAL EVENTS PRESENTS

THE LANGSTON HUGHES PROJECT

Concordia’s Cultural Events will present a performance of The Langston Hughes Project featuring the Ron McCurdy Quartet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, in the Centrum, Knutson Campus Center.

The Langston Hughes Project is a multimedia performance of Hughes’ kaleidoscopic jazz poem suite “Ask Your Mama,” his homage to the struggle for artistic and social freedom at the beginning of the 1960s. It is a 12-part epic poem scored with musical cues drawn from blues and Dixieland, gospel, boogie woogie, African drumming, and more – a masterwork left unperformed at his death. This performance links Hughes’s poetry to images of Ask Your Mama’s people, places, and events, and the works of visual artists Hughes admired or collaborated with over the course of his career. Together the words, sounds and images recreate a magical moment in our cultural history.

Artistic director Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy is professor of music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC) and past-president of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE). McCurdy is a consultant to the Grammy Foundation educational programs including serving as director of the National Grammy Vocal Jazz Ensemble and combo. He serves as director of the Walt Disney All-American College Band in Anaheim, Calif., and has had an affiliation with the Walt Disney Company for more than 20 years. 

Tickets for the performance are $20 for adult general admission and $10 for students under 18. For tickets, visit ConcordiaTickets.com or call the Office of Cultural Events at (218) 299-4366.

-30-

(kk)

18-002