The Sound of (Black) Music

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2023 at 8:00PM

VENUE Matthews Theater

OVERVIEW

..one of the most titanically musical nights of my year, brings gospel, soul, and Afrobeat to Rogers and Hammerstein in 'The Sound of (Black) Music.

The New York Times

An Afrofuturist take on the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, The Sound of (Black) Music fuses jazz, blues, funk, gospel, R&B, hip-hop, and more to pay tribute to the rich, communal history of Black roots music. Brianna Thomas, Chareene Wade, and musical director Vuyo Sotashe lead a dynamic group of more than 20 musicians and vocalists in an electric performance that captures the music’s uplifting spirit. Jazz vocalist Michael Mwenso and producer Jono Gasparro conceived the show—co-directed by Shariffa Ali (Princeton University) and Kamilah Long—in association with Electric Root as a production within a platform, a creative healing space for a troupe of predominantly BIPOC artists. More than just a riff on a beloved musical, the production aims to reclaim the legacy of Black music and highlight its central role in shaping American culture. 

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Additional Info & Events

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2023 / 6:00PM

Ancestral Communal Listening Experience

In this joyful and immersive gathering, Michael Mwenso, co-creator of The Sound of (Black) Music, along with co-director Shariffa Ali from Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts, will create a sense of community and connection by playing recordings of musical forebears who propelled the advancement of the human condition and prompting participants to voluntarily share what they feel and hear in the messages. For this special event, produced by Electric Root, we invite all to come together and recenter through the collective healing, love, and nutritional uplift that’s embedded in Black roots music.

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