Past Event

Ma Rainey to Madame Butterfly: Black Women in Classical and Popular Music

A Road Scholar Program by Stephanie Shonekan

This program takes the audience on an audio-visual expedition of the history and music of African American women through clips from their music and excerpts of their life stories. This provides the audience with a rare and fascinating portrayal of the lives and musical contributions of Black women across genres (popular and classical music.) This approach allows these women musicians to speak for themselves and to reveal the various influences and expressions that shape their lives and musical expressions. The audience will explore the varied journeys of these women with a view to understanding the threads that bind the lives and music of Black women in American history.