Just fifty years ago, five courageous African-American students integrated Duke University. As part of Duke’s yearlong commemoration of the anniversary, Duke Performances commissioned three-time Grammy Award winner Billy Childs to write a major new song cycle which will receive its world premiere at the newly renovated Baldwin Auditorium.
A musical polymath, Childs is a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger who won a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship. His main vehicle, the 10-piece Jazz Chamber Ensemble, is an ingenious melding of jazz combo and classical string quartet. With that group, Childs creates a dynamic sound unique in the musical world.
For this special commemorative concert, Childs and his ensemble are joined by four-time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves, whom the Seattle Times calls the “most compelling vocalist in jazz.” This starry group comes together on the stage of the revamped Baldwin Auditorium to celebrate the brave students who changed the community and the country fifty years ago.
ENSEMBLE
Billy Childs, piano
Bob Sheppard, saxophones/flute
Carol Robbins, harp
Larry Koonse, guitar
Hans Glawischnig, bass
Brian Blade, drums
with special guests:
Dianne Reeves, vocals
& The Ying Quartet, string quartet
Aaron’s Song
Into The Light
The Red Wheelbarrow
The Path Among The Trees
—intermission—
Enlightened Souls: Commemorating 50 Years of Black Students at Duke (world premiere, commissioned by Duke Performances)