About the Festival

Please note that this Festival took place in March of 2009.

From the drumbeats of Mother Africa to the work songs and Spirituals created in a new land, a path is traced to the blues, gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, and hip-hop expressions of African Americans that are celebrated throughout the world. The classical music performers have become icons of concert halls and opera stages everywhere.

In charting the story of this great cultural tradition, I invite you on a personal journey that honors the trailblazers and the courageous artists of the past through concerts, recitals, lectures, panel discussions, and exhibitions hosted by Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and other sites around the city. This vast cultural fabric of the African American experience consists not only of the music, but also the words, the images, and the dances of a people, all providing rich fulfillment of the Langston Hughes credo: “Hold fast to dreams.”

—Jessye Norman