Oregon Mandolin Orchestra's Salute to African American Music

[rickbella]

The Oregon Mandolin Orchestra will celebrate the contributions of African American musicians with a concert that spans eras and genres, highlighting traditions that forever changed the course of American music.

The concert is set for 7:30 p.m PST, Friday, Oct. 21, at the Walters Cultural Arts Center, 527 E. Main St., Hillsboro, OR 97123.

OMO Music Director Christian McKee said some African American composers achieved popular fame, but so many others toiled in obscurity, their work nearly forgotten.

“These early contributions of Black musicians shaped much of American music today,” McKee said. “Influences of blues and gospel can be heard not only in jazz, but in country, pop, rock and orchestral pieces – everything!”

To help celebrate, the concert also will feature the How Long Jug Band, (www.howlongjugband.com) whose wide-ranging repertoire is heavily influenced by African American musical traditions. Led by Arlo Leach, a member of the Jug Band Hall of Fame, the band will take the audience back to a time when musicians regularly made their own instruments, linking blues and ragtime to early jazz.

The concert program will present popular favorites by ragtime pioneer Scott Joplin and composer/orchestra leader Duke Ellington. But the program also will present lesser-known pieces by Seth Weeks, a virtuoso who wrote everything from evocative orchestral arrangements to lively dance numbers; and James Reese Europe, an important World War I-era forerunner of jazz.

Also featured Also will be two lyrical, contemplative works by Florence B. Price, the first female African American composer to have her work performed by a major orchestra.

Tickets are $20 in advance through https://tinyurl.com/OMOFall22 or $23 day of show.

For more information, contact OMO Music Director Christian McKee at omomckee@gmail.com or 503-891-1226; or OMO Board President Michael Tognetti at president@oregonmandolinorchestra.org or 360-521-0255.