Resource person: Audra Bullard - office@clehighlands.com

Description:

The late great Dr. Billy Taylor said: “Jazz is America’s classical music.” But what does he mean? What is the relationship between “America’s classical music” and the classical music of the European tradition? The connections might be stronger than you think. Emory Music professor, minister, and jazz musician Dwight Andrews offers some intriguing insights into this subject with his lecture “Jazz Meets Classical.” He suggests there is more than a symbiotic relationship between the two in sound, sensibility, and even musical structures. Andrews uncovers the oftenoverlooked connections of aesthetics, improvisation, and the requirement of mastery in both musical traditions. Equally important, he confronts the historically valueladen and exclusionary ways that the very term “classical” serves to place some composers and music within the framework and excludes others. His presentation will include musical excerpts, provocative observations from the musicians themselves, and engagement with the audience to literally “hear” the connections when “Jazz Meets Classical.

Dwight Andrews is a composer, musician, Professor of Music Theory and African American Music at Emory University and Senior Minister of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Atlanta. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Michigan. Dr. Andrews continued his studies at Yale University, receiving a Master of Divinity degree and a Ph.D. in Music Theory. He has taught at Yale, Harvard, Rice, and Spelman College. In 1997, he was named the first Quincy Jones Visiting Professor of African American Music and delivered the 2004 Alain Locke Lectures at Harvard University. Also at Harvard, Andrews was appointed a Hutchins Research Fellow in 2020. In 2003, he served as Visiting Professor of Composition at the Yale School of Music.He is presently working on a manuscript on the relationship between spirituality and jazz in the works of John and Alice Coltrane, Mary Lou Williams, Duke Ellington, Yusef Lateef, Sun Ra, and Dave Brubeck; and a new music theatre piece on W.E.B. Dubois.

Notes: Cancellation Policy Please let us know immediately if you are unable to attend a class. There is no refund for cancellations within two (2) weeks prior to a scheduled class. Programs that include food, beverage or art materials must be canceled within three (3) weeks prior to receive a refund. CLE reserves the right to cancel a program if the minimum enrollment has not been met or for circumstances beyond our control, and participants will be notified, a complete refund will be issued. All classes are held in the CLE Lecture Hall at the Peggy Crosby Center unless otherwise noted. In the event information has changed from the published brochure, it will be posted on our website and in our e-blasts. Addresses for “private home” venues will be provided to registrants within 2 days of the program date.

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