Monday, February 08, 2010

2/19: A Musical Evening With Langston Hughes

A perfect departure from all the dreary work we PG faculty saddle students with. Find all the details here.

A Musical Evening With Langston Hughes


A Musical Evening With Langston Hughes, featuring internationally known singer Awilda Verdejo, will be presented at University of Puget Sound on Feb. 19, giving Tacoma the rare opportunity to hear the well-loved African American writer’s poems set to music by a variety of 20th-century composers. The performance, part of the university’s celebration of Black History Month, will begin at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 19, in Schneebeck Concert Hall.

Hughes (1902–67) was one of the crucial writers of the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920s and 1930s. A native of Missouri who attended Columbia University and graduated from Lincoln University, Hughes was among the first American writers to adapt blues and jazz culture to literature. His poetry has drawn the attention of such composers as Elie Siegmeister, Rickey Ian Gordon, Florence Price, and Cecil Cohen. Hughes also collaborated with Elmer Rice and Kurt Weill on the Broadway production of Street Scene. More than 200 of his poems have been set to music.