New World Symphony has announced its “I Dream a World: The Harlem Renaissance in Europe” music festival happening Feb. 3rd-15th at the New World Center.
Inspired by legendary Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes, “I Dream a World” celebrates the Black musicians who transformed art and culture in the 1920s and 1930s.
“This year, the I Dream a World Festival extends its cultural lens and musical ear to consider the sounds and personalities that preceded the Harlem Renaissance in America and how they influenced cultural trends in Post-World War I Europe,” shared Festival curator Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle. “It is more than just an exploration of the ideological and cultural reach of the movement. I Dream a World seeks to challenge the dualities of concert and popular music, provincial and cosmopolitan culture to illuminate how black music, the cultural spaces that incubated it, and the communities of artisans and intellectuals that engaged with it through performance, color, movement, and word shaped the modern world.”
The festival kicks off with a Parisian inspired nightclub event, recreating the atmosphere Black artists experienced upon arrival in Europe while sopranos Julia Bullock and Louise Toppin share music by Billie Holiday, George Gershwin and Cole Porter.
In addition to a robust series of concerts, this two week long festival will also feature an exhibition curated by Christopher Norwood, a lecture presented by FIU/Wolfsonian and film screening of “The Harlem Hellfighters Great War,” presented by the City of Miami Beach and the American Black Film Festival.
Tickets for opening night of “I Dream a World: The Harlem Renaissance in Europe” are sold out, however tickets for its remaining days range from $15-$95, depending on seats and performances, with $100 festival passes available.
For a full festival itinerary and to purchase tickets, visit nws.edu.
This is a Hy-Lo News Staff Report.
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