Jazz and Poetry in Sound
Purchase College-SUNY will present Kevin Young: Poetry in Sound on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at 4:30 p.m. The program, which is free and open to the public, will take place at Purchase College in the Neuberger Museum of Art (735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY). A combo comprised of Jazz students from the Conservatory of Music will perform original settings of poems by Kevin Young. Mr. Young, this year’s Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature, will accompany the performance with a live reading.
Pete Malinverni, Purchase College’s head of Jazz Studies, said, “My six-piece combo, featuring Samara McLendon, voice; John Hasselback III, trumpet; Kendric McCallister, saxophone; Kareem Matcham, piano; Clayton Thompson, bass; and Joshua Simpson, drums, have been inspired by the poetry of Kevin Young to write and arrange original compositions that will incorporate Mr. Young’s readings into the performance of those pieces. This calls to mind an earlier era, when poetry and Jazz were parts of the same movement of free American expression. We are pleased to be part of its resurgence!”
Kevin Young serves as director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library and as poetry editor of The New Yorker. As the author of 12 books of poetry and non-fiction, he has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
According to Anthony Domestico, associate professor of literature at Purchase College, “Purchase is a special place in no small part because of the conversations it enables between the School of the Arts and the School of Humanities. This event, in which one of America’s most celebrated poets will be working with our incredibly talented Jazz Studies program, is exactly the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration we should be encouraging.”
The Durst Distinguished Lecture Series and the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature are funded by the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature Endowment. The mission of the Durst programs is to infuse the experience and intellect of leading writers into the Purchase community, while providing diverse opportunities for these writers to interact with students and influence campus life.
As a small public college, Purchase is proud to introduce students to the level of expertise provided by the Durst Distinguished Lectures—outstanding opportunities for students and local community members alike to interact with accomplished authors. For more information, please visit: https://www.purchase.edu/academics/school-of-humanities/lectures/durst-distinguished-lectures/ or call 914.251.6550.
About Performing Arts Center
Experience. Something. Real. The Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, a four-theater complex located on the campus of Purchase College, SUNY, is the major professional, non-profit arts presenter in the region. The Center presents a broad range of professional performances that engage, challenge, and educate as well as entertain, offering world-class music, dance, theatre, comedy, film, and family programming to audiences from throughout the region. Music presenting ranges from classical to pop and features the leading artists of our time as well as emerging stars; as the major regional presenter of dance, programs have included only area appearances of several important traditional, contemporary, and folkloric companies; theatre presentations reflect a deep commitment to presenting innovative ensembles. The Center’s on-going initiatives also encompass artist partnerships, residency activities, and commissions; creating opportunities for students to participate in the artistic process; increasing educational opportunities in the arts for k -12 students and multi-generational learners; and revitalizing efforts in the community to make the arts more accessible to broad and diverse audiences. Box Office Hours: Tuesday – Friday, Noon – 6 p.m., Weekends and evenings before performances.