Corey Harris: Blues and the Black Radical Tradition
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Acclaimed blues guitarist Corey Harris headlines the first-annual public concert in the Ann McIlhenny Harward Program for Culture and Music at Gettysburg College. This solo acoustic performance explores the role of the blues in the Black radical tradition.
The performance will be followed by a live discussion with Corey Harris.
Tickets are free, but are required to attend this performance. Advanced reservation is strongly recommended by visiting the Box Office at 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg, or calling (717) 337-8200.
The program is made possible by the Endeavor Foundation, and is sponsored by the Gettysburg College Office of the Provost, and the Ann McIlhenny Harward Program for Culture and Music at Gettysburg College.
Corey Harris will be the inaugural artist of an exciting new program at Gettysburg College. Thanks to a $1.5 million endowed fund, established by the Endeavor Foundation and Don Harward, the Ann McIlhenny Harward Interdisciplinary Fund for Culture and Music will bring artists to campus annually. Ann, Don’s late wife, was an accomplished musician at an early age who understood music’s transformative power. She grew up in the town of Gettysburg and watched her two children graduate from Gettysburg College, where her father, Hugh McIlhenny ’32, had also graduated. Ann’s life was immersed in higher education and she appreciated the value of a liberal arts approach where learning happens across disciplines and through unique and transformative experiences.
Corey Harris embodies how Ann and Don experienced music and the liberal arts experience. For the program’s inaugural year, Harris will be teaching and performing with the theme of Blues and the Black Radical Tradition, connecting traditional and contemporary African American music with rich Black political and cultural experiences. In the years to come, themes may range from music and mental health, music and marketing, or music and education.
This year’s artist, Corey Harris, began as a New Orleans street singer, traveling throughout the southern U.S. He also lived in Cameroon, for a year, which profoundly affected his later work. He’s recorded traditional blues songs while also creating an original vision of the blues by adding influences from reggae, soul, rock, and West African music. With one foot in tradition and the other in contemporary experimentation, he’s a truly unique voice in contemporary music.
The artists he’s performed and recorded with reflect that blend of tradition and innovation: from BB King to Dave Matthews Band to Tracy Chapman to Wilco.
In 2007, Harris was awarded a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship — commonly referred to as a “genius award” — for being an artist who “forges an adventurous path marked by deliberate eclecticism.”
Don’t miss these unique opportunities to experience this unique artist.
Learn more about Corey Harris: https://coreyharris.net/