Free Event at DuSable Museum, Concert Promote Diversity in Modern Music

Roundtable talk Thursday afternoon, weekend performance focus on efforts to bring new voices to new music

Kahil El'Zabar performs with his Quartet on Friday, April 29 at The Promontory in Hyde Park.Kahil El'Zabar performs with his Quartet on Friday, April 29 at The Promontory in Hyde Park.

Internationally renowned composer and percussionist Kahil El’Zabar, who has played alongside Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon, joins Roberto Quinones of the Chicago Academy of Music and others in a dialogue about access and inclusion among modern composers of color.

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The event takes place Thursday afternoon from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56 Place in Chicago.

The conversation will address topics on compositional matters and aesthetics within the black musical experience and beyond. Other participants include composer Jeffrey Mumford, composer Augusta Read Thomas and Stephen Burns of Chicago’s Fulcrum Point New Music Project. Saudia Davis leads the discussion.

The free event is co-presented by the DuSable Museum and Fulcrum Point, a local leader in musical diversity.

On Friday evening, Fulcrum Point performs the multimedia concert “Proclamation! The Black Composer Speaks” at the Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave.

“Proclamation!” is a celebration of music by African-American artists composing in styles that range from neoclassical to free improvisation. The event begins at 7:30 p.m.

The Fulcrum Point concert is a collaboration with Kahil El’Zabar and his Quartet, including saxophone powerhouse Dennis Winslett.

The program also features piano virtuoso Alvin Singleton and violinist Jessie Montgomery. Tickets cost $15-$35.


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