MUSE to Perform at Mandela: Journey to Ubuntu Opening
MEDIA CONTACT:
Will Jones
(513) 333-7558
(513) 288-4834
wjones@nurfc.org
Jamie Glavic
(513) 333-7511
(513) 802-7355
jglavic@nurfc.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CINCINNATI, OH (March 20, 2017) – The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center has partnered with MUSE for a special musical performance at the Mandela: The Journey To Ubuntu opening reception on Friday, March 24, 2017. MUSE, an inclusive and feminist choral community advocating for peace and social justice, raises awareness and inspires audiences through song. This special musical performance enhances the museum’s community partnership with Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts – A Cincinnati Evening at The Banks.
MUSE has sung music from African and African-American traditions since the choir was founded in 1983. Dr. Catherine Roma, MUSE founding artistic director, is coming out of retirement to be a part of the Mandela: Journey to Ubuntu opening reception performance. Songs selected for the evening’s performance include: Nkosi Sikelel i’Afrika (the South African National Anthem), Babethandaza (We Are Who We Are Because Our Mothers Prayed) and a song prepared, by musicologist Mollie Stone, especially for Mandela: The Journey To Ubuntu, Sibenye Ngo Mariya (We Will Be Just Like Maria When We Pray).
“MUSE is honored to sing music celebrating the life and legacy of Madiba,” says Julie Brock, MUSE Operations Co-Chair and Board Member. “Nelson Mandela’s lifelong fight for equality, peace and social justice is an inspiration to MUSE and emboldens us to keep striving for our vision of a more peaceful and just world.”
Mandela: The Journey To Ubuntu, a world-premiere exhibition, commemorates the life and legacy of former South African President Nelson Mandela through photographs by Matthew Willman as he revisited many of the locations that had played an important role in South Africa’s route to racial equality and Mandela’s personal fight for freedom. The exhibition opening reception begins at 5:00 p.m. and offers timed tours until 7:00 p.m. South African documentary photographer Matthew Willman will speak at 7:15 p.m. The exhibition opening reception includes light appetizers, wine and beer and will run from 5-8:00 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online for $25. Discounted tickets are available to students for $10. Seating is limited. The Mandela: The Journey To Ubuntu presenting sponsors are John and Francie Pepper, Macy’s, and The John A. Schroth Family Charitable Trust, PNC Bank, Trustee. Supporting sponsors include ArtsWave and Cincinnati Bell. Community partners include Northern Kentucky University’s Public History Department and Gleason Builders.
“We are thrilled to have MUSE perform at the Mandela: The Journey To Ubuntu opening reception,” says Jamie Glavic, Director of Marketing and Communications at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “Music has the power to challenge, inspire and unify audiences. This special choral performance will help us celebrate a man whose courage, resistance, perseverance and ability to forgive – changed the world.”
Following the exhibition opening reception, Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts, in conjunction with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and MamLuft&Co., presents two new world-premiere contemporary dance performances at Luminous Dance at 8:00 p.m. in the Harriet Tubman Theater. Tickets are available for purchase online for $25. Discounted tickets are available to students for $10. Seating is limited.
Tickets are available online at freedomcenter.org and constellaarts.org for each A Cincinnati Evening at The Banks event at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
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ABOUT THE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center opened in August 2004 on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Since then, more than 1.3 million people have visited its permanent and changing exhibits and public programs, inspiring everyone to take courageous steps for freedom. Two million people have utilized educational resources online at freedomcenter.org, working to connect the lessons of the Underground Railroad to inform and inspire today’s global and local fight for freedom. Partnerships include Historians Against Slavery, Polaris Project, Free the Slaves, US Department of State and International Justice Mission. In 2014, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center launched a new online resource in the fight against modern slavery, endslaverynow.org.