On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, at 6:30 pm ET, The Apollo Theater Education Program’s Live Wire series continues to honor iconic artists who have impacted arts and culture.
This time a tribute to the Queen of Soul and Apollo Legend Aretha Franklin.
Writer and cultural critic Emily Lordi will lead a discussion celebrating Franklin and the understudied subject of her musicianship, along with nationally-renowned experts on the history, development, and cultural meaning of African American music.
Panelists include Professor Fredara Hadley, DJ Lynnée Denise, and Professor Portia Maultsby.
As the initiator of a cultural revolution and one of the most charted women in music history, Aretha Franklin’s impact is truly immeasurable.
From her gospel-singing roots to GRAMMY Award wins, this panel explores the genius and beloved voice that captured America.
The program is part of Apollo’s all-digital fall season. As a non-profit organization, the Apollo depends on generous funding from donors, foundations, and the community at large.
The legendary Apollo Theater—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends.
Since its founding, the Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world.
With music at its core, Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more.
This includes the world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved; special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo; 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella; and annual Africa Now! Festival.
The non-profit Apollo Theater is a performing arts presenter, commissioner, and collaborator that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and musical works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens, including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival as well as other multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.
Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop.
Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at the Apollo are Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R., D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Machine Gun Kelly, and Miri Ben Ari; and Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy.
The Apollo Live Wire programs will stream live on the Apollo Digital Stage (https://www.apollotheater.org/digitalstage/) and the Apollo’s Facebook page.
RSVP for the free program here
For more information about the Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org and donate here.
Photo credit: Aretha Franklin. Wikipedia.
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