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Start: 11:00 am
A source of hometown pride, the area's annual Al Sears Jazz Festival showcases jazz talent from far and wide and will be featured prominently in the New Harmonies exhibition. In preparation for the Jazz Festival, and in conjunction with New Harmonies, the Western Illinois Museum will present a series of four programs that explore the cultural and historical forces that helped shape this distinctly American art form and the life of the man from Macomb who embodied these traditions so well. Today's program: Bill Maakestad, professor emeritus at WIU and founder and director of "Macomb Unplugged," along with Sterling Kernek, also professor emeritus at WIU and expert on the era of World War I, will present an historical overview of the life and influence of Al Sears. Start: 6:30 pm
End: 8:30 pm
Join us for the opening program of the New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music exhibit in Lena, Illinois. The New Harmonies exhibition, provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Museum on Main Street Program and the Illinois Humanities Council, examines the on-going cultural process that has made America the birthplace of more music than any place on earth. The exhibition provides a fascinating, inspiring, and toe-tapping listen to the American story of multi-cultural exchange and offers communities an opportunity to celebrate their music traditions as they come to understand the origins of various roots music genres including; blues, country and western, gospel, jazz and folk. | ||
