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Diane Monroe: Violin Woman, African Dreams at Cliveden
November 22, 2019 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
$20 – $25Violin Woman, African Dreams with Diane Monroe
November 22 @ 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
$20 – $25
VIOLIN WOMAN, AFRICAN DREAMS
November 15-24, 2019 | Performances at 8:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 3:00pm on Sundays
Composer and violinist Diane Monroe draws on her decades-long, genre-defying career to craft a musical memoir that bridges jazz, classical and traditional African music, revealing an African-American violinist’s trials and triumphs. This story of personal and collective histories will be told through a collage of original music, visual art and spoken word. The evening-length suite will be performed by an ensemble that includes violin, banjo, west African kora and Western String quartet.
With musical boundaries lessening, artists are ever-more challenged to define our own identities and voices. With this work I am challenging myself to not only disrupt musical classifications and hierarchies, but also to examine what it means for me to be an African-American woman.
For this new piece, Monroe has worked with visual artist and scholar Curlee Raven Holton, drawing inspiration from his paintings and prints, using that inspiration to reflect on her life journey and to write music fueled by her experience as an African-American woman—Monroe employs a quintessentially Western instrument to collapse boundaries between musical styles that often occupy distinct silos. Holton’s artwork will be incorporated into the scenic design for the premiere performances at Cliveden.
Monroe’s other collaborators on the project include renowned string quartet PubliQuartet, internationally recognized master of West African kora and storytelling Yacouba Sissoko, and Ayodele Maakheru, who has played banjo, guitar, and multiple other stringed instruments on Broadway and across the world for over three decades. A rhythm section composed of bassist Lee Smith, hand percussionist Leonard “Doc” Gibbs and drummer Harry “Butch” Reed completes the eclectic ensemble.
Performances will run 85 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.
Violin Woman, African Dreams has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
Diane Monroe
Diane Monroe is a violinist whose versatility and expressive artistry consistently brings audiences to their feet. Her visibility as a jazz artist began with her long-standing membership as first violinist of the Uptown String Quartet and the Max Roach Double Quartet. These critically acclaimed groups have appeared on The Cosby Show, CBS News Sunday Morning and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Monroe is more, however, than simply a fine performer. Her original compositions and arrangements have been highlighted on TV shows and in performances with the two ensembles at major concert halls and festivals throughout the world. Monroe has also been leading her own ensembles for more than 15 years. The Diane Monroe Quartet appeared at the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival and continues to play at venues across the country.
Monroe is a Philadelphia native and graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and University of the Arts. She has taught at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Swarthmore College, Lehigh University and Temple University. In 2002, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Monroe is a 2018 recipient of both a Fellowship and a Project grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
3:00pm on Sundays