Ella! A Centennial Celebration

Thursday, March 23 at 6:30 pm

When Ella Fitzgerald made her debut on Apollo Amateur Night in 1934, she was a shy teenager. By 1939 she was leading the Chick Webb Orchestra in the wake of Webb’s death. Today, Fitzgerald remains one of the most respected singers of the 20th century.  In a discussion led by Farah Jasmine Griffin,  Live Wire’s celebration of Fitzgerald’s centennial will explore “The First Lady of Song” through her music, her musicianship, and as a woman revered in an art form predominated by men.

Moderated by Farah Jasmine Griffin, Author and Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Jazz Studies, and African-American Studies at Columbia University

Panelists include:
Judith Tick (Matthews Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Music History, American Music, Women’s History, Twentieth Century Music, Northeastern University)
Loren Schoenberg (Musician; Founding Director and Senior Scholar, National Jazz Museum in Harlem)
Robert G. O’Meally (Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English, Columbia University) 

Featuring a musical reflection by two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, author and star of "Me & Ella", Andrea Frierson, and her trio.

FREE – REGISTRATION REQUIRED*

**We are at capacity. A stand-by line will be available the day of the event.**

Photo Credit: Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Milt (Milton) Jackson, and Timmie Rosenkrantz, Downbeat, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947. William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.