Smithsonian Presents the Haitian Youth Choir in a Free Concert
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art will present the Haitian Youth Choir Friday, Sept. 22, from 1 to 2 p.m. The 30-voice choir of boys and girls will be accompanied by a seven-piece ensemble from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, performing choral and instrumental works of Haitian folk and sacred music. The concert will take place outdoors in the Smithsonian’s Enid A. Haupt Garden, which is located between Independence Avenue and the Smithsonian Castle. The concert is free and open to the public. The program is sponsored by Educ’Art based in Le Havre, France.
“We are delighted to welcome to the Smithsonian, and especially to our museum, this wonderfully talented group of young men and women,” said Christine Mullen Kreamer, acting director of the National Museum of African Art. “At our museum we are committed to highlighting connections with Africa’s diaspora, and we are especially excited to continue what has become a yearly musical tradition between the museum and Haiti.”
The Smithsonian, the National Museum of African Art and Haiti
The culture of Haiti has been featured in numerous other public programs and exhibitions at the Smithsonian, including the annual Folklife Festival. In 2011, the Smithsonian developed the Haiti Cultural Recovery Project to rescue and preserve Haitian artwork and artifacts after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.
Soon after the earthquake, then first lady of Haiti Elisabeth D. Préval called on Haitian artist Philippe Dodard and his fellow artists, as well as psychologists, educators and politicians, to create a safe place for children to express their feelings through art. Nearly 100 paintings and drawings created by Haiti’s young people at Plas Timoun (The Children’s Place) were featured in “The Healing Power of Art: Works of Art by Haitian Children after the Earthquake” at the National Museum of African Art. This collection of children’s artworks now resides at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
About the National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art is the nation’s premier museum dedicated exclusively to the collection, conservation, study and exhibition of Africa’s historical and contemporary arts. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Dec. 25. Admission is free. The museum is located at 950 Independence Avenue S.W., near the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines. For more information, call (202) 633-4600 or visit the National Museum of African Art’s website. For general Smithsonian information, call (202) 633-1000.
For more information about the concert, contact Eddie Burke at (202) 633-4660 or burkee@si.edu.
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