Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City is hosting a Billie Holiday Festival to mark 100 years since her birth. A highlight of the festival will be Who is Billie Holiday?, a live-streamed family jazz concert. The program will showcase quintessential music from her career while also exploring her life and role as an icon and is meant to provide a historical context of the artist for new admirers young and old. The concert will feature jazz pianist, composer, and Columbus native Aaron Diehl performing with vocalist Charenee Wade. The Bexley Public Library, located at 2411 East Main Street, will be live-streaming the concert in partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center on Saturday, February 7th at 3pm. This viewing is the first in an effort to offer educational jazz experiences to the community, and the library looks to continue this program in the future. Admission is free and seating will begin at 2:30 in the auditorium. More details below:
BEXLEY, Ohio— Bexley Public Library is pleased to announce a new partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. This partnership, which will bring Jazz at Lincoln Center’s world-renowned programming to Central Ohio audiences, will begin with a live-streamed concert for all ages at the library on Saturday, February 7 at 3:00 p.m. This program will honor the life and music of the iconic Billie Holiday. All are invited to learn more about the woman with the gardenia in her hair, whose highly individualized style and embodiment of the blues influenced jazz and popular song indelibly. This is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Billie Holiday Festival honoring the singer’s centennial.
The idea for this partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center was born from Bexley Public Library’s desire to be a center for lifelong learning and enrichment in its community. This fit with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s mission to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for Jazz through performance, education and advocacy. The library hopes for this to be the first of many live-streamed concerts brought to Central Ohio and would love for this trend to continue all over the country.
The partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center helps to support the library’s mission to serve as a center for lifelong learning and enrichment in Bexley. The library believes that this will be the first of many live-streamed concerts brought to Central Ohio.
The concert will also feature Aaron Diehl, a Columbus native and St. Charles graduate, as musical director. Diehl is a jazz pianist and composer The New York Times calls a “revelation” and the recipient of the 2011 Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz of the American Pianists Association among other accolades. Diehl will be joined by vocalist Charenee Wade, who has been making waves on the New York City jazz scene and beyond.
This concert is free and will be hosted in the Bexley Public Library auditorium. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. To learn more, please visit www.bexleylibrary.org.
Learn more about Jazz at Lincoln Center: www.jazz.org
Learn more about Billie Holiday: www.billieholiday.com
Learn more about Aaron Diehl: www.aarondiehl.com