The Wilmington-based vocal ensemble and education group is highlighting the contributions of Black vocal and choral music during a four-day conference this week.
This conference, “Bent but not Broken,” is in its third year and is hosted by Elevate Vocal Arts.
Elevate CEO and Artistic Director Aleon Hurley-Emerson said the conference highlighted the important and diverse contributions that Black vocal music has made to American culture.
“Whether it’s country, whether it’s pop, whether it’s black, whether it’s metal, all of these things have a huge black influence. And what a lot of people don’t realize is that It’s really, really important,” he said.
The conference will feature performances by world-renowned artists and ensembles, workshops and masterclasses in choral conducting. Harley Emerson says the music offered will be diverse.
“We have everything from classical music to jazz to hip-hop to R&B, so everything is really represented throughout the week,” he said.
Harley Emerson said the original idea, which the event still has today, was to inspire and educate students at Elevate.
“The impetus for it was just that I wanted to give my students more expressiveness, and then it started to grow organically to people who wanted to see themselves represented and , there are a lot of people who want to learn about black people and black music,” he said. African Diaspora. ”
Bent but not Broken opens in Wilmington on Wednesday and runs through this Saturday.
