ARTSEDGE: The Kitchen Sink

Henry Grant was a music teacher who taught in Washington DC's black public high schools. Among his students count luminaries of Jazz history, including Duke Ellington‚ Billy Taylor and Frank Wess, who remember him here.

DC jazz legends Billy Taylor and Frank Wess reflect on DC as a jazz incubator-- and Dr. Taylor talks about the first time he saw his idol Fats Waller coming out of the Lincoln Colonnade.

Billy Taylor and Frank Wess share memories of Dunbar High School, long-gone DC clubs... and jazz legends Jelly Roll Morton and Lester Young.

"Come to this play with an open and pure sense of imagination, and it will embrace you."

Since its first performance in 1953, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot has generated controversy with its unconventional plot and disturbing themes. Audiences have reacted strongly, with many embracing the play, others rejecting it, but all debating its meaning. The play, which interweaves a tragic sense with circus-like elements, remains popular and influential decades later as a piece of puzzling literature, an example of unusual staging, and also an expression of the thinking of its time.

This in-depth discussion, recorded during the run of The Gate Theatre's production of Waiting for Godot at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, features the four adult actors (Alan Stanford, Barry McGovern, Johnny Murphy and Stephen Brennan) and the director of the production, Walter D. Asmus. This podcast features excerpts from the complete discussion program, which will be made available by the Kennedy Center Education Department in the future.

ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

When asked to describe the work of August Wilson, actor James Earl Jones said, "...when he writes he leaves some blood on the page. You can't get that stuff out of yourself without hurt. It's not therapy; it's more like revelation." August Wilson was one of America's most significant and successful playwrights. Less than 20 years ago, he began an ambitious playwriting project: to chronicle the central issues African-Americans have faced by writing one play for each decade of the 20th century.

Wilson's work accurately portrays the black experience in America-addressing themes of struggle (violence, economic injustices, unemployment, poverty and neglect, racism, civil rights, unlawful imprisonment, the legacy of slavery) as well as themes of triumph (the strength of family ties and loyalties, the uniqueness of black culture and the fight to preserve and value it).

Cuesheets, our free print performance guides, help kids and teenagers prepare for attending events at the Center (and on the road.) This informational piece, created by Fairfax County Public Schools, illustrates the ways Cuesheets help young people make closer connections to performances and events.

As America's national center for the performing arts, the Kennedy Center is committed to arts education. For more than 30 years, our Education Department has provided quality arts experiences for students, teachers, families, and the general public in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan community and throughout the nation. Each year, the Kennedy Center Education Department directly serves more than 11 million people, with a focus on Performances and Events for Young People, Families, and Lifelong Learners; Arts and Schools; and Career Development for Teachers, Aspiring Artists and Arts Managers.

In the 1600s, African-born slaves in the United States were prohibited from playing-or even possessing-musical instruments. Regardless, the plantation fields still swayed with music as Blacks sung a capella (without instruments) to the rhythms of work.

Slaveowners strove to Christianize their slaves, and many Blacks sympathized with the struggle of Jesus and found comfort in the hope of heaven. Slaves were forbidden from gathering, but conducted religious services in secret. At these meetings, informal worksongs evolved into intricate songs of redemption, struggle, and Christian faith that came to be known as "spirituals."

The multi-part harmonies of these spirituals set in motion a long tradition of Black choral music.

In the late 19th century, Harry Burleigh-a protege of Antonin Dvorak-took the musical style to new heights with choral arrangements informed by his classical training. Modern choral music takes on many different forms, and is often accompanied by the piano, percussion, and bass.

Stephen Schwartz discusses how he bagan working with Disney and elaborates on the differences between writing for the theater and writing for the movies.

Composer Thomas A. Dorsey and other pioneers of gospel music helped open the church doors to music considered sinful by conservative churchgoers. In the 1930s, Dorsey livened up the hymnal by incorporating elements of blues and jazz. Early "Sanctified" churches also influenced the restrained environment of mainline churches. Sanctified preachers encouraged the congregation to spontaneously burst into improvised musical lines to express their faith.

Following in the footsteps of this stylistic freedom, groups such as the Golden Gate Quartet and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi began ad-libbing in their jubilee style of gospel music. Jubilee is characterized by a strong, pumping bass, and lead vocals that ride the line between spoken and sung.

The Golden Gate Quartet and other four-part choral groups showcased stunning solos and intricate harmonies. The tradition of gospel quartets continues to lift the spirits of both its listeners and participants in concert halls and churches alike.