Anna Celenza, a professor of music at Georgetown University, will deliver the 2019 Catholicism and The Arts lecture, “A Deeper Meaning: Sacred Jazz, Civil Rights, and the Catholic Church,” in the Dolan School of Business Event Hall at Fairfield University on October 30 at 7:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

In her discussion, Celenza will explore the rise of sacred jazz during the Civil Rights Era and its links to the Catholic Church.  A range of works will be discussed, from John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme (1965) and Mary Lou Williams’ Black Christ of the Andes (1965) and Mass (1975), to Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts (1965, 1968, 1973) and Dave Brubeck’s The Light in the Wilderness (1968).  She will also discuss the impact of Vatican II and the advocacy of priests like Rev. Norman O’Connor and Rev. Peter O’Brien, S.J.

Anna Celenza is the Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music at Georgetown University, and the author of several scholarly books, including Jazz Italian Style, From its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra (2017), which won the Bridge Book Prize, and The Cambridge Companion to George Gershwin (forthcoming 2019). She is also co-editor of the book Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America. She has published numerous articles on a range of composers, from Franz Liszt and Gustav Mahler to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.  Her current book project, Music That Changed America, is under contract with W.W. Norton.  

Co-founder of the Music Policy Forum, a non-profit that advises local governments about creating sustainable music ecosystems and building cross-sector networks between musicians, industry leaders and policymakers, Celenza also serves as a writer/commentator for National Public Radio and is the author of eight award-winning children's books. Her work has been featured on BBC’s Music Matters and Proms Broadcasts, and C-Span’s Book-TV.

The lecture, “A Deeper Meaning: Sacred Jazz, Civil Rights, and the Catholic Church,” by Anna Celenza is free and open to the public. It will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dolan School of Business Event Hall, located at 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824. For more information, visit fairfield.edu/cs.