Back home in Puerto Rico in the early 1990s, I used to listen to a jazz radio show called “En Clave de Jazz” where the DJ played music by artists such as Tito Puente, Cal Tjader and Bobby Hutcherson. It was through that program that I discover the marimba! At the time, I had no idea what that instrument was or where I could learn it but I immediately felt in love with its sound. Then in 1994, I started taking marimba lessons at the Escuela Libre de Música in Caguas, Puerto Rico; from there I went to the Puerto Rico Music Conservatory and eventually to the University of North Texas.
Topics Related to Arts Across NC
Our state Poet Laureate, Jaki Shelton Green, continues her focus on youth programming in efforts to support both literacy and civic engagement across North Carolina through poetry and the literary arts. As part of these efforts, Mrs. Green has partnered with Mr. Kelly Jones, Arts Education Coordinator with Columbus County Schools, to develop a pilot program to install young poet laureates at Columbus County’s four high schools. In March of 2022, four youth poet laureates were appointed; Lea Dew, Abigail McPherson, Allyena Roberts, and Justin Wellons.
On Thursday, October 10, 2019 baritone Sidney Outlaw from Brevard, N.C. and pianist Warren Jones, who was raised in High Point, N.C. closed out the 2019 Music at the Mansion season with a bang. The golden-hued ballroom of the Executive Mansion served as the perfect backdrop for their musical offerings, and Sidney Outlaw’s powerful baritone had no trouble filling the space.
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019 singer-songwriter Charly Lowry played a set at the North Carolina Executive Mansion in Raleigh for the Music at the Mansion series, an ongoing program of Come Hear North Carolina hosted by Governor Roy Cooper and First Lady Kristin Cooper.
Charly Lowry was born and raised in Robeson County, North Carolina, the geographic and spiritual epicenter of the Lumbee Native American Tribe of which she is a member. She is known for using her music to shine a light on the culture and traditions of the Lumbee people.
On the evening July 16, Chócala, the Charlotte-based Latin band, performed an hour-long show for Music at the Mansion, a special concert series celebrating North Carolina’s vibrant and diverse musical traditions hosted by First Lady Kristin Cooper. The ballroom of the Executive Mansion, which was designated as the Music Room when the mansion was originally constructed, provided the perfect setting for listeners to enjoy Chócala’s grooves.
On Tuesday May 28th, Mandolin Orange played a special set at the North Carolina Executive Mansion in Raleigh to help usher in a partnership between Come Hear North Carolina and the Americana Music Association (AMA). Governor Roy Cooper and First Lady Kristin Cooper hosted musicians, AMA members, and press to celebrate all that North Carolina has given to the world of music, and Mandolin Orange provided the perfect soundtrack to the occasion. Enjoy the full performance below.
The Harris Brothers are fabulous musicians who are steeped in the cultural traditions of their home region in the western Piedmont and foothills of Caldwell County. They started playing music through the influence of family members and neighbors, who tutored them in country, bluegrass, swing and blues music that you find in and around Lenoir, which was once a furniture making center in North Carolina. They have also immersed themselves in pop music genres and integrate versions of soul, jazz, folk and rock songs into their repertory.
Meziah Smith is a sophomore at Knightdale High School, in Wake County. She is a student, a reciter, and a poet, and will represent North Carolina in the national Poetry Out Loud semifinals, taking place on Sunday, May 2. She has been writing poetry since the seventh grade, and this is her second year participating in the Poetry Out Loud competition.
Photo by Sandra Davidson.
When we think about how we love the world, we begin with poems of gratitude and hope.
Poetry lifts our sagging spirits.
Poetry demonstrates the wealth of the diversity of voices dwelling together and magnifying one another in all our differences; all our connections; all our good, bad, ugly; all of our beauty; and all of our tremendous humanity.
Poetry echoes our deepest experiences. Long before I was appointed the ninth Poet Laureate of
In celebration of National Poetry Month, North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green made a playlist of some of her favorite songs. Find her liner notes - and a link to the Spotify playlist below!
"Salt" by Lizz Wright - This song's earthiness and the lyrics are a daily mantra reminding me that I am the curator of my life.