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Mary Lou Williams Lecture and Gala Performance featuring Deanna Witkowski
Lecture, March 21, 2024: 4:00 - 5:30 PM CDT. 4th Floor, Information Commons, LSC.
Live Performance, March 22, 2024: 7:00 - 8:30 PM CDT. Skowronski Music Hall, Mundelein Hall, LSC.
Loyola celebrated the music of the late jazz great, Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981), in late March, 2024. As an adult convert to Catholicism (with many ties to Jesuits), Williams’s sanctity is getting better known— especially in her corporal works of mercy for fellow musicians and loving care for all who crossed her path. Williams expressed her faith in her music– innovatively composing and situating jazz in liturgical settings and demonstrating the sacral range of jazz music in new registers. A virtuoso pianist, in her early career, Williams was part of the 1940s Kansas City jazz scene– inspiring and mentoring such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker.
Both events were free, open to the public and all were welcome.
Thank you to our media sponsor!
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