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Learning history through music with No Tears Project St. Louis

Honor and learn about St. Louis's civil rights history through music

ST. LOUIS — No Tears Project St. Louis is being co-presented by Gateway Arch National Park, Jazz St. Louis, and Oxford American, and is taking place April 26-29. The completely free program includes concerts, workshops for high school students, and a panel discussion featuring prominent St. Louis artists and community leaders. There's also the world premiere of new music, poetry, and dance commissioned specifically for the St. Louis residency.

The first event is a panel discussion on Wednesday, April 26 at 6:30 pm at Gateway Arch National Park Theater, and features civil rights heroes Elizabeth Eckford, a member of the Little Rock Nine; as well as St. Louisans including activist Percy Green, and Lynne Jackson, the great-great-granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott. Journalist Carol Daniel will moderate the discussion.

The residency culminates in four free concerts led by Christopher Parker and Kelley Hurt at Jazz St. Louis’s Ferring Bistro on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29. These concerts will include the world premiere of new music, poetry, and dance inspired by St. Louis's civil rights history, with new work written by jazz composer Oliver Lake (a member of St. Louis’s famed Black Artist Group of the 1960s-70s); poet Treasure Shields Redmond; singer/songwriter Brian Owens; and dancer Ashley Tate.

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