Harvard's Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. to Present Sixth Annual Dr. Warrick L.Carter Lecture

BOSTON, January 10, 2003— Berklee College of Music's Black History Month Music Celebration 2003, which takes place throughout the entire month of February, proves to be the most exciting ever, with concerts, clinics, and lectures by visiting artists as well as Berklee's esteemed faculty and students. All events are open to the public, and many are free.

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	Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr

On Thursday, February 13th, Harvard University's Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will present the sixth annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture, entitled "Encarta Africana: W.E.B. Dubois to John Coltrane" at 1 p.m. in the David Friend Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., whose many honors include a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" (1981), is one of the most celebrated African- American intellectuals teaching and writing today. A Yale University honors graduate, he became the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in its 800-year history. Dr. Gates is the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of Humanities, Chair of Afro-American Studies, and Director of the W.E.B DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University. Before joining the faculty of Harvard in 1991, he taught at Yale, Cornell, and Duke Universities.

Professor Gates is co-editor with K. Anthony Appiah of the encyclopedia Encarta Africana published on CD-ROM by Microsoft (1999), and in book form by Basic Civitas Books under the title Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (1999). He is the author of Wonders of the African World (1999), the book companion to the six-hour BBC/PBS television series of the same name. Professor Gates has also authored numerous works of literary criticism, including Figures in Black: Words, Signs and the 'Racial' Self (Oxford University Press, 1987); The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism (Oxford, 1988), winner of the 1989 American Book Award; and Loose Canons: Notes on the Culture Wars (Oxford, 1992).

Berklee's tradition of scholarly lectures as part of Black History Month was initiated by Dr. Warrick L. Carter, who served as Dean of Faculty and later as Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs at Berklee from 1984 to 1996. Dr. Carter worked with the Community Service program at Berklee to help serve the educational needs of the area's black community, and his work contributed to diversity and the hiring of minorities and women at Berklee. In appreciation and recognition of his many enduring contributions to Berklee, the Board of Trustees established the annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture Series as an integral highlight of Berklee's annual Black History Month Music Celebration. Previous presenters include jazz educator Dr. David Baker, BET Founder and CEO Robert L. Johnson, Harvard Professor of Education Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Grammy-nominated jazz violinist Regina Carter, and Grammy-nominated vibraphonist Stefon Harris.

On Thursday, February 27th, the seven-time Grammy-winning a cappella group Take 6 will perform at 8:15 p.m. at the Berklee Performance Center. Tickets for the Take 6 concert are $8 — $2 for seniors — and can be purchased at the Performance Center box office, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, or by calling 617-747-2261.

With its roots in gospel, doo-wop, and the sophisticated jazz-influenced singing groups of mid-century America like the Hi-Los, the a cappella vocal group Take 6 is both a throwback to an earlier, more genteel era of American music and a precursor for a number of black male pop groups of the '90s, most notably Boyz II Men.

Press: to inquire about photo availability and usage, please e-mail us. Take 6

Take 6 includes David Thomas, Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, Mark Kibble, Claude V. McKnight III, and Joey Kibble (who replaced Mervyn Warren). McKnight and Mark Kibble caught the a cappella bug at Alabama's Oakwood College in the early '80s, forming a vocal group that solidified into Take 6 when singer/arranger Warren joined up in 1985. They signed a pact with the Reunion label in 1988, recording arrangements of Negro spirituals and newly composed material on their first album, Doo Be Doo Wop Bop! They were quickly picked up by Warner Bros.' Reprise label, for whom they started making smooth yet vocally adventuresome albums. Beautiful World, released in April 2002, showcased an incredible instrumentation and Take 6's new musical approach.

Other highlights of Berklee's Black History Music Month Celebration 2003 include "Kindred Spirits" presented by faculty bassist and steel drummer Ron Reid, with Professional Education Division Chair Larry McClellan on trombone, Piano Assistant Chair Jetro DaSilva, piano, Ensemble Assistant Professor Winston Maccow, bass, Guitar Assistant Professor Thaddeus Hogarth, harp and guitar, and guest vocalist Alvin Roberts. The concert of lively soca and calypso begins at 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday, February 18th at the Berklee Performance Center. And on Tuesday, February 25th, faculty vocalist Jeff Ramsey will direct "Personal Taste II," an evening of R&B, jazz, and gospel, featuring a 14-piece band, beginning at 8:15 p.m. at the Berklee Performance Center.

Admission to Berklee Performance Center events, except for the Take 6 concert, is $5 — $2 for seniors. Click here for a complete schedule of Black History Month Music Celebration 2003 events.

Established in 1945, Berklee College of Music is the world's largest independent music college. Over 3,400 students and more than 450 faculty members interact in an environment designed to provide the most complete learning experience possible, including all of the opportunities and challenges presented by a career in the contemporary music industry. More than a college, Berklee has become the world's singular learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.

For more information, please contact

Toni Ballard
Publicist
Berklee College of Music
(617) 747-2247 or tballard@berklee.edu