Noel Paul Stookey (the “Paul” of the legendary folk group Peter, Paul & Mary) and his legacy initiative, Music2Life, will produce MUSIC MATTERS at 7 p.m. Friday, May 31 as part of the 26th annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE). NCORE takes place at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel from May 28 to June 1. The Friday evening concert will also feature rising hip hop artist Jasiri X and New Orleans’ own spoken word artist/poet Chuck Perkins, among others.

Paul Stookey

MUSIC MATTERS is a multimedia live performance that illustrates the power and relevance of today’s music for social change. The event at NCORE will feature Stookey and artists Carolyn Malachi, a Grammy-nominated urban-alternative artist and philanthropist, and Jasiri X, an award-winning hip-hop artist, activist and talk-show host.

NCORE is a comprehensive national forum on issues of race and ethnicity in American higher education, and has partnered with Stookey’s Music2Life to offer an innovative way to explore and discuss diversity issues in education.

“We’re looking forward to helping NCORE consider new ways to address our country’s diversity issues in education by considering music’s capacity to heal, instruct and inspire,” Stookey said about his organization’s partnership with the conference. “This is what we do best through Music2Life: crafting live and online musical experiences that move peoples’ hearts and minds.”

All proceeds from the MUSIC MATTERS production will benefit a fund that supports registration scholarships for young professionals attending NCORE.

Visiting artists such as Jasiri X will also take part in a number of other forums, workshops and performances in and around the city over the weekend where local residents and artists can learn about the power of art and independent media-making to impact social change. Jasiri X will also present a workshop on “How Mass Media Fuels Mass Incarceration” on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in New Orleans east, as well as perform as featured guest at the Liberation Lounge series at the Craige Cultural Center on the West Bank on Sunday evening at 7 p.m.

 

Music2Life’s Music Matters Benefit Concert
@ National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education
Date: Friday, May 31
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Hilton Riverside Hotel (Grand Ballroom)
2 Poydras St. (map)
Neighborhood: CBD
Admission: Free with NCORE Conference Registration, $10 for non-registrants
All Ages