Hear the People Sing: A Journey Through American Folk Music – Session #2

6:00 PM in the Music Department

Hear the People Sing is a four-part deep dive into the history of American Folk Music! Music educator Olivia Johnson will guide attendees through group discussion and musical analysis, and will provide examples on the autoharp. If you can't join us for all four sessions, feel free to come for just one!

In session #2, we will dive into the folk music boom of the 1930’s and 40’s. We will listen to the field recordings of Allan and John Lomax and learn about the lives of musicians like Lead Belly, Sarah Ogan, Aunt Molly Jackson, and William Lee Broonzy. These songs tell the stories of the lives of everyday Americans during the Great Depression, the Labor Movement of the New Deal Era, The Dustbowl, and World War II.

Presenter Bio

Born and raised in South Carolina, Olivia Johnson is a musician, educator, and organizer based in Philadelphia. She is a classically trained Soprano and a self-taught autoharpist with a passion for keeping old music alive. Olivia’s dedication to justice and social change has led them to work with a variety of organizations including the Urban Leaders Fellowship, the Strother School of Radical Attention, Leadership for Educational Equity, and Spiral Q. They are also the founder of Raise Every Voice, a non-auditioned community singing group with a repertoire of folk and protest music.

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