CANCELED: Centennial in the Gardens: A Musical Celebration
Sunday, April 21, 2024 | 1:00 pm
Sarah P. Duke Gardens
Due to Inclement Weather, this event has been canceled.
1–6 PM
Join Duke Arts in Duke Gardens to celebrate the Duke Centennial and Duke Gardens’ 85th anniversary amidst an immersive soundscape. On April 21, 1939, a jazz band played in the Historic Terrace Gardens to celebrate the dedication of Sarah P. Duke Gardens and to commemorate the previous centennial of Duke University’s earliest roots dating back to Brown’s Schoolhouse in Randolph County in 1838. As you move through the Gardens 85 years later, music will again fill the air. The afternoon will open with a jazz ensemble playing in the Historic Terrace Gardens, a nod to the Gardens’ original 1939 dedication. Become a part of Duke University’s next hundred years as you meander throughout Duke Gardens, serenaded by musicians and moved by vibrant dancers among the plants.
*This event is weather permitted. Check this page for updates.
Artist Line-Up
1–1:30 PM
• Jordan High School Jazz Combo I | Location: Pergola
1:30–2 PM
• Baldwin Brass Quartet | Location: Azalea Court
• Diali Cissokho: Kora | Location: Discovery Garden
2–2:30 PM
• Jazz Band Members TBA | Location: Blomquist South Entrance
2:30–3 PM
• Baldwin Brass Quartet | Location: Memorial Garden entrance
• Diali Cissokho: Kora | Location: Fisher Amphitheater
3–4 PM
• Danza Azteca | Location: South Lawn
4–5 PM
• Mambo Dinamico Dance | Location: South Lawn
5–5:30 PM
• Duke String School | Location: Angle Amphitheater
About the Artists
Jordan High School Jazz Combo
Jordan High School Jazz Combo I is the premiere jazz ensemble at Jordan High School in Durham, NC. Students are selected for the group via audition, and membership is competitive. The group performs at all of our program’s seasonal concerts, state, regional, and national adjudication, and at local events in our community. Students in the group are regularly selected for All-Region and All-State Honor Bands. Most recently, the group was recognized at the Carolina Jazz Festival (sponsored by Essentially Ellington) as the “Most Outstanding High School Jazz Combo.”
Diali Cissokho
Diali Cissokho comes from a long line of prominent griots who are entrusted to maintain a West African village’s genealogies and important ceremonial affairs through song. Cissokho and his band, Kaira Ba, effortlessly integrate the traditional sounds of the kora with a modern rush of electric guitar and an exuberant rhythm section.
Mambo Dinamico Dance Company
Get ready to enjoy and dance with Mambo Dinamico Dance Company. They will be performing popular Afro Latin dances like Cuban Rumba, Mambo and Boogaloo.
Mambo Dinamico’s mission is to promote community and spread cultural awareness through Latin dance. Our learn-with-no-pressure approach makes our lessons fun and comfortable. You will learn about the dances, as well as the culture, history and music to complement your experience.
Duke String School
The Duke University String School is a community-based pre-college music education program based at the music department at Duke. The advanced string quartets performing are a part of the DUSS-Ciompi Quartet Collaborative. DUSS offers private lessons, group classes, large ensembles, chamber music, and theory classes. DUSS is committed to being accessible to any student, regardless of financial status, who is passionate about music and interested in a program fostering excellence in a supportive atmosphere.
