Celebrating Dawson: A Three-Day Symposium
The most comprehensive scholarly discussion to date of William Levi Dawson’s life and work took place at an Emory University symposium in 2005.
The three-day event, "In Celebration of William L. Dawson: An Exploration of African-American Music and Identity at the Dawn of the 21st Century," which drew leading scholars, cultural arts critics, composers and artists, explored:
- how race and ethnicity intersect in the creation of music and other forms
- the changing relationship between concert and vernacular traditions
- the “cross-fertilization” of artistic genres
- the impact of new modes of music creation, production and dissemination
Beyond the scholarly discussions, the symposium featured three concerts and an exhibition of papers and other artifacts from MARBL’s Dawson collection. All of the items on display are included in the online exhibition of Dawson’s papers.
This section offers audio and video excerpts from the symposium as well as photographs and descriptions of symposium highlights.
