June 19, 2013 (REVISED June 24, 2013) Library of Congress Announces 2013 Homegrown Concert Series

Traditional music and dance drawn from communities across the United States will be showcased on the historic Coolidge Auditorium stage at the Library of Congress throughout the summer.

The popular "Homegrown: The Music of America" concert series is presented by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in cooperation with the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. The series brings the multicultural richness of American folk arts from around the country to the nation’s capital.

All concerts are at noon in the Coolidge Auditorium on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. Concerts are free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

Performances are recorded and most are later made available on the Library of Congress website. For more information on the Homegrown 2013 concert series, visit www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/.

Homegrown 2013: The Music of America

Tuesday, June 25
An-sky Yiddish Heritage Ensemble
Klezmer and other Yiddish Music from New York
The An-sky Yiddish Heritage Ensemble celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the historic An-sky Expedition. This 1911-1914 ethnographic expedition systematically documented the Jewish folk culture of dozens of communities in Ukraine and White Russia and was named for its leader, Yiddish writer and folklorist Semyon An-sky, the pen name of Shloyme Zaynvl Rapoport (1863-1920), who is best-known as the author of the groundbreaking play “The Dybbuk.” The ensemble presents a diverse program of rare Yiddish folksongs and exciting klezmer instrumentals collected through field and archival research.

Tuesday, July 2
Libaya Baba
Garifuna Music and Dance from California and New York
Libaya Baba means “Grandfather’s Grandchildren,” and the group consists of brothers Jeffrey, Kelsie and Dayton Bernardez, and their cousin, Greg Palacio. After migrating to Los Angeles, Calif., in the late 1970s, they felt the need to preserve their indigenous Garifuna culture, which has both Caribbean and West African elements.

Thursday, July 11
Harmonia
Music of the Danube to the Carpathians from Ohio
Harmonia presents traditional folk music of Eastern Europe, ranging from the Danube to the Carpathians. Performed on authentic folk instruments and styled after turn-of-the-century eastern-European Gypsy bands, its music is drawn from both the urban and rural traditions of eastern Europe.

Wednesday, August 7
The Brotherhood Singers
R&B and Gospel from Kentucky
Hailing from Covington, Ky., and Cincinnati, Ohio, the Brotherhood Singers (formerly The Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers) are among the very few remaining gospel quartet-style groups that still perform in the old-school a cappella fashion. The singers specialize in the intricate and emotional four-part harmony “jubilee” style pioneered by such legendary groups as the Dixie Hummingbirds, The Golden Gate Quartet, the Soul Stirrers and The Harptones of Cincinnati.

Wednesday, August 14
Kalanidhi Dance Company
Traditional Kuchipudi Dance from Maryland
Kalanidhi Dance Company’s artistic approach is to explore creative and contemporary ideas through the vocabulary of Kuchipudi, while retaining the essence and integrity of the classical form. Kuchipudi, one of India's seven main classical dance styles, combines fast rhythms with fluid movements, creating a blend of control and abandon, strength and delicacy. Expressive facial techniques and subtle body movements serve as the cornerstone of Kuchipudi and document and preserve the centuries-old body language of Andhra Pradesh women.

Wednesday, September 11
Los Texmaniacs
Traditional Conjunto Dance Music from Texas
Los Texmaniacs mix the simplest yet finest ingredients of Texas music to create a sound solidly rooted in tradition. Founder Max Baca is a renowned innovator on the bajo sexto, a 12-string guitar-like instrument, which customarily provides rhythm accompaniment for the button accordion, creating the core of the Texas conjunto sound.

Saturday, September 21, at 8 p.m.
Flory Jagoda and Friends (*tickets will be required)
Sephardic Music from Virginia
This concert celebrates Flory Jagoda’s internationally recognized career as singer, composer and teacher of Sephardic song. Family members and musical colleagues join Jagoda to perform the songs that she has taught them in her quest to transmit her family’s musical heritage and keep it vibrantly alive.

The American Folklife Center was created by Congress in 1976 and placed at the Library of Congress to "preserve and present American Folklife" through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation, reference service, live performance, exhibition, public programs and training. The center includes the American Folklife Center Archive of folk culture, which was established in 1928 and is now one of the largest collections of ethnographic material from the United States and around the world. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/folklife/.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s website, www.loc.gov.