- Faculty Recitals
The Saint-Georges Project is a hybrid chamber music recital, one-man play, and TED Talk about the life of Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges written and performed by violinist and Lehigh University Professor Michael Jorgensen. Saint-Georges was a biracial violinist-composer-fencer-abolitionist-soldier-spy from the 18th century, but his life and music were almost forgotten. The performance will share the unique experiences of Saint-Georges and Jorgensen through stories, history, and sounds. Saint-Georges's Violin Sonatas are featured along with pieces by Florence Price, Grammy-Award winning composer Jessie Montgomery, and two world premieres written by composers Shawn Okpebholo and Evan Williams.
The Saint-Georges Project contains frank discussions of slavery, systemic racism, and, most importantly gorgeous music written by Black composers from 1770 to 2024! Suggested age: 13+
This project was generously supported by the Lehigh University Music Department, the Lehigh Faculty Research Grant, the Lehigh University Gipson Institute for 18th Century Studies, and the Klees Family.