Concert: Oh, Glory II ! by James Dargan
Sunday February 9, 2025
3:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Place: North Parish Unitarian Universalist - Sanctuary,
190 Academy Road
The Sanctuary is handicapped accessible through the "Garden" door that is accessed from the circle in front of the church - take the elevator up one level.
This event is free and open to the public
James Dargan performs Passion Programs that combine music and spoken word to take audiences on a journey. Each program speaks to a specific social theme with music of different genres, interwoven with commentary on how they connect to our own lives.
The first Oh, Glory! (presented in North Andover in 2024) grew out of a desire to celebrate Black American musical history; "OG2" is all about exploring different Black composers, and the Black poets they set to music. The complexity and variety of these songs shows that again, boxes are silly, in music and in life. Our lives are all different, and our experiences are all valid. This program focusses on the glory and depth of Blackness, and on Mr. Dargan’s lived experience as a Black musician.
James Dargan is a musician and writer from North Carolina; he is based in New York City, where he sings while composing, playing the violin, writing, and teaching. James has been a musician since he was a child, and has shared his voice and carefully curated programs all over the US and Europe. James also teaches on spirituals and other Black music, and is honored to walk in his family tradition of telling truthful stories. James relishes writing for Black singers, and he is currently writing two operas. Career highlights include solo work with The Boston Pops, and operatic work with esperanza spalding and Wayne Shorter. James is a founding member of the consortium Ring Shout.
For more information send an email to NA.BHM.Events@gmail.com
Parking is available on Academy Road or in the North Andover Municipal lot on Johnson Street adjacent to the Youth Center.
Sunday February 23, 2025
3:00 pm
Place: Stevens Center on the Common (North Andover Historical Society), 800 Massachusetts Ave.
This event is free and open to the public
William Clarence Matthews, was a terrific baseball player for both Phillips Andover and Harvard at the turn of the 20th century. As Harvard's shortstop, he was the best player on arguably the best college team in the country when baseball fever swept the land. In the summer of 1905, the Boston Traveler announced that he would soon be joining Fred Tenney’s Boston Nationals, breaching the color barrier in Major League Baseball, forty years before Jackie Robinson. He did not make history: the rumor of his breakthrough proved to be false. Matthews, however, deserves to be more than this baseball footnote. His remarkable life reflected the special tensions and tentative opportunities of Black Americans during the 50 years of his lifetime, 1877-1928. An expert on Matthews and his life, historian Karl Lindstrom provides not only an overview of his extraordinary baseball career, but also considers his life outside the ballfield, which brought him into significant contact with the major figures of African American thought and culture of the time.
About the speaker: As Assistant Professor of American Studies at Middlebury College, Vermont, Karl Lindholm’s interests include the literature of baseball, the Negro leagues in particular, Vietnam War literature, the regional culture of northern New England, and cross-cultural literature. He earned his B.A.(English) from Middlebury (1967) and holds a Ph.D. in American Studies (American Literature) from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Parking is available on Academy Rd; please reserve spots in front of the building for the elderly and disabled. For more information send an email to NA.BHM.Events@gmail.com.
