Production celebrates the life and times of four powerful and distinguished African American women

A musical theatrical production is coming to campus on Tuesday, March 1 at 3 p.m. in the Library Conference Center (Room 105ABC). The production, ‘Ain’t I a Woman!,’ celebrates the life and times of four powerful and distinguished African American women.

The Core Ensemble, a musical trio of cello, piano and percussion, will perform as Taylore Mahogany Scott portrays four influential characters: renowned novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston; ex-slave and fiery abolitionist Sojourner Truth; exuberant folk artist Clementine Hunter; and fervent civil rights worker Fannie Lou Hamer.

The musical score is drawn from the heartfelt spirituals and blues of the Deep South, the urban vitality of the Jazz Age, and contemporary concert music by African American composers such as Charles Mingus, Thelonius Monk, Max Roach and Diane Monroe.

The Core Ensemble, since 1993, has toured in every region of the United States and internationally to Australia, Russia, Ukraine, and the British Virgin Islands. In 2000, the musical trio was recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award for Excellence in the Arts awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Core Ensemble has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, among others.

Taylore Mahogany Scott has performed in film and television, including the nationally televised PBS show ‘African American Lives’ with Oprah Winfrey. Her theater credits include New York Classical Theatre ‘All’s Well that Ends Well’ and ‘As You Like It;’ American Globe Theatre ‘Romeo and Juliet;’ Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival ‘Macbeth;’ and Dallas Theatre Center ‘A Christmas Carol’.

The March 1 event is free and open to the IU Northwest and greater Northwest Indiana community. Seating for this event is limited; please arrive early.

The Library Conference Center is located on the southeast corner of campus at 35th Avenue and Broadway in Gary.