Can a concert be more than just entertainment? George Wein created America’s first jazz festival in a time and place that desperately needed it. In the 50’s and 60’s, much of America was divided on matters of race, impeded by post-war expectations, and energized by the Civil Rights movement and emerging styles of music. These tensions were certainly felt in the small city of Newport, Rhode Island– which would become the unlikely host site for one of America’s longest standing and impactful music festivals. This presentation will explore how the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals became a meaningful gathering place which promoted empathy and exploration for young Americans. By evaluating the Jazz Festivals founding year in 1954, the Folk Festivals most iconic year in 1963, and two different riots that happened in 1960 and 1971, Myles will argue that the Newport Festivals strategically served as a catalyst for progress for young Americans and a reflection of their conflicted culture in that era.
Myles Somerville was born and raised in Middletown, Rhode Island. From a young age, his mother fed him the lore of the folk and jazz festivals, filling his head with tales of Bob, Joan, and Janis. He had no idea who these people were, but he somehow knew them on a first-name basis by the age of 10. However, he could tell from the way his mother talked about them and about the festivals that something special was happening there. As he grew up and found his own way into the festival (usually either by sneaking in or volunteering to park cars in exchange for a ticket), he quickly realized its magic. Now, as he brings his own kids to the festival in moments of full-circle reckoning, he has decided to devote his thesis for the Master of Liberal Arts program at Stanford University to the place that has meant so much to his family, his hometown, and the greater society in Newport. He is currently a Humanities teacher and lacrosse coach at Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley, California, where he has lived with his wife and three kids for the last 15 years.
Wednesday, July 29th
Lecture
6:00 pm
$10
To Purchase Tickets Click Here
