Penn IUR Hosts Program on City Soundscapes: Music, Words & Identities in Urban America

WHAT:In City Soundscapes: Music, Words & Identities in Urban America, a Penn Institute for Urban Research Seminar highlighting the 10-year anniversary of Penn IUR, Nick Spitzer, producer of NPR’s “American Routes” and a Penn alumnus, will discuss the intersection of cities, music and civic life. With a line-up of special guests, Spitzer will explore how music and musicians express Philadelphia’s cultural identities. A reception with live performances will follow the discussion.WHO:Hosted by the Penn Institute for Urban Research at the University of Pennsylvania, with a grant from the Office of the Provost ‘s Year of Sound and co-sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences’ Urban Studies Program.

Featured speakers and performers:

Introductory remarks by Kathy Peiss, the Roy and Jeanette Nichols Professor of American History, University of Pennsylvania;
Nick Spitzer, producer of Public Radio’s “American Routes” and professor of American studies and anthropology at Tulane University;
Jimmy Heath, National Endowment for the Arts jazz master saxophonist and leader of Philadelphia's Heath Brothers;
Sam Reed, jazz saxophonist and bandleader at the Uptown Theater in the ‘50s and ‘60s;
Elaine Hoffman Watts and Susan Watts, mother-daughter, trumpet-drum klezmer duo;
The Budesa Brothers with Lucky Thompson, organ trio and
Frankie and the Fashions, four-part, doo-wop harmony group.