The UA Department of Music's Bridging Differences Series presents Tapestry Vocal Ensemble and Patricia Shehan Campbell in several free events over the next few days. Central to the events is a celebration of Ella Jenkins, who turns 100 years old this year, and is known as "The First Lady of Children's Music."

The first event is a sing-along for families at the Fayetteville Public Library's Willard & Pat Walker Community Room at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 24. Tapestry's Cristi Catt and Daniela Tosic will read from the new children's book A Life of Song: The Story of Ella Jenkins, and lead the audience in several participatory songs.

Then, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, Patricia Shehan Campbell will present the lecture "C(Ella)bration: Childsongs, Children's Song Singers, and the Musical Enculturation of Us All." This lecture will be in the UA Music Building's Room 335. 

Generations have grown up listening to Jenkins, who performed everywhere from Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Jenkins recorded nearly 40 albums, and in 2004, Jenkins was honored with the Grammy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. KUAF's Kyle Kellam's interviewed the musicians visiting our campus and discussed Ella Jenkins' influence for Ozarks at Large. The segment can be heard here.

Another very exciting event of the series is a free concert presented by Boston's Tapestry Vocal Ensemble at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, in the Faulkner Performing Arts Center. The program is called "Transcending Boundaries," and its music will travel across borders and through time to bring together exquisite music for voices and piano. Weaving together 19th and 21st century works through their own lens, Tapestry highlights music by a wide range of composers, including Samuel Barber, Béla Bartók, Lily Boulanger, Federico Chueca, Rebecca Clark, Claude Debussy, Nathaniel Dett, Duke Ellington, Gabriel Fauré, Emily Lau, Jocelyn Pook, Florence Price, Eric Satie, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and George Walker. Free tickets can be reserved or gotten at the Faulkner Performing Arts Center's lobby before the concert.

"These three events extend the themes of the Department of Music's recent Black Music Symposium and SHE Festival and celebrate connections. We have been looking forward to this range of events for months and are excited to share them all with the community" according to Alan Gosman, chair of the Department of Music. The Tapestry and Patricia Shehan Campbell events are supported by the McIlroy Endowment in Visual and Performing Arts.