Award-Winning American Folk Musician Stephen Wade to Perform at Lebanon Valley College

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Stephen Wade, an award-winning American folk musician, writer, and researcher, will complete a two-day residency and host a concert at Lebanon Valley College February 16–17.

ANNVILLE, PA (02/08/2016)(readMedia)-- Stephen Wade, an award-winning American folk musician, writer, and researcher, will complete a two-day residency and host a concert at Lebanon Valley College February 16–17. The public is invited to his sessions and the concert on Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Zimmerman Recital Hall of the Suzanne H. Arnold Gallery. The Music and English departments collaborated on a President's Innovation Fund proposal to bring the Grammy-nominated artist to campus to discuss the use of American traditional music in interpreting society and cross-cultural communication.

Participation is open to all students, classes, faculty, and the public. While in residency, Wade will interact with students in the Music Department and other select departments, using American traditional music to help students understand the nature of American cultural diversity. Wade hopes they can use this understanding to interpret their current society and successfully foster relationships across cultural divisions. All attendees will also be able to hear Wade's experiences from more than 40 years in the music industry.

Wade's career began in the mid-1970s, where at a young age he began playing traditional banjo music under the instruction of notable mentors Fleming Brown and Doc Hopkins. Under their guidance, Wade found a talent for theatrical performance and developed the theatrical performance piece "Banjo Dancing," which combines elements of storytelling, traditional music, and percussive dance. Its initial opening in Chicago ran for 13 weeks and a later showing in Washington, D.C., scheduled for three weeks, ran for 10 years.

This first major success propelled Wade into the public eye with the 1986 television documentary, "The Unquiet Library," which later led to his writing and narrating "Catching the Music," a celebration of the banjo and its learning. His next production, "On the Way Home," won the Joseph Jefferson award in 1993, and his subsequent work with Zora Neale Hurston's won the Helen Hayes and Charles MacArthur awards.

His essays, reviews, and articles have appeared in a variety of notable publications such as the "Encyclopedia of Chicago," Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post's Book World, and his folksong commentaries have aired on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." His 2012 release "Banjo Diary: Lessons from tradition" on Smithsonian Folkways was nominated in the Best Album Notes category for the 55th Grammy Awards and explores cross-generational musical knowledge.

Please visit www.lvc.edu/music/events.aspx for additional information about Wade's concert and residency.

About Lebanon Valley College

Lebanon Valley College is a private, coeducational college founded in 1866 and dedicated to the liberal arts. The College offers 36 undergraduate majors plus self-designed majors and a range of minors, concentrations, and pre-professional options, as well as graduate degree programs in athletic training, business administration, music education, physical therapy, and science education.

The College has 1,573 full-time undergraduate students and 106 full-time faculty. Students can choose from more than 90 clubs and organizations, and 12 study abroad programs. LVC awards generous academic scholarships to those whose high school records demonstrate a commitment to challenge and achievement.