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Home > Featured Stories > Embracing Diversity > September 2007 > Frazier, USP to Celebrate African-American MusicAward-Winning Performer, USP Celebrate African-American Music
"Frazier is a musical phenomenon, equally adept at performing spirituals, blues, swing, jazz and show-tunes."
Alex Miller, associate vice chancellor and director of the University Scholars Program
Grenoldo Frazier will perform today at Stewart Theatre.
By Dave Pond, Web Communication
Nationally renowned actor, composer and pianist Grenoldo Frazier will take to the stage at 3 p.m. today in a spirited celebration of African-American music at Stewart Theatre.
The Wilmington native’s performance credits range from Broadway to television and movies, and he is delighted to participate in the 2007 forum series. Frazier’s performances are free to attend and are presented by the NC State University Scholars Program (USP).
“Frazier is a musical phenomenon, equally adept at performing spirituals, blues, swing, jazz and show-tunes,” said Alex Miller, NC State associate vice chancellor and director of the USP. “His encyclopedic knowledge of African-American music and the central contributions black musicians have made to the culture of America is nothing short of staggering, as are the performances he gives.”
With dozens of forums ranging from a discussion about Americans’ reliance on credit cards to a tour of the office of North Carolina’s Chief Medical Examiner, the USP offers NC State students and the general public an array of opportunities to broaden their educational and cultural perspectives.
Here are a few additional highlights from the fall series:
• On September 24 and 25, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Savage will discuss his award-winning reporting on presidential signing statements as well as current controversies within the Justice Department. Each day’s forum will begin at 3 p.m. and will be held at Witherspoon Student Center.
“Charles Savage’s visit gives NC State students the opportunity to examine complex issues and ask difficult questions about the delicate balance between presidential and congressional power, and to consider how the Justice Department - the nation’s chief law enforcement agency - conducts its business,” Miller said.
• Author and adventurer Doug Lansky will come to campus this October to focus on traveling the world on a student’s budget. Lansky has spent the last nine years visiting more than 100 countries, sleeping in thousands of hostels and chronicling his travels in a syndicated travel humor newspaper column.
“Lansky’s remarkable lectures and his many books help students and others to understand that if they are equipped with a good attitude, a sense of humor and a healthy does of planning and preparation, they can travel successfully and inexpensively all across the globe,” Miller said.
• In November, celebrated ethnobotanist, explorer and author Mark Plotkin will come to campus to discuss rainforest conservation in the Amazon. Plotkin's work includes the collection and classification of medicinal plants used by native shamans for curing diseases and ailments, a process that he chronicled in “Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice.” His efforts have been documented in a number of films, including the IMAX film Amazon.
All Scholars Forum events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information about these and other upcoming USP events, please visit their website or call (919) 515-2353.
The University Scholars Program offers high-achieving students the opportunity to participate in educational, cultural and social experiences to make the most of their time at NC State. More than 2,100 NC State students participate in the USP.
“The goal of the USP is to provide these outstanding students with a framework that makes it easy for them to engage in the widest range of educational activities, understanding that all of these experiences will help them to grow and develop academically, personally and professionally,” Miller said.
“And when they graduate and tell you that the University Scholars Program helped them become better citizens in a global society, then the entire USP staff celebrates their success.”