In the 2021-22 academic year, Columbia University presented a yearlong campus-wide festival of public concerts, performances, lectures, panel discussions, and an exhibition inspired by the "tone parallel" between Shakespeare and Such Sweet Thunder, the Duke Ellington Orchestra's 1957 Shakespearean suite. See event video and other teaching materials on the Resources page.

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FEATURING

Courtney Bryan

June Cross

Keith David

Brent Hayes Edwards

Jon Faddis

Farah Jasmine Griffin

Jean E. Howard

George Lewis

Nicole Mitchell

Fred Moten

Chris Ofili

Robert G. O’Meally

James S. Shapiro

Ayanna Thompson

Events

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Such Sweet Thunder: A Columbia-Harlem Concert Dance

Past

21

April 2022 7 pm

Such Sweet Thunder: A Columbia-Harlem Concert Dance

April 21, 2022 7 pm

Past

Such Sweet Thunder: A Columbia-Harlem Concert Dance

Founder of CityStep Sabrina Peck directs a campus-community dance collaboration celebrating the Such Sweet Thunder score through movement. The culminating performance at The Forum at Columbia University features new works created for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative by Dance Theater of Harlem dancer Derek Brockington; solos by world-renowned performers LaTasha Barnes, Paul Taylor Dancer Madelyn Ho, Mercedes Ellington, Omar Edwards, Maria de Lourdes Davila and Orlando Hernadez; and choreography developed by Columbia and Barnard students working with younger students at the Harlem School of the Arts. With generous support from Jerome A. Chazen, Gabriela and Michael Block, Crystal McCrary and Raymond J. McGuire, and the Columbia University Office of the President. Photo Credits: Jess Keener (Barnes); Renee Choi (Brockington); Dancers of New York (Ho)

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Toni Morrison Reads Othello

Past

12

April 2022 6 pm

Toni Morrison Reads Othello

April 12, 2022 6 pm

Past

Toni Morrison Reads Othello

In this conversation, Jean Howard, a Shakespeare scholar, Farah Jasmine Griffin, a Morrison scholar, and Rebecca Kastleman, a scholar of contemporary drama, discuss Toni Morrison’s radical re- imagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Written in collaboration with musician Rokia Traore, Morrison’s play—whose title, Desdemona, reveals it to be a refraction of Othello—focuses on Desdemona’s imagined relationship with a Black woman who raised her, a character not present in Shakespeare’s script. Together these women make possible not only a new understanding of Othello and his actions, but of the imbrication of race, gender, and white privilege in Shakespeare’s time and in ours. Panelists will discuss not only how Morrison reimagined Shakespeare, but also how Desdemona is in conversation with Morrison’s other work, and how the sonic landscape of this performance piece resonates with other 20th-century postcolonial drama. With generous support from Jerome A. Chazen, Gabriela and Michael Block, Crystal McCrary and Raymond J. McGuire, and the Columbia University Office of the President.

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Douglass the Prophet

Past

2

April 2022 7 pm

Douglass the Prophet

April 2, 2022 7 pm

Past

Douglass the Prophet

Harlem Stage and Columbia University present Douglass the Prophet, part of Columbia University’s series of public programs and events inspired by the “tone parallel” between William Shakespeare and the Duke Ellington Orchestra’s Shakespearean suite, Such Sweet Thunder.

a work in process

Everything in my heart believed we would have reached equality by now.

How is it possible that the world I fought to change mirrors back in the world you’re in?

Documentarian and playwright June Cross brings Frederick Douglass back from the dead in this new one-person play starring Keith David. Invoking the spirits of Othello, Julius Caesar and Duke Ellington, Douglass, reimagined as an eternal prophet, meets us exactly where we are – lost in the myopia of our current American tragedy. But perhaps he can interrupt fate and redirect our collective future so the past can finally cease repeating. With a live score by drummer Mike Clark and vocalist Kathryn Farmer, lighting by Alan C. Edwards, artwork by Sanford Biggers, dramaturgy by Sunder Ganglani and directed by Charlotte Brathwaite – Douglass the Prophet is a poetic freedom dream that weaves story and history, while urging the audience to imagine a future beyond the ravages of our violent past.

Performance Dates
March 31 @ 7:30pm
April 1 @ 7:30pm
April 2 @ 2pm
April 2 @ 7:30pm

Live/Reserved Seating

Donor Seating: $500

General Seating: $25

Student Seating: $7

With generous support from Jerome A. Chazen, Gabriela and Michael Block, Crystal McCrary and Raymond J. McGuire, and the Columbia University Office of the President.

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Resources

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Fred Moten and Bob O’Meally on Chris Ofili’s Othello

Read

Chris Ofili: The Othello Prints

Read

The Literary Ellington

Read

Listen

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play

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

Such Sweet Thunder (Cleo)

3 : 19

33 RPM

Pause

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, “Such Sweet Thunder (Cleo),” Such Sweet Thunder (Columbia/Legacy, 1957). Recorded April 24, 1957.

Duke Ellington (p), Billy Strayhorn (orchestration); Clark Terry, Willie Cook, Cat Anderson (tp); Ray Nance (tp,vln,vcl); Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, John Sanders (tb); Jimmy Hamilton (cl,ts), Johnny Hodges (as), Russell Procope (as,cl), Paul Gonsalves (ts), Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl); Jimmy Woode (b), Sam Woodyard (d).

play

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

"Sonnet to Hank Cinq"

1 : 24

33 RPM

Pause

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, “Sonnet to Hank Cinq,” Such Sweet Thunder (Columbia/Legacy, 1957). Recorded May 3, 1957.

play

DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA

"Sonnet in Search of a Moor"

2 : 26

33 RPM

Pause

“Sonnet in Search of a Moor,” Such Sweet Thunder (Columbia/Legacy, 1957). Recorded April 15, 1957.

FEATURING

Events

Such Sweet Thunder: A Columbia-Harlem Concert Dance

Past

21

April 2022 7 pm

Such Sweet Thunder: A Columbia-Harlem Concert Dance

April 21, 2022 7 pm

Past

Such Sweet Thunder: A Columbia-Harlem Concert Dance

REGISTER TO ATTEND

21

April 2022 7 - 9 pm

Toni Morrison Reads Othello

Past

12

April 2022 6 pm

Toni Morrison Reads Othello

April 12, 2022 6 pm

Past

Toni Morrison Reads Othello

REGISTER TO ATTEND

12

April 2022 6 - 8 pm

Douglass the Prophet

Past

2

April 2022 7 pm

Douglass the Prophet

April 2, 2022 7 pm

Past

Douglass the Prophet

Everything in my heart believed we would have reached equality by now.

How is it possible that the world I fought to change mirrors back in the world you’re in?

REGISTER TO ATTEND

2

April 2022 7 - 9 pm

Fred Moten and Bob O’Meally on Chris Ofili’s Othello

Chris Ofili: The Othello Prints

The Literary Ellington

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

Such Sweet Thunder (Cleo)

3 : 19

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

"Sonnet to Hank Cinq"

1 : 24

DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA

"Sonnet in Search of a Moor"

2 : 26

#Suchsweetthunder