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A Powerful History Lesson Through the Blues
To kick off Black History Month, St. Albans Upper School students enjoyed a powerful and engaging music-based history lesson by legendary blues harmonica player Phil Wiggins and blues guitarist George Kilby Jr. (with Artie Baguer on upright bass) in a program titled Race, Reconciliation, and the Blues.
Both men have decades of experience as blues musicians and incorporated their own stories of the deep South into a fascinating and thought-provoking program. The musicians believe that “music can be a healing factor and a key factor in the reconciling of our differences, whether they are racial, political or cultural.” The group began the assembly with “You Never See the Hand Throw the Stone” and ended it with “Forgiveness” which brought the students and faculty to their feet for a standing ovation.
Both men have decades of experience as blues musicians and incorporated their own stories of the deep South into a fascinating and thought-provoking program. The musicians believe that “music can be a healing factor and a key factor in the reconciling of our differences, whether they are racial, political or cultural.” The group began the assembly with “You Never See the Hand Throw the Stone” and ended it with “Forgiveness” which brought the students and faculty to their feet for a standing ovation.
Mr. Wiggins received the 2017 NEA National Heritage Fellowship lifetime award, often referred to as the “Living Cultural Treasure,” for his contributions on harmonica.
St. Albans School
Phone: 202-537-6435
Located in Washington D.C., St. Albans School is a private, all boys day and boarding school. For more than a century, St. Albans has offered a distinctive educational experience for young men in grades 4 through 12. While our students reach exceptional academic goals and exhibit first-rate athletic and artistic achievements, as an Episcopal school we place equal emphasis upon moral and spiritual education.