Edition No. 58
Arts and Culture
The War Memorial kicks off Live at the Alger performance series featuring prominent jazz, classical, and roots musicians.
Community and Family
King Tut exhibit returns to the Charles H. Wright Museum!
American Democracy
Representative Brenda Lawrence retiring from Congress after completing current term.
The War Memorial kicks off Live at the Alger performance series featuring prominent jazz, classical, and roots musicians
The War Memorial (TWM) is excited to announce a new performance series welcoming a diverse cast of innovative jazz, classical, and roots musicians to the Grosse Pointe communities. Live at the Alger is a series of house-concert style performances, providing listeners with an up-close and personal musical experience.
Elden Kelly, a solo classical and jazz guitarist, kicks off the series on Friday, January 28 at TWM’s historic Alger House. One of a handful of young jazz guitarists specializing in nylon string guitar and one of the few in the U.S. to incorporate the fretless guitar, Kelly is an engaging improviser, composer, and singer, writing instrumental music for the guitar and ensembles.
“I come from a musical family and grew up with jazz, so improvisation is inherent to my practice,” said Kelly. “All of the artists I admire most created their own path through incorporating the things they loved and integrating it into a collective vision. It is my hope that my music invites people on a journey of exploration, discovery and maybe surprise.”
During this event, Kelly will play instrumental renditions of jazz, twists on familiar pop and classical themes with global music influences, and original music all with an expressive and virtuosic flair. His original music is an engaging synergy of classical, jazz, folk, and world styles, while influenced but not defined by diverse genres such as Jazz, Neoclassicism, American roots, Hindustani, and Turkish music.
“I'm a huge fan of music and am always trying to uncover more of what makes it work as a composer, performer, and scholar. My motivation to create is integral to my search to become the best version of myself that I can be, and to discover and bring into focus more truth, meaning, and significance to those around me,” said Kelly.
A full cash bar will be available throughout the evening. For more details and to purchase tickets, click the button below.
King Tut returns to the Charles H. Wright Museum
Back by popular demand, The King Tutankhamun exhibit will be on display at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History until August 22. With support from Rocket Community Fund and accompanied by an informative catalog, KING TUTANKHAMUN: Wonderful Things from the Pharaoh’s Tomb, vividly brings to life Egypt’s 18th Dynasty.
Divided into five sections - An introduction to Ancient Egypt, The Archeological Discovery, The Private Pharaoh, The Public Pharaoh, and The Royal Burial - this installation features more than 120 replicas of Pharaoh Tut’s sacred and personal possessions.
The year 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of the boy Pharaoh (King), Tutankhamun. Described as an innocent puppet-ruler, Pharaoh Tut was caught in the middle of a political, spiritual, and artistic revolution, initiated by his father, Pharaoh Akhenaten.
“Rep. Brenda Lawrence, Michigan's only Black member of Congress, not running again”
Detroit Free Press, January 4, 2022
We would remiss if we did not note that Representative Brenda Lawrence who has represented the US House district in which The War Memorial is located since 2014 has chosen to not seek re-election and will retire from Congress after completing her current term in early 2023.
While she has said that redistricting did not play a role in her decision, Michigan’s loss of a Congressional seat led to new Detroit area districts that would have presented her with a tougher race than in the past and could well have led to a primary faceoff with another incumbent. Instead, Representative Lawrence will retire to spend more time with her family, and Representative Rashida Talib will run in a new Michigan 12th district linking the westside of Detroit with Southfield and Dearborn.
Here at The War Memorial, we’ll get to watch at close range the most interesting kind of Congressional race – one for an “open” (no incumbent seat). The Free Press article at the link below reports on Representative Lawrence’s decision, briefly recaps her career, and considers how Michigan’s current Congressional delegation are responding to our new Congressional district maps: https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/01/04/brenda-lawrence-will-not-run-for-reelection/9097717002/
NOTE: The Free Press uses a paywall which you may encounter if you have viewed multiple articles in the past 30 days and do not have a subscription.
Inspired Thoughts is a collection of highly curated content that embraces the spirit and purpose of The War Memorial: arts and culture, community enrichment, leadership, and patriotism.
Derived from the notion that learning from others is the key to success, Inspired Thoughts is meant to shine a light on those making a difference in the world around them. This collection features artists, poets, writers, architects, and every thought leader in-between. Inspired Thoughts is the strongest reflection of what The War Memorial stands for, and what we aim to be.
The content featured on Inspired Thoughts is curated by War Memorial leadership — we also look forward to featuring special guest curators in the near future. If you are interested in providing content for Inspired Thoughts, please email our Communications team at dmurphy@warmemorial.org.