Doors That Swing: A Jazz Performance Celebrating Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise July 15, 2007

Doors that Swing: A Jazz Performance celebrating Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise
Sunday, July 15, 6 p.m.
Stent Atrium
Stent Family Wing Galleries open until 9 p.m.
Free to members; free with Museum admission
Tickets for the jazz concert and to view Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise will be available at the door. Ticket sales will begin at 5:30 p.m. on July 15 in the Stent Atrium.

Dwight Andrews will present and perform a special Jazz concert to mark the closing weekend of The Gates of Paradise. He will be joined by the Atlanta Jazz Chorus with Sheila Wheat, Gary Motley, Moffett Morris, Che Marshall, and Ken Watters.

From the Program Notes By Dwight Andrews
The Bible has provided inspiration for countless works of art over the centuries. Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise tell ten stories from the Old Testament. Ghiberti combined different scenes from each story into single visual “chapters.” Setting his figures and activities into deep and coherent illusionist spaces, he was able to bring the biblical stories alive with unprecedented grace and clarity. The Bible has also been a powerful resource for African American religious expression.

This evening's jazz concert builds on this long and deep tradition. The works presented are inspired both by Ghiberti’s magnificent panels and the scriptural references that inspired them. In a sense, the program is what literary theorist Henry Louis Gates refers to as “signifyin’”—that is, creating a trope on a trope. We are literally riffing on the commentator (Ghiberti) commenting on the commentary (the Bible)—a double riff of sorts! The musical works that will be performed tonight cover a wide range of styles and periods. Our hope is that this concert offers an imaginative musical meditation and counterpoint to Lorenzo Ghilberti’s Gates of Paradise exhibition at the High Museum.

Official Website: http://www.high.org/experience/events/event_content.aspx?id1=2482