A journey “On the Road to Glory”

Over the centuries, the music and literature of Africans in America have embodied the power and dignity of the human spirit, expressing hope and strength in the quest for freedom. From the horrors of enslavement, through the Civil War, the civil rights movement, and continuing even today, the sung and spoken word has been a galvanizing force in the struggle against seemingly impossible odds.

Through traditional African music and spirituals, poems, prose, and anthems, the Princely Players will take their audience “On the Road to Glory”—the historical journey from slavery to liberation—on Saturday, February 8, at 8 p.m. in Beckman Auditorium. The ensemble of four women and four men gives an evocative and stirring presentation that includes works from the earliest sources of notated and oral African-American music; classic hymns and anthems such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Old Time Religion,” and “We Shall Overcome”; and contemporary music and writings from Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Richard Wright.
Featured on TNN and the BBC, the Princely Players have also been heard on National Public Radio’s “Wade in the Water” series and on the Time-Life Civil War recordings. The group has collaborated with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Nashville Symphony, and its members have recorded with musicians Randy Travis, Danny O’Keefe, and Kathy Mattea.

Tickets are available through Caltech Public Events, and special offers are available for Caltech/JPL community members. Call 1 (888) 2-CALTECH or (626) 395-4652, e-mail events@caltech.edu, or visit www.events.caltech.edu. Individuals with a disability can call
395-4688 (voice) or 395-3700 (TDD).
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