UM Concert, Lecture To Honor Dawson

The Alabama School of the Arts at the University of Mobile (UM) will celebrate Black History Month with a free lecture and concert on the life and works of composer William Levi Dawson on February 6 and 7 at the Dorsett Auditorium on the UM campus. Dawson was a nationally recognized composer, choral arranger, conductor and professor of music at Tuskegee Institute who wrote Negro Folk Symphony, only the second extended musical work to be written by an African American. The UM Chorale and soloists will perform several of Dawson’s works, and professor and author Dr. Mark Malone will share the tale of the composer’s early life, quest for education, rise to success at Tuskegee, achievement of national fame as a composer and more. Admission is free. Malone’s book, William Levi Dawson: American Music Educator, will be published later this year.