The Jay Walker Symposium: EHS Airwaves Mini Music Festival

On Wednesday, May 17, the Washington Program collaborated with the Jay Walker Symposium to produce the EHS Airwaves Mini Music Festival.
Throughout the day, the EHS community enjoyed performances by Alexa Miton, a Baltimore based Flamenco Artist; Innov Gnawa, a Moroccan music group from Brooklyn, New York; and Christylez Bacon, a Washington, D.C. hip hop artist. The afternoon began in Pendleton Hall with the Flamenco performance. Innov Gnawa then led the community across campus to the Chapel Lawn, where advisories enjoyed a picnic lunch together and listened to performances by the two musical acts.

An annual event, the Jay Walker Symposium celebrates John Luther Walker, Jr. '54 and his love of music. Sponsored by Walker's family and friends, the program brings live concerts to the EHS campus, with guest musicians working with students in class and attending an open session with student musicians. The Jay Walker Symposium is known for bringing prominent musicians to campus. In recent years, symposium guests have included The Biscuit Burners, Black Violin, singer/songwriter Elizabeth Eckert, Robert Jospé and Inner Rhythm, Charlie Pate, The David Wax Museum, Coyaba Dance Theater, and Roomful of Teeth.

Washington Program Co-Director Millie McKeachie said of the festival, “We wanted to bring a variety of artistic performances to campus, and we thought these professionals would complement one another and bring diversity of voice and performance to our various on-campus spaces. I knew Alexa Miton while growing up in Baltimore, and I remembered her as a smart and engaging person. When I found out about her success in flamenco dancing, I thought she'd be a great addition to our final WPE line-up. While I had been excited about her performance, she and her accompanists were even more amazing than I had imagined. Following the flamenco performance, Alexa told me what a great audience our EHS students were, so I'm grateful for the way we received her group onto campus, and I hope they'll be back next year.”

Jeremy Goldstein said that the “combined efforts this year produced and unprecedented event on campus that provides an experience unlike any high school in the country--three top tier performances in one day that we were able to book through our link to D.C. area resources.  In all, the entire community was treated to a music festival atmosphere through the collaboration between the Washington Program and the Jay Walker Symposium.”
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