From the soundtracks of Ken Burns’ Grammy award-winning Civil War, Baseball, Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin and many other PBS documentaries, to the White House, to the 2021 PBS American Roots special with the American Pops Orchestra, pianist Jacqueline Schwab is known for evoking the American musical past, but in a fresh, personal way. She has performed at the White House for President Clinton, and she has accompanied Scottish singer Jean Redpath on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion and on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman. She has performed on many recordings and has released five solo ones, including her newly-released album I Lift My Lamp—Illuminations from Immigrant America” (Sono Luminus label). In concert, Jacqueline often performs familiar old tunes—what storyteller Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain would have called “remembrancers,”—but with her own stamp, and she speaks about the power of music to transport us into our own past, connect us to community, and take us on to new horizons.ADMISSION: $20
TICKETS AVAILABLE ON EVENTBRITE starting October 5.
Come spend an evening celebrating vintage music from American immigrants. In an era when conflicting views about immigrants and their culture are often in American public discourse, pianist Jacqueline Schwab has created her new musical album, I Lift My Lamp—Illuminations from Immigrant America, which spotlights immigrants’ rich musical contributions. Cultural pride is woven into the pieces Jacqueline has chosen, a small selection from a vast musical pool. She features vintage songs and dances from her Pittsburgh childhood, later life in Boston and travels—her personal, contemporary arrangements of heartful American standards, lesser-known gems, and imported and homegrown creations, from countryside to Tin Pan Alley. In a musical conversation between old and new, she honors living, community traditions not set in stone. Jacqueline is delighted to share I Lift My Lamp at Fivesparks in Harvard, an organization that values storytelling, music, arts and education. Jacqueline will perform a concert of pieces from her album and talk about some of her topic’s complexities, her family, her Pittsburgh upbringing, her experience in the worldwide, inclusive folk community, and her current journey.