Swing Is The Thing: Introducing Valaida Snow

In this talk, writer Candace Allen will describe how she unearthed the forgotten life story of jazz artist Valaida Snow (1903-1956), whom Louis Armstrong called the world’s second best trumpet player besides himself.
Born in Boston and raised in Stamford, CT, Candace Allen is a novelist and essayist fascinated by issues of cultural displacement. In her book Soul Music The Pulse of Race and Music she investigated the inspirational personal, social and political power of music, visiting the Sistema program in Caracas and its off-shoots in the UK and US as well as similar projects in Palestine and Kinshasa. Her novel, Valaida, chronicled the life of a trumpeter seeking fulfillment beyond any comfort zones. She has been founding Trustee of the Chineke Orchestra—which provides career opportunities to young Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) classical musicians in the UK and Europe—since 2015 and is frequently asked for broadcast and newspaper comment on culture, race, and politics

Sponsored by the Feminist Resource Center at Chellis House, the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, the Center for Careers and Internships, American Studies Spiegel Family Fund, Department of History, Director of the Arts Funds, Brainerd Commons, Feminist Action at Middlebury, and Women of Color.