The Pulse of Entertainment: Opera Singer Angela
Brown Acts as Visiting Chair at University of Georgia Thanks to Funding from the Delta Air Lines Foundation
"The honor came through
University of Georgia (UGA). I had to be nominated," Soprano opera singer Angela Brown said about the Delta Visiting
Chair for Global Understanding experience courtesy of the Delta Air Lines Foundation. "I didn't know about it. I was
told a doctorate student was inspired by me...wanted to get me to perform but couldn't afford it." So,
her admirer nominated her for this Chair residency honor. The Visiting Chair position was established through the Delta Air
Lines Foundation by the Wilson Center at UGA. The first honoree was Alice Walker in 2015. "So, they
were able to get me for the University of Georgia's Residency Program," she explained. "I gave a Master's class,
workshops...on artist management, and had a too-long talk with high school students. Students were able to sing in my Master's
class." Angela also performed her solo show "Opera...from a Sista's Point of View' at the residency
at UGA's Hodgson School of Music. The show demonstrates... <Read the full March 28, 2023 column here...>
The Pulse of Entertainment: Eric Reed Release ‘Black, Brown and Blue' on
Smoke Sessions Records
"I wanted to honor
my elders, the greats...and the living great composures," said Jazz pianist Eric Reed about what is
on his new album "Black, Brown and Blue" (Smoke Sessions Records). "...And it has my own original works." The "Black, Brown and Blue" album was released recently on March 10, 2023. It features
covers of such Jazz standards from Duke Ellington ("I Got it Bad...") and Thelonious Monk ("Ugly Beauty")
- to name a few. It also has works by such current legends as Stevie Wonder ("Pastime Paradise") and Bill Withers
("Lean on Me"). Born in Philadelphia, Eric Reed features in this new project Luca Alemanno on
bass and Reggie Quinerly on drums. Featured vocalists on the "Black, Brown and Blue" album include... <Read the full March
24, 2023 column here...>
The Pulse of Entertainment
Broadcasting Vol1
NEWS
Kelly Rowland Set to Executive Produce and Star
in Lifetime's 'Merry Liddle Christmas Vacation'
(Los
Angeles, CA) - Lifetime is in development with the fourth installment of the Merry Liddle Christmas
movies franchise, Merry Liddle Christmas Vacation set to premiere as a tentpole movie for 2023's It's
a Wonderful Lifetime holiday slate with Kelly Rowland as executive producer.
Kelly Rowland also returns to star in Merry Liddle Christmas Vacation
as Jacquie, who gave birth to twins in 2021's Merry Liddle Christmas Baby. This new Liddle movie will follow the family as
they head on a family vacation for the holidays. Production is set to begin later this year.
Eubie Blake Center Presents the ILICFF's Filmmaking
Workshops for Youth Saturday September 30, 2023, with Film Producer John Wesby and Playwright Ursula V. Battle
(Baltimore, MD) -One of the many activities of the 7th annual Imagination Lunchbox International Children's
Film Fest (ILICFF), September 23 - October 2023, are its ILICFF/Eubie Blake Filmmaking Workshops for Youth.
The filmmaking presentations include John Wesby, president of Wesby One Productions, who will speak on Film
Production and Ursula V. Battle, president of Battle Stageplays will speak on scriptwriting and casting.
The ILICFF/Eubie Blake Filmmaking Workshops for Youth are to be held Saturday 30th from 12 - 3pmEST at the Eubie Blake Center
in Baltimore (845 North Howard Street, 21201). Shorts in the past have come from the U.S., India, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom,
Poland, Spain, Germany, and Canada.
(Baltimore, MD) -
The 11th annual Maryland International Film Fest - Hagerstown (MDIFF) selects the short documentary
1872 Forward: Foreword to screen March 25, 2023 at 10:15amEST in the Grande Building (2nd floor) at University Systems
of Maryland. The 1872 Forward: Foreword documentary was produced by the More Than a Fraction Foundation and Wesby One Productions.
It follows the Merry Tree Memorial event, a project of the More Than a Fraction Foundation, held at Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University (Virginia Tech) for their 1872 Forward: Celebrating Virginia Tech event held in 2022. The Merry Tree
Memorial was part of the many events held between March 24 - 26 to celebrate the 250-year history of the learning institutions.
The over 300-year-old Merry Tree was a location where those enslaved gathered on the grounds of what is now known as Virginia
Tech, and even now when only its trunk is left after the tree fell from a windstorm in 2020. The Maryland based More Than
a Fraction Foundation financed the production of the short film through a grant by the Virginia Humanities to document the
memorialization of the Merry Tree. The Merry Tree Memorial, and Virginia Tech's 1872 Forward: Celebrating Virginia Tech events
were financed with grants awarded to the More Than a Fraction Foundation from the Virginia Humanities and The Gladys Krieble
Delmas Foundation.
The MDIFF is
to be held at various venues in downtown Hagerstown, Maryland from March 23 - 26, 2023, at such places as The Maryland Theatre,
University Systems of Maryland Grande Building 2nd Floor, and the WashCo Free Library Community Room. It will screen over
100 film projects. The MDIFF will grant seven awards for Outstanding Best Feature, Outstanding Best Short, Outstanding Best
Animation, Outstanding Best Student, Outstanding Best Documentary, Outstanding Best Local Film and Outstanding Best Foreign
Film.
Wesby One Productions, headed by John Wesby
also an executive producer at BET Network, filmed and produced the short, with John acting as director. The More Than A Fraction
Foundation executively produced the documentary. The MTAFF is named after the creative non-fiction book "More Than a
Fraction: Based on a True Story" by Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs, the executive director of the More Than A Fraction Foundation.
She discovered that her ancestors were enslaved on the grounds of Virginia Tech when it was called The Smithfield Plantation
and owned by the Preston family. Impressed with her research and connection to the grounds of the institution she was invited
to be a member of the Board of Directors for the Smithfield-Preston Foundation which oversees the Smithfield estate grounds.
Dr. Moseley-Hobbs has been serving on the board since 2015 helping to highlight the lives of the enslaved Africans and the
displaced Indigenous peoples. years.
Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs
has over 30-year in education (administration, research, and program development). She is one of the leading lecturers on
the history of Africans in America and African-Americans from the Appalachian region since the 18th Century. She is a fifth-generation
descendant of Thomas Fraction, the main subject in her creative nonfiction book "More Than a Fraction."
