Coastal Carolina University will celebrate famed Harlem Renaissance poet and musician Langston Hughes in the tribute "The Langston Hughes Project" on Wednesday, April 15, at 6 p.m., in the James J. Johnson Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public; no ticket is required.

The multimedia concert will include Hughes's kaleidoscopic jazz poem suite "Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz," featuring Ronald C. McCurdy, professor of music at the USC Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. The 12-part poem is Hughes' homage in verse and music about the struggle for artistic and social freedom in the 1960s. The concert will feature different musical genres such as blues, Dixieland and West Indian Calypso. Music will be accompanied by the spoken-word and images of the Harlem Renaissance.

McCurdy earned a bachelor's degree from Florida A&M University and a master's degree at the University of Kansas. He serves as a consultant to the Grammy Foundation educational programs. The orchestral version of The Langston Hughes Project originally previewed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with rapper and television star Ice-T. McCurdy is currently a performing artist for the Yamaha International Corporation.

The Johnson Auditorium is located in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, Room 116, at 119 Chanticleer Drive E.

For more information, contact the Office of Multicultural Student Services, at 843-349-2863.