Black Banjo & Fiddle Music Performance

* Saturday, February 24, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Immerse yourself in the sounds of traditional Black Banjo and Fiddle music with the musicians from the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship.

This is a unique opportunity to experience this old-time music, learn about its rich history, and meet the musicians carrying the legacy forward.

Join us at the Novato Library on Saturday, February 24, as we celebrate Black History Month with a live concert featuring the three current fellows, Patrice Strahan on banjo, Joe Johnson on banjo, Darcy Ford-James on fiddle, and joined by Chanelle Ignant on guitar.

This program is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Marin County Free Library with the support of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music.

Darcy Ford-James (she/her) is a violinist and educator with more than two decades as a public school strings teacher. Darcy is co-founder of Stockton Soul, a nonprofit Soul Orchestra dedicated to educating, empowering, and inspiring audiences through the performance of Black Music.

Joe Zavaan Johnson (he/him) is a multi-instrumentalist, arts educator, and Black music researcher currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at Indiana University-Bloomington. His research puts the Black banjo reclamation movement into conversation with critical constructions of race, place, belonging, gender, and sexuality.

Patrice Strahan (she/her) is a life-long musician who cultivated her love for music singing in church choirs and playing in bands. Her music practice is driven by her passion for communal music, at the intersection of land stewardship/kinship and engaged spiritual social justice. Patrice is dedicated to ensuring that Black Old Time Music is learned and passed on to future generations.

Chanelle Ignant (she/her) is a guitarist, educator, and Oakland Public Conservatory of Music faculty member based in Oakland. She picked up the guitar at age 13 at the behest of her late grandmother, and now, with over 15 years of experience, she’s developed a unique sound that blends jazzy melodic lines with laid back rhythms that tap into the healing power of music.

She has had the privilege of accompanying artists on stages great and small throughout the Bay Area including Yoshi’s, Freight and Salvage, The Chapel, and more. When not performing or recording she teaches guitar to the next generation of music makers.