There will be a weekend of celebration, March 28 and 29 -- including a free public lecture, workshop and an open concert -- as Cornell  welcomes the legendary Fisk Jubilee Singers to Ithaca.

The weekend culminates with a free public performance by the 18-voice Fisk Jubilee Singers Saturday, March 29, at 8 p.m. in Alice Statler Auditorium on the Cornell campus. Although all of the events during the weekend are free and open to the public, tickets are required for the Jubilee Singers' Saturday night concert. Those tickets are available at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office, on campus, and at the Clinton House box office, 116 N. Cayuga St., in downtown Ithaca. The weekend of programs marks the inaugural David R. and Patricia D. Atkinson Forum in American Studies at Cornell.

The weekend events begin Friday, March 28, when author Andrew Ward presents a lecture "There's Room Enough: The Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Dissemination of African American Culture," at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall on campus. Ward is the author of Dark Midnight When I Rise: The Story of the Jubilee Singers, Who Introduced the World to the Music of Black America , the definitive history of the internationally renowned group. Then on Saturday at 10 a.m., Paul Kwami, the Fisk Jubilee Singers' music director, will present a free public workshop at the Calvary Baptist Church, 507 N. Albany St. The workshop will focus on the performance of African-American spirituals and will include an Ithaca choir of 30 singers. The public is invited to attend.

"This is the first appearance of the Fisk Jubilee Singers at Cornell, and their first appearance in upstate New York in more than 25 years," said Nick Salvatore, Cornell professor of American studies as well as professor of industrial and labor relations. Salvatore was introduced to Kwami in March 2002 while Salvatore was co-leading a Cornell Adult University tour with Cornell dean and professor of American studies Glenn Altschuler, "looking for the origins of rock 'n' roll in Memphis and Nashville," Salvatore said. Both he and Altschuler were inspired to "bring the Jubilee Singers to Cornell," he said, "so that our community can experience their historic presentation of the spirituals that were forged during slavery. As it turns out, we got their very last available concert date for this year."

The Jubilee Singers were formed at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., in 1871. Fisk was one of the first African-American universities, designed solely for the education of former slaves. When the university was in financial trouble, the Jubilee Singers were formed to raise money for the school. The choir was, and still is, composed of students currently enrolled at the university, who sing a cappella. For more than 130 years, the Jubilee Singers have preserved, presented and interpreted the black spirituals created during the era of slavery for worldwide audiences.

The forum is sponsored by alumnus David R. Atkinson '60 and his wife Patricia D. Atkinson. For more information about the concert, workshop or lecture, contact Salvatore at (607) 255-2240. For further background on the Atkinson Forum, contact Altschuler at (607) 255-4987.