During the 20th century, Louis Austin, editor and publisher of The Carolina Times in Durham, used the power of the press, to make those words real, as he exposed and challenged racial injustice and racial segregation, on the page, in the streets, and in the courtroom.

Two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning songwriter Patty Griffin is one of the most beloved voices in American folk and Americana. For more than two decades, she has written songs that capture the small moments and big emotions that shape everyday life. The New York Times praised Griffin for writing “cameo-carved songs that create complete emotional portraits,” a […]

“Her Fight, His Name: The Story of Gwen Carr and Eric Garner” (Brad Bailey, 2024, 30m) Discussion to follow with Director Brad Bailey and Mrs. Gwen Carr. The short documentary centers on Gwen Carr’s enduring fight for justice following the 2014 death of her son, Eric Garner, after being pinned to the ground in a […]

This summer, AGS invited all Duke students to submit essays responding to the prompt “How did 9/11 Change the United States?” The five winning essays have been selected and their authors have been invited to share their work on a panel of their peers moderated by Professor David Schanzer. This event is part of part […]

Please note this screening will be held at the Durham County Main Library, 300 Roxboro Street, Durham. RSVP HERE. “Her Fight, His Name: The Story of Gwen Carr and Eric Garner” (Brad Bailey, 2024, 30m) A community discussion with director Brad Bailey and Mrs. Gwen Carr, and led by Natalie Bullock-Brown, will follow the screening. […]

AGS invites you to join us to honor the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. We will begin with a panel discussion at 3:00 p.m. featuring Duke professors Rachel Myrick, David Schanzer, and Susan Colbourn along with Rear Admiral (ret.) Milton Sands III and moderated by AGS Program Director Peter Feaver. This will be […]

Panel discussion

Kaia Kater is part of a new wave of folk musicians expanding the story of the banjo, with a sound Rolling Stone describes as “plaintive and mesmerizing.” In 2023, she won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song for the series The Porter, and her NPR Tiny Desk performance introduced her to a global […]

Ten years after the release of her acclaimed album Language Barrier, Durham-based poet, musician, and producer shirlette ammons brings the project home for a special full-album performance at Page Auditorium. In this one-night-only event, each track will be reimagined live with a rotating lineup of collaborators, reflecting the community spirit at the heart of the […]

Few works in modern dance carry the legacy of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, a masterpiece set to spirituals and gospel music that has moved audiences worldwide since 1960 and remains the most widely seen work in modern dance history. In Sacred Spaces, Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing and Co-creator and Musical Director Du’Bois A’Keen revisit that […]

The Duke Department of Music invites you to our first Biddle Community Day! Join us as we open our doors and welcome the broader Triangle and on-campus communities to experience the sounds, activities, and vibrant life of the Biddle Music Building. From live performances and open rehearsals to interactive activities-including bucket bands, sheet music origami, […]

As Durham’s signature fine arts festival, CenterFest showcases juried visual artists from the Triangle and across the country, alongside standout local performers on multiple stages. This year’s festival celebrates America 250!

Trailblazing comedian Mo Amer brings his sharp, deeply-personal stand-up to Durham to help kick off the Duke Arts Presents season. Known for his acclaimed series MO and three stand-up specials on Netflix, Amer has built a global following with comedy that blends personal storytelling, cultural insight, and fearless humor. Drawing from his experiences as a […]

Cherokee songwriter Ken Pomeroy writes songs that cut straight to the heart. Her music pairs a soft soprano with spare guitar and clear-eyed storytelling, creating songs that feel both fragile and powerful. Raised in Moore, Oklahoma, Pomeroy began writing at age eleven and quickly developed a reputation for lyrics that carry unusual emotional weight. Her […]

Join us for a screening of “Un Fandango en Carolina,” a collaborative documentary that tells the stories of the diasporic Sotaventino community in North Carolina through music, memory, and community collaboration. Created through a partnership between Iximché Media, Son de Carolina, and Duke University’s Bass Connections project “Storytelling Our Latinx Community” and the Fandango de […]

Legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns joins Duke alumnus, trustee emeritus, and former board chair David M. Rubenstein for a wide‑ranging conversation about United States history and civic engagement. Available exclusively to the Duke community, this free event marks the arrival of three historic copies of the Declaration of Independence at the Nasher Museum of Art […]

Join acclaimed historian and author Erica Armstrong Dunbar for a thought-provoking conversation about her award-winning book, “Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge.” In dialogue with Duke historian Tamika Nunley, Dunbar will explore the remarkable story of Ona Judge, the complexities of slavery in the nation’s founding, and the enduring […]

conversation with guest speaker

GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist Madison Cunningham has become one of the most admired musicians working across folk and rock today. Her 2022 album Revealer earned the GRAMMY® for Best Folk Album and widespread critical acclaim, cementing her reputation as an artist musicians admire as much as audiences do. Cunningham has collaborated with artists […]

Six dancers take the stage in MAJOR to explore the power, memory, and physicality of majorette dance, a form that originated in the American South within Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the 1960s. In this dance-theater work, six Black femmes revisit the rhythms of their girlhood and rediscover the bodies they shaped through choreography, […]

On October 3 and 4, the Program in American Grand Strategy will hold our annual staff ride – this year to Yorktown, Virginia, site of the final major campaign of the American Revolutionary War. 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, and the Yorktown campaign of 1781 is the hinge on which that independence […]

In Lead Me Home: A Celebration of the American Choral Landscape, the celebrated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 explores the many traditions that shape American choral music. The program moves from early voices such as William Byrd to contemporary composers like Pulitzer Prize-winning North Carolina composer Caroline Shaw, with beloved spirituals like Steal Away and My […]

Fireside chat with guest speaker

Eleven-time GRAMMY-winning bassist Christian McBride is one of the most influential figures in jazz today. A virtuoso performer, composer, and bandleader, prolific educator and advocate, and host of NPR’s “Jazz Night in America,” McBride is equally at home across genres from straight-ahead jazz to R&B, hip-hop, and classical music. In Ursa Major, McBride is joined […]

Public lecture with interfaith leader Eboo Patel, followed by a panel discussion.

Praised by The Washington Post as “one of this country’s most interesting and profound pianists” Awadagin Pratt is one of the most distinctive artists in American classical music. Winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Pratt has built a dynamic career with appearances ranging from solo recitals […]

The Ciompi Quartet, Duke University’s resident string quartet, has built an international reputation for performances that weave together music of the past and present. Praised by The New York Times for playing that sounded “intelligent and sure,” the ensemble’s fall program “Follow Me” is rooted in U.S. musical traditions. The evening moves from Samuel Barber’s […]

The Ciompi Quartet, Duke University’s resident string quartet, has built an international reputation for performances that weave together music of the past and present. Praised by The New York Times for playing that sounded “intelligent and sure,” the ensemble’s fall program “Follow Me” is rooted in U.S. musical traditions. The evening moves from Samuel Barber’s […]

Following their three-night run of Holiday Sauce in 2025, MacArthur “Genius” Award-winning icon Taylor Mac reunites with Obie Award-winning composer Matt Ray, “the musical nexus of New York’s alt-cabaret scene” (NYTimes), for an evening that invites all to reflect on queer lineage and futures. Following their much-heralded durational performance A 24-Decade History of Popular Music […]

Music makes us feel-alive, emotional, and deeply human. But what makes music distinctly American? In this studio recital, Duke cellists explore works by American composers and others who sought to capture the sound, spirit, and experience of America. Through a wide-ranging program, the performers consider how music can reflect identity, place, memory, and the many […]

This program traces a narrative arc from the nation’s founding ideals to contemporary perspectives on identity, migration, equity, and shared civic space. Through music, this performance explores belonging not as a fixed condition, but as a process shaped by history, struggle, and collective imagination. As a uniquely American ensemble rooted in civic and educational traditions, […]