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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

Mwenso and The Shakes
Night Time is the Right Time

9:00 pm Thursday, January 19, 2023
Heritage Hall

As Roosevelt Sykes first told us, and Ray Charles later amplified, “… The night time is the right time to be with the one you love.” 

During the past several years, Michael Mwenso and his collective of Black roots artists, affectionately known as The Shakes, have fallen in love with the Penn State and State College communities during their residencies and performances.

“Your depth of community has filled our hearts. Your passion for the arts has made us feel at home. And your dedication to the future (while honoring the past) has filled us with hope,” Mwenso says.

Now, the musicians are taking their message of love to HUB-Robeson Center. 

“We invite you to join us with abandon on this musical journey through healing, uplift, and empowerment, and ask that you continue to carry Black music in your hearts and share it with your social ecosystem,” Mwenso says. “We believe music that feeds the soul can heal the world.” 

FREE and no ticket needed

This performance is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Week of Commemoration: A Testament of Hope. It's presented in partnership with the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity and the MLK Jr. Student Commemorative Committee. #ForTheCulture 

A grant from the University Park Student Fee Board makes Penn State student prices possible.

Artist Websites: 

Mwenso and the Shakes

Secondary Events on Each Event

Ancestral Communal Listening Session with DJ Elbow Knee Knee

6:00 pm Tuesday, January 17, 2023

3 Dots Downtown
137 E. Beaver Ave., State College

FREE and open to the public

Musician and educator Michael Mwenso will joyfully guide attendees through the powerful gifts buried within Black roots music and will demonstrate how he actively listens to music—alone and as part of a community.

Through this exploration of recorded music, participants will learn to understand that Black roots music contains the Black experience. It embodies the spirit and memory of a people who weave together traditions of the African diaspora with expressions in the United States, the Americas, and beyond.

DJ Elbow Knee Knee of Gorinto Productions will moderate the session.

Cash bar for mocktails by SoBar Space.

Presented by 3 Dots Downtown, Center for the Performing Arts, and Penn State University Libraries.

This engagement is supported in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals ArtsForward program, funded by the Mellon Foundation.

Community Jam Session with Mwenso and The Shakes

7:00 pm Friday, January 20, 2023

3 Dots Downtown
137 E. Beaver Ave., State College

FREE and open to the public

Join Mwenso and The Shakes for a community music jam and reception. The artists will celebrate partnerships fostered in the past three years through their participation in the center’s Fierce Urgency Festival. Anyone who wants to play in the jam session is welcome to bring an instrument and join the fun.

Presented by the Center for the Performing Arts and 3 Dots Downtown.

This engagement is supported in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals ArtsForward program, funded by the Mellon Foundation.