# Event Details - **Event Name**: Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Symposium - **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 25 Sep, 2026 at 10:00 am – Fri, 25 Sep, 2026 at 06:00 pm (-04:00) - **Event Description**: To mark the 50th anniversary of Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, CSSD is organizing a full-day symposium and accompanying concert.About this EventThe symposium and accompanying concert will reflect on the groundbreaking album’s insights into life in the wake of civil rights and decolonial movements across the African world, and on the legacies of Wonder’s hopeful vision of a future grounded in love and shared humanity. They will kick off a yearlong series of public events and study sessions that respond to the U.S. semiquincentennial and offer a critical counternarrative to officially sanctioned accounts of the country’s past by focusing on works with alternative anniversaries which illuminate the conditions and experiences of minoritized communities.Held in partnership with The People’s Forum and the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, the symposium features four panels, each focusing on one side of Wonder’s four-sided album. Panels will bring together scholars and musicians for conversations that incorporate close listening and improvisational demonstrations. Themes broached in discussions will range from urban Black and brown impoverishment and jazz as a form of Black resistance to Black familial love and Global South solidarities. Panelists include Marcus J. Moore, LaFrae Sci, Samora Pinderhughes, Naomi Extra, Naima Cochrane, and Shana L. Redmond. The symposium will end with a jam session building off of the album’s bonus tracks, led by Dr. Guthrie Ramsey’s Musiqology, and a reception.Following the symposium, CSSD is proud to co-present, along with Pique-nique, Boom Collective and The Radio in the Orchard (TRiO), a concert featuring musician Elliott Skinner. Organized as part of Pique-nique’s “Take Two” series, the concert will include a listening session of Wonder’s album followed by a reinterpretation by Skinner. Blending soul, blues, folk, and rock, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Skinner creates music that combines atmospheric vocals and rich instrumentation with an emphasis on personal storytelling. His work draws from the Black Radical Music Tradition, a lineage of Black artists who have used music to explore identity, confront social realities, and imagine new possibilities for freedom. To purchase tickets for the concert, follow the link here. This eventbrite only secures your ticket for the symposium. - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/new-york/songs-in-the-key-of-life-at-50-symposium/100001998770837380 - **Event Categories**: fitness, Music, Entertainment, Concerts, Business, Sports - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 - **Event Highlights**: - Duration: 8 hours - Location: The People's Forum - Languages: English ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: New York - **state**: NY - **country**: United States - **location**: The People's Forum - **lat**: 40.7544504 - **long**: -73.99326429999999 - **full address**: The People's Forum, 320 West 37th Street, New York, United States ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Symposium - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events8/banners/b03d96848ef9f642482604ff210255d0d754cac4abec14bdd96ac121426b412c-rimg-w1200-h675-dc080808-gmir.jpg?v=1787727777 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Symposium being held? - **A:** Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Symposium takes place on Fri, 25 Sep, 2026 at 10:00 am to Fri, 25 Sep, 2026 at 06:00 pm at The People's Forum, 320 West 37th Street, New York, United States. - **Q**: Who is organizing Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Symposium? - **A:** Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Symposium is organized by Columbia Center for the Study of Social Difference. - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** Songs in the Key of Life at 50: Symposium is ideal for music lovers, fans of all genres, and anyone who wants to celebrate the power of music - from intimate gigs and live sessions to festivals and cultural performances. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in New York, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. 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Organized on the occasion of Malcolm X’s centennial and inspired by his internationalist insights, program events will probe continuities between policing, racial profiling, and police militarization; the prison industrial complex; immigrant detention; forever wars in the Middle East and Central Asia; and the transformation of war zones like Gaza into technological testbeds." } ] } ] ```