Celebrate the season as the Preservation Hall Jazz Band returns with the Creole Christmas concert series. Join as the band performs New Orleans classics as well as some of our best-loved holiday selections with a twist. Preservation Hall Jazz Band has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 60 years, all the while carrying it enthusiastically forward as a reminder that the history they were founded to preserve is a vibrantly living history.

Local illustrator Christine Nishiyama is the author and/or illustrator of seven books, including the four-book series “Layla and the Bots,” published by Scholastic. During the interactive workshop, Nishiyama will speak about her experiences as a professional illustrator and will introduce the craft to participants of all ages. The event is free and open to the public.

Many believe that literature serves as a window to the world for children, and Beulah Campbell embodied that belief throughout her life. As a professor of elementary education at Appalachian State University, she understood the vital connection between illustrations and text in children's books. Over her 40-year career Beulah built a collection of original artwork by renowned children’s book illustrators, while also fostering a deep appreciation for children’s literature in her students.

The classical composer Béla Bartók is perhaps most famous in the music world for having incorporated elements of folk music into his work, a practice that earned him the title of “father of ethnomusicology.” Bartók became an outspoken critic of antisemitic laws in Hungary and fled to the U.S. during World War II. This event presents two talks and a listening workshop that will help participants understand and appreciate the legacy of Bartók and other classical musicians who resisted antisemitism and fascism in the 1930s and 40s.