WHITE HOUSE, ‘GREEN ONIONS’
“Memphis Soul” takes the spotlight for a PBS staging of “In Performance at the White House” on Tuesday night in the East Room, but a pre-concert workshop will hit the high note for two Stax Academy students.
WASHINGTON — Stephani Brownlee will attend a White House workshop with some of the great soul musicians next Tuesday, but she doesn’t mind admitting she’s most looking forward to meeting first lady Michelle Obama.
“She’s my inspiration, being an African-American, and seeing how one can be educated and how one can also be a positive face for young girls,” the 17-year-old pianist at the Soulsville Charter School and Stax Music Academy said Wednesday. Mrs. Obama shows “there are other avenues: Being educated is an option.”
Brownlee will join singer and guitar player Adrian Williams, 18, at the workshop in advance of a PBS staging of “In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul” on Tuesday night in the White House East Room.
Part of a series of concerts staged at the White House since 1978, the evening lineup will showcase Mem- phians and Memphis-connected musicians including Justin Timberlake, Steve Cropper, Mavis Staples, Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite and Sam Moore. Booker T. Jones will serve as music director and band leader.
Al Green, who sang a duet of “Let’s Stay Together” last year with President Barack Obama, was to have headlined the evening but has canceled due to a recent back injury, his publicist said Wednesday. Also
performing Tuesday night will be Cyndi Lauper, Queen Latifah and “American Idol” Joshua Ledet.
The event will be streamed live on the White House website Tuesday and will be broadcast on PBS stations, including WKNO-Channel 10, on the evening of April 16.
At Tuesday’s workshop in the White House’s State Dining Room, Adrian and Stephani, Stax Academy and Stax Museum director Lisa Allen and vocal coach and operations manager Justin Merrick will join students and faculty from other cities across the country.
Many of the evening’s performers will take their questions.
Stephani didn’t play the piano when she first got to Soulsville in middle school but now aspires to a life producing hit records and movie scores. She has earned a $250,000 scholarship to Brown University in Rhode Island.
“Music has always been a passion of mine,” she said. At Stax, “my love for the piano really blossomed, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.” She’s also learning to play the saxophone and bass guitar.
Adrian said that what he has “really gained from Stax is what it means to be a musician and the true essence of musicianship.” He has offers of financial aid scholarships to Rhodes College in Memphis, Connecticut College and Bates College in Maine.
The Obama White House has previously showcased Memphis talent. Just last year, B. B. King played the East Room in a blues concert for Black History Month. It was also broadcast on PBS.