Stax Academy students headed to D.C. for museum opening

Young musicians with Memphis’ Stax Music Academy are scheduled to perform at the grand opening festival for the Smithsonian Institution’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.

Members of the academy, which provides after-school music education for teenagers, are scheduled to perform at “Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration” from Friday through Sunday at the National Mall. President Barack Obama is scheduled to dedicate the museum on Saturday.

The young performers will share the stage with Public Enemy, The Roots, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Robert Randolph and others.

“This is an enormous opportunity for the Stax Music Academy students to make history by representing Memphis at one of the highest-profile events in Washington D.C. in a long time,” said Tim Sampson, communication director for the Soulsville Foundation, which oversees the academy.

“This affirms not only the hard work the students and staff do every day, but also the Soulsville Foundation’s efforts to help change the lives of underserved, deserving young people.”

“Not one of these students or their families will ever be the same after being a part of the grand opening of the country’s largest African-American museum that has been a century in the making and is being dedicated by the president,” added Sampson. “It’s such an exciting way to keep promoting the legacy of Stax Records into the future for generations to come.”

The Stax Music Academy musicians also are scheduled to appear on NBC’s “Sunday Today” show this weekend.