Black Violin to perform, collaborate with local high school, at Purdue University on Feb. 28

Hip-hop string duo Black Violin will come to Purdue University for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse. (Courtesy photo) Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Hip-hop string duo Black Violin will come to Purdue University for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse.

This performance is presented by Purdue Convocations with support from the Purdue Black Cultural Center, Stuart & Branigin lawyers, Barrett Caldwell, the Purdue Student Concert Committee and the Student Fee Advisory Board. 

Hip-hop on strings? Classical training remixed with contemporary beats? Don’t bother pinning down the ingenious sound of Black Violin. Redefinition has always been the goal for Kevin Sylvester (violin) and Wilner Baptiste (viola). 

Since 2004, Black Violin has collaborated with Kanye West, Tom Petty, Wu-Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean and Alicia Keys, among others. The duo’s latest album, “Stereotypes,” topped Billboard’s Classical Crossover chart while reaching No. 4 on Billboard’s R&B chart.   

Members of the Lafayette Jefferson Orchestra will join Black Violin on stage for a collaboration. 

Tickets are $28 for adults and $22 for children 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Stewart Center box office at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW. Group tickets are also available to groups of 10 more. Call 765-494-3933 for more details or visit https://purdue.edu/convocations/group-sales/.

Initiated in 1902, Purdue Convocations was one of the first professional performing arts presenters in the United States. Each year, Convocations offers the region 30-40 performances of widely varying genres: Broadway-style shows, theater, dance, children's theater, world music, jazz, and chamber music, along with rock, pop, country and comedy attractions. With a vision for connecting artists and audiences in artistic dialogue and for drawing in academic discourse, Purdue Convocations aims to promote frequent exposure to and familiarity with human cultural expression in a multitude of forms and media. 

Source: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu