The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum proudly presents an evening that will entertain and educate through the memories and powerful singing voice of the daughter of a music legend.
Join us on Thursday, January 13 at 7pm in our Union Theater for Maggie Brown’s one-woman show, “Legacy: Our Wealth of Music.”
Maggie is the daughter of the late lyricist and performer Oscar Brown Jr. and has been using her talents for thirty years to not only further her father’s musical legacy, but to inspire a greater sense of responsibility for the positive outcome of our future.
“In 1991 I embarked on creating a stage piece that would “edutain” my audience with music and my own dramatic reflection on the history & evolution of African American music,” says Maggie. “The show is called ‘Legacy: Our Wealth of Music.’ It is the vehicle through which I can sing, narrate and demonstrate my love for a wide range of music styles.”
All seats are FREE, but reservations are required and are available through PresidentLincoln.Illinois.gov
Doors open at 6pm and guests will be able to view the State of Sound exhibit from 6pm until the start of the program at 7pm.
“Legacy: Our Wealth of Music” by Maggie Brown is presented in conjunction with our Illinois Gallery exhibit, State of Sound: A World of Music from Illinois, that runs through January 23, 2022.
Reserve Seats
ABOUT MAGGIE BROWN: Born and raised on Chicago’s Southside, Maggie Brown is the youngest of three siblings. “My older brother Bo Brown, was a musician and often my babysitter, which meant I grew up experiencing a lot of rehearsals and jazz jam sessions in our Hyde Park neighborhood. We visited our Dad, Oscar Brown Jr., during school breaks, and were further exposed to music and show business,” says Maggie.For thirty years, Maggie Brown has been working to expand her father’s legacy through song and what she calls “Edutainment” through her work as a vocalist, music producer, and storyteller. She considers herself to be a “concerned cultural artist, intentionally seeking to influence my audience, using the transformative and unifying power of words and music.”
In 1998, an appearance at the Schomburg Library Center in concert with her father afforded Maggie exposure to singer/songwriter Abbey Lincoln. After witnessing Maggie’s performance, Ms. Lincoln proclaimed her “a great performer,” and invited Maggie to perform two duets on her Wholly Earth CD, released January 1999 on the Verve label. She also may be heard in duet with Jonathan Butler on the Urban Knights II CD. Maggie has also done studio recording with Kelan Phil Cohran, Ramsey Lewis and Stevie Wonder.
Maggie defies definition, with a repertoire that finds her performing in venues as diverse as the House of Blues, the Old Towne School of Folk Music, Ravinia Jazz Festival, the world-renown Chicago Jazz Festival and Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center. Nationally she’s performed at New York’s Blue Note with Abbey Lincoln, at Zanzibar Blue in Philadelphia, Razzels in Denver and at the Woodruf Arts Center in Atlanta, among others. Overseas, Maggie appeared in the "Made in Chicago Jazz Fest," in Poznan, Poland. Maggie's more recent appearances have been with Tom Tom Washington's Big Band, Joan Collaso's 11 Jazzy Divas, the AACM, and Orbert Davis' Chicago Jazz Philharmonic.