This event is part of Hill Center’s annual Benjamin Drummond
series of cultural and scholarly programming.

This engagement is made possible in part through the Mid Atlantic Tours program of
Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The concert will be preceded by a conversation with the artists moderated by WPFW-FM Program
Director Katea Stitt.

DuPont Brass is a one-of-a-kind, brass-driven supergroup from the DMV (DC, MD, VA) Area. Originally
composed of five music majors from Howard University trying to raise money for tuition during the
Christmas season, they have grown to a 9-piece ensemble consisting of brass, a rhythm section, and
vocalists. Gaining popularity from playing at local Metro stations, DuPont Brass started professionally
playing for weddings, banquets, and other private events in the surrounding area. Thanks to the
foundation laid in their earlier years, DuPont Brass has had the opportunity to perform in conjunction
with the D.C. Jazz Festival, The Washington Performing Arts Society, The Kennedy Center Millennium
Stage, and The National Cannabis Festival. Consistently touching the community’s hearts with their
heartwarming testimony, DuPont Brass has been featured on WPFW’s “Live at Five” three times and in the
Washington Post newspaper six times. Recently, they made their local television debut on WHUT’s
“DMV the Beat” on PBS. Through their training in classical and contemporary styles, DuPont Brass has
developed a sound they’ve coined “Eclectic Soul” that mixes varied genres of music, including jazz, hip-
hop, and R&B. In their latest effort, Music Education, DuPont Brass shows us why they are qualified to
excel in both the education and performance arenas of the music industry. Filled with a diverse arsenal of
musical styles, they present a catalog made with every kind of listener in mind.

Katea Stitt attended Georgetown University, and began her career as a performing arts producer in 1987. In 1994, she launched her company, Anyanwu Management, to offer event, tour, and artist management services to individuals, ensembles, and organizations. For
over 16 years, the company’s clients included Ntozake Shange, Lester Bowie, Sweet Honey In The Rock, Dianne McIntyre, Judith Jackson, Sekou Sundiata, Defunkt, Washington Performing Arts Society, District Curators, and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Her tour management services have taken her to many parts of the world, including most cities in the United States, several countries in western and eastern Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and several cities in Turkey and Pakistan. From 1999 until 2004, Ms. Stitt directed the Smithsonian Institution’s Jazz Oral History Program. Since 1991, she has hosted Beyond Borders, a weekly Jazz/World Music program, on DC Pacifica station WPFW. She has produced two radio documentaries on Morocco for the network – Inside the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music and the Essaouira Festival of Gnawan and World Music. Ms. Stitt was Line Producer for Blink Your Eyes: Revisiting Sekou Sundiata, a celebration of the work of the late poet, held at various venues throughout the five boroughs of New York City, which ran from April to October 2013. She is currently Program Director for Pacifica radio station WPFW in Washington, DC, and Tour Manager for singing ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock.

Benjamin Drummond Emancipation Day Celebration

Now in its 9th year, Hill Center’s Benjamin Drummond series honors America’s first liberated enslaved people with scholarly and celebratory programs that bring together a diverse group of prominent experts, artists, and public figures throughout the year to explore the Civil War and its long aftermath from the African American perspective. Named for the Old Naval Hospital’s first patient, a young African American seaman taken prisoner by Confederated ships, Benjamin Drummond Emancipation Day Celebration marks 162 years since President Abraham Lincoln signed The District of Columbia Emancipation Act, also known as The DC Compensated
Emancipation Act, nearly nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation.