Winchester Academy hosts Jonathan Overby
Dr. Jonathan Overby will present “The Road to Higher Ground” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Waupaca.
Sponsored by Winchester Academy, the program is free and open to the public.
Overby is a Wisconsin Public Radio host, ethnomusicologist, singer, conductor and world traveler.
His program will focus on his study of world music and how it can inform how one might better understand the human condition.
Overby’s travels and research have taken him to Northern India, Scotland, Tibet, the Caribbean, Japan, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Ghana, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, Cuba, Peru, India, Scotland and Morocco.
These travels, says Overby “may have the potential for building bridges between diverse groups while illuminating and celebrating cultural diversity and the inclusion of marginalized groups.” Overby feels that “such understanding may, in fact, reduce human hatred.”
His current research project centers on Sacred World Music.
Overby hosts a live radio show from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays on WPR’s News and Classical Network.
Each edition of his radio program, “The Road to Higher Ground,” features Overby’s blend of varied musical styles and artists. Each choice serves as a means of increasing the understanding of diverse groups worldwide.
Originally from Milwaukee, Overby was the recipient of a Ford Foundation Academic Scholarship. He attended San Francisco State University, where he received his formal musical training in voice.
Upon returning to Wisconsin, he performed extensively throughout Wisconsin, then the U.S. and Europe, with recital tours in Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Poland.
From 1984-87, he conducted Madison Edgewood College’s Choral and Community Choirs.
A distinguished ethnomusicologist, Overby two terms as vice chair of the Wisconsin Arts Board.
He is executive producer and director of Wisconsin’s “Tribute and Ceremony” honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, now in its 38th year.
In 2014, he became the first post-doctoral fellow in the 135-year history of Edgewood College in Madison.
In 2016, Overby was presented with the Wisconsin Idea Award for his “outstanding contributions to service and education to society and the quality of life in Wisconsin, the nation, and the world.”
Winchester Academy programs are funded through sponsors and tax-deductible donations. Overby’s visit is sponsored by Vance and Ann Linden.
Organizers note that the Feb. 5 “Higher Ground” program will be held at a special location, Trinity Lutheran Church, 206 E Badger St., in downtown Waupaca.
For more information about Winchester Academy, check winchesteracademywaupaca.org, follow on Facebook, or contact Executive Director Ann Buerger Linden at 715-258-2927 or [email protected].