The New Orleans Antiques Forum presents “Music to My Eyes”

This August, The Historic New Orleans Collection delivers respite from the sultry summer heat in the form of cool, musical scholarship, when the New Orleans Antiques Forum returns to the French Quarter at 410 Chartres Street. This year’s forum, Music to My Eyes: Material Culture of Southern Sound, is a celebration and exploration of the development of “Southern sound.”

The essential music that poured forth from Southern communities, homes, and churches for centuries—First Nations social dances and storytelling, parlor entertainment, musical furniture, nineteenth century opera in the French Quarter, early country and western costumes, and more—will come to life during a multiple-day program brimming with talks, discussions, and lively presentations from nearly two dozen presenters hailing from around the country, all of whom hold a deep appreciation for and understanding of Louisiana’s inimitable regional music culture. Here’s a taste of what’s in store.

Schedule highlights include:

Friday, August 4

Unbinding Gentility: Southern Parlor Performance in the Nineteenth Century

By Dr. Candace Bailey, North Carolina Central University

A study of the artifacts of women’s musical culture in the nineteenth century, which were often historically dismissed as being of little value, with an emphasis on New Orleans. Dr. Bailey’s presentation will reveal the ways in which a multifaceted and nuanced culture used music as a means to mediate class, race, and education among antebellum women.

The Cajun Accordion: From the Front Porch to the Dancehall

Presented by Andre Michot, member of the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and Dr. Nick Spitzer, American Routes

That beloved staple of Cajun music heard on front porches and in dance halls across southwestern Louisiana, the diatonic button accordion came to Louisiana from Germany in the late 19th century. This talk will dissect the important place of the Cajun accordion in Louisiana’s heritage.

Saturday, August 5

“From Every House a Constant Tuting May be Listnd to Upon One Instrument or Another” 

Presented by Amanda Keller of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation 

This lecture will explore how members of the greater Williamsburg community interacted with music during daily life, and how music brought culturally diverse communities and influences, including those of American Indian and enslaved and free Black people, together across a range of spaces during the 18th century 

Visual Evidence: Unraveling the Story of the 8th Cavalry Mexican Military Band

Presented by Dr. Josh Kun, University of Southern California, with renowned New Orleans pianist Oscar Rossignoli

A deep dive into the history of the 8th Cavalry Mexican Band as represented by the historical objects—sheet music, photographs, and ephemera—that were associated with their presence in New Orleans in the late 1800s. Dr. Kun’s presentation will also draw a thread to the present-day, in a discussion that connects the Mexican band to 21st century histories of music and migration in New Orleans.

Sunday, August 6

Congo Square: The History of a Sacred Place Told through Its Objects

Presented by Freddi Evans, author and independent scholar

An examination of the material culture of the nineteenth-century Sunday gatherings of enslaved and free people of African descent in New Orleans’ Congo Square–– from the musical instruments the gatherers modeled after prototypes brought or recalled from their homelands; to the clothing the gatherers would have worn, like tignons, a headwrap worn by both enslaved and free women; and popular food items such as pralines, calas, and ginger beer that were part of this important  economic exchange.

Preserving Landmarks of New Orleans Music History

Presented  by Jordan Hirsch, ACloserWalkNola.com

Hirsch will lead a deep dive to explore the connection between New Orleans’ architecture and the city’s inimitable musical heritage, from jazz to rhythm and blues. This presentation will touch on current preservation efforts taking place at landmarks of New Orleans’ music history –– such as the Eagle Saloon, Iroquois Theater, and Karnofsky building; Perseverance Hall in the Seventh Ward; and the Dew Drop Inn and Buddy Bolden house in Central City.  

About The New Orleans Antiques Forum

Registration for “Music to My Eyes” opens Monday, June 5; attendees can register for a single-day, or the full forum. All tickets include access to a champagne reception. The Historic New Orleans Collection, founded in 1966, is a museum, research center and publisher dedicated to the stewardship of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South.