Susan Lamb Cook, cellist and UC Davis lecturer in music, is a co-producer of The Chevalier Project, which brings focus on the music and career of Black classical composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-99).

Co-produced with Deborah Pittman of the VITA Academy (based in Sacramento), the project includes the creation of an educational guide made for children, grades 4–6, and will also tell the story of Bologne himself, who was born to a slave owner in Guadalupe, a French colony, in pre-Revolutionary times.

The final project will premiere at 7:30 p.m. on August 27 at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento. The event is free but you must register in advance for entry at this link.

Cook discussed the project along with her collaborators in this video.

Recently Cook performed a string quartet written by Bologne on Capital Public Radio’s “Summer Concert Series,” which took place in their gardens at the radio station. Violinist Dagenais Smiley, who is also a UC Davis lecturer in music, performed with the quartet.

The performance can be viewed on the Capital Public Radio website.