Apr 24, 2013 2 min read

CARMICHAELS – The Flenniken Public Library will present a performance by Commonwealth Speaker Paula Purnell, an educator and musician from Greensburg, in “Homemade Music in Pennsylvania” at 6:30 p.m. May 28 in the library. The program is appropriate for all ages and is free and open to the public.

“Homemade Music in PA” explores how people in Pennsylvania have been making music – and their own instruments – for ages. Purnell covers music of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, African American field hollers and Appalachian story songs. Long before people learned how to download music from the Internet, they knew how to make music out of whatever raw materials were available. Nowadays, people can reduce, reuse and recycle to make beautiful music from throwaway items like soda pop bottles and toilet paper rolls.

In this presentation, award-winning performer and educator Purnell will demonstrate a host of homemade musical instruments while sharing songs from Pennsylvania’s past.

This presentation is a program of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Pennsylvania Humanities Council, a nonprofit organization, inspires individuals to enjoy and share a life of learning.

For more information, visit www.pahumanities.org.