Jessye Norman to Curate Festival

Festivals are the name of the game these days in the classical music world. Having presented its first major international festival last fall, Carnegie Hall will present two American festivals in the 2008–09 season: in the fall, the previously announced “Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds,” a collaboration with the New York Philharmonic, and in the spring, “Honor! A Celebration of the African-American Cultural Legacy.” “Honor” is curated by the soprano Jessye Norman. It will include some 20 concerts and other events, including a performance of “Ask Your Mama!,” a multimedia collaboration between Ms. Norman and the composer Laura Karpman based on a text by Langston Hughes; an evening devoted to excerpts from Duke Ellington’s three “Sacred Concerts”; a concert by jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, and other events at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.