INFEMNITY™ Arts and Culture News

After months of anticipation, Nina Kennedy's first book of memoirs titled Practicing for Love is finally here and available for purchase. You may order the book on Amazon  here , or order directly from the publisher RoseDog Books  here . Or, last but not least, order from our own website at  www.infemnity.com/shop . The book offers a black woman's perspective on the music industry in general, and the classical music industry in particular. Nina includes much information on the history of Fisk University, where her parents served on the faculty. There are tales of bullying resulting from a segregated, dysfunctional public school system. This country's racism practically destroys Nina's mother, who turns to alcohol for comfort. This is the environment in which Nina's sexuality buds and eventually blossoms. When she came to New York to study at Juilliard, Nina worked as a live-in babysitter and was faced with unreasonable expectations placed upon her by her

George Cooper Last October, The Noshing with Nina Show hit the road to Nashville, Tennessee, where Nina was scheduled to perform in the Fisk Jubilee Singers Alumni Heritage Awards concert at Fisk University. The day after the concert, Nina and former Fisk Jubilee Singer George Cooper sat down for a lively discussion in Jubilee Hall, the first permanent structure built in the United States for the purpose of educating freed slaves, with the profits from concerts given by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. George had studied piano with Nina's father, Matthew Kennedy, and sang with the Jubilee Singers while he was director. Jubilee Hall Cooper is also the founder of the Ella Sheppard School of Music in Chicago, where students from nineteen months to sixteen years old can have music lessons free of charge. During their conversation, George stresses how important it is for young children to be exposed to music education, and how it positively affects their cognitive skills. El