DECATUR — The Alabama Center for the Arts will welcome artists from the Core Ensemble to perform the chamber music theatre work Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. Actor Dracyn Blount portrays multiple characters; pianist Byron Burford-Phearse provides the musical soundscape.

Celebrating the music and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance era in New York City, Of Ebony Embers examines the lives of three outstanding but very different African American poets — Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay — as seen through the eyes of the great painter and muralist Aaron Douglas. The script was written by Akin Babatunde.

The show includes music by African American composers ranging from jazz greats Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus to concert music composers Jeffrey Mumford and George Walker.

Since 1993, Core Ensemble productions have toured nationally to every region of the United States and internationally to England, Russia, the Ukraine, Australia and the British Virgin Islands. The Ensemble was the recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award for Excellence in the Arts awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has received support from the State of Florida Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the Virgil Thomson Foundation.

“The ACA Foundation is pleased to support a diverse range of programming that enhances the educational and community outreach mission of the Alabama Center for the Arts. We’re dedicated to actively promoting the ACA to attract students and visitors from every corner of our fast growing region,” said Philip Mann, director of promotion and economic development at the ACA.

Thanks to the ACA Foundation, the production will be free and open to the public. For more information, contact the ACA at 256-260-4293.

About ACA

The Alabama Center for the Arts is the region’s premier art center and degree program. The project continues a long-standing collaborative academic effort between Athens State University and Calhoun Community College and serves as a model of academic institutional cooperation for the state. ACA is a venue for cultural events and activities and will enhance an appreciation of art while promoting opportunities for creative expression for residents throughout the region.