Dr. Crys Armbrust, founder and executive director of the Nina Simone Project, will present the story of Tryon native, jazz and blues legend and civil rights campaigner Nina Simone at noon, Tuesday, February 19 at Lanier Library.   

Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon in 1933, Nina Simone’s career spanned multiple genres, four decades, several continents, and earned 15 Grammy nominations. She was one of the most extraordinary artists of the twentieth century, an icon of American music. She was the consummate musical storyteller, who used her remarkable talent to create a legacy of liberation, empowerment, passion, and love through a magnificent body of works. She was the ‘High Priestess of Soul’. And it all started in Tryon, North Carolina.  

Join Dr. Armbrust at Lanier Library on February 19 to learn about Eunice Waymon’s early years studying in Tryon with Muriel Mazzanovich, wife of noted artist Lawrence Mazzanovich, and how Tryonnites, in recognition of Waymon’s prodigious talent, began the ‘The Eunice Waymon Fund’ to help underwrite the costs of her future studies, studies that continued at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.  The program is free and open to all in the community interested in learning about one of Tryon’s most famous natives. 

– Submitted by Amber Keeran