American folk music and East African traditional music combine in concert at Westminster College, Wednesday, March 3, at 4 p.m. in the McKelvey Campus Center Student Lounge.

A husband and wife duo, Kelly Armor and Dave Sturtevant, have been composing and performing on a full-time basis since 1993. They write and perform folk music from East Africa and Appalachia inspired by folk traditions, classical music, bluegrass, rock and roll, and jazz.

Armor lived in East Africa with native families for several years while she collected songs, stories, and instruments. Dave Sturtevant is a direct descendant of an Appalachian fiddler - his father, whom he credits as one of his greatest influences.

"This duo enables us to exploit contrasts in wonderful ways," Armor said. "We combine ancient ballads with new original works; mix highly crafted, lush sounding instruments like the bass flute with wild and weird instruments we've created in our basement; and blend Appalachian harmonies with African rhythms."

The program, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Westminster College Diversity Symposium. The symposium is designed to help students and the community acquire a knowledge and appreciation of differences among people, human cultures, and the natural world.

"Folk music is a great way to showcase diversity," said Armor. "I've discovered that we can't present the music I collected in Africa without explaining how African culture differs from ours."

For more information, contact Dr. Virginia Tomlinson, associate professor of sociology and coordinator of this event, at (724) 946-6033 or e-mail tomlinvm@westminster.edu.