Violinist Ashley Park has been playing her instrument for the last 10 years and believes the violin is another way to express emotion and describes it as “another voice.”
Benjamin Watson
Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra member Benjamin Watson plays both the piano and French horn. A Classical music fan since he was an infant, rumor has it he was heard singing “Ode to Joy” in his crib.
Peyton Crony
Eastman Community Music School student Peyton Crony shares how she came to pick the viola as her instrument and performs Franz Anton Hoffmeister, Etude in A minor, a piece she admits, “always brings a smile to my face.”
February’s CREATE Showcases • WXXI-CREATE
Enjoy these marathons with your favorite CREATE celebrities throughout February.
CREATE Showcases air Fridays from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on WXXI-CREATE.
Cultural Travel – February7-9
A trip away from home isn’t just a chance to experience a new place, but a time to immerse yourself in a new culture. Join Create hosts on globe-spanning adventures that showcase the true heart of their destinations.
Sweets for Your Sweetie – February 14-16
Be our Valentine and treat yourself to a feast of decedent and show-stopping sweet treats this weekend — there will be plenty of chocolate to go around!
Celebrating Black Culinary Traditions – February 21-23
Join us on a food tour to celebrate the rich Black culinary traditions that are woven into local cuisines from coast to coast.
Mardi Gras Party – February 28-March 2
Let the good times roll in the Crescent City as the Mardi Gras party begins and Create hosts revel in the tasty traditions and carnival atmosphere.
Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan “Bad Days, Tough Seasons or Clinical Depression?” • WXXI-TV
Kelly sits down with Dr. Leanne Williams, founding director of the Stanford Center for Precision Mental Health and Wellness, to discuss mental health disorders and therapies.
Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan “Bad Days, Tough Seasons or Clinical Depression?” airs Friday, February 28 at 8:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming on the WXXI app.
They are joined by hospice and palliative care physician Dr. BJ Miller, and comedian W. Kamau Bell to elaborate on depression, stigmas and misconceptions associated with mental illness, and how we can move forward.
Major Taylor: Champion of the Race • WXXI-TV
Retraces the life and legacy of an American civil rights pioneer who set more than 20 world records in speed cycling during the heart of Jim Crow America.
Major Taylor: Champion of the Race airs Monday, February 24, 2025 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming on the WXXI app.
In a word, I was a pioneer, and therefore had to blaze my own trail.” – Marshall “Major” Taylor. He earned nicknames that often equated to the most powerful forces in heaven and earth: The Cyclone. The Whirlwind. The Comet. He earned the respect of civil rights pioneer Booker T. Washington and shook the hand of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought out the great champion to congratulate him. Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor was the world’s first Black sports superstar. Reporters simply called him “The Fastest Man in the World.”
By the time he was in his early 20s, Major Taylor had claimed victory in the world cycling championship, the American cycling crown, and had set dozens of world speed cycling records all while having to endure withering racial pressures.
Photo: Hazel Scott/ Credit: Everett
American Experience “Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP” • WXXI-TV
The story of Walter White and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
American Experience “Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP,” premiering Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming on the WXXI app
As the story is usually told, the civil rights movement began in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus. In fact, the stage had been set decades before, by activists of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who braved the appalling violence and oppression of the Jim Crow era. Some of their names are familiar: W.E.B. Du Bois and Thurgood Marshall. They all played prominent roles in the NAACP, the preeminent civil rights organization of the era. But Walter White — arguably the most influential Black man in mid-century America and the leader of the NAACP from 1929 to 1955 — has been all but forgotten. American Experience traces the life of this neglected civil rights hero and seeks to explain his disappearance from our history.
Photo:Dr. Ralph Bunche (right) is greeted at the Dallas airport as he arrives to give address at the closing session of the 45th annual convention of the NAACP. At left is the Rev. Ernest C. Estell, Jr., pastor of the St. John Baptist Church in Dallas and chairman of the Dallas convention committee, and (center) Walter White, NAACP executive secretary, 1954. /Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Visual Materials from the NAACP Records
American Masters – The Disappearance of Miss Scott • WXXI-TV
Hazel Scott was one of the most revered stars of the early 20th century.
American Masters – The Disappearance of Miss Scott, premieres Friday, February 21, 2025 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming on the WXXI app.
Not only was Scott a beloved musical sensation, but she also channeled her talents into Hollywood stardom, becoming the first Black American to host their own television show. Discover her storied life, from her childhood as a musical prodigy in Trinidad to her prolific career on stage and the silver screen in this new documentary.
Featuring archival footage and stills, performance clips, animation, and interviews, The Disappearance of Miss Scott is the first known documentary centering on the jazz virtuoso’s life, detailing her awe-inspiring talents on the piano, how she used her star power to be an influential voice of the nascent Civil Rights Movement, and her life in Paris after being blacklisted from Hollywood during the 1950s Red Scare. Her career in the US ultimately ended after she defended herself and her colleagues in front of the House Un-American Committee, and her story has been mostly silenced until this film. Excerpts of Scott’s unpublished autobiography are voiced by Emmy Award-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, revealing Scott as a woman who would not compromise on her beliefs, and are complemented by interviews with country star Mickey Guyton, actresses Amanda Seales and Tracie Thoms, jazz musicians Camille Thurman and Jason Moran, and Adam Clayton Powell III, Hazel Scott’s only son.
Photo: Hazel Scott/ Credit: Everett