ANN ARBOR—A new eclectic multimedia musical composition featuring two high-profile University of Michigan alumni debuts at the grandest stage in America?Carnegie Hall. The original work was workshopped over an intensive week last fall with U-M music students.

“Ask Your Mama,” based on Langston Hughes’ cycle poem of the same name, premieres March 16 as the centerpiece of the Honor! Festival at the historic concert hall in Manhattan. The 90-minute piece is a collaboration between Emmy Award-winning composer Laura Karpman, a 1980 U-M graduate, and world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman, a 1968 graduate.

Karpman drew inspiration from Hughes’ 1961 book-length poem, written as an interdisciplinary soundtrack to accompany his words. Hughes notes in the page margins of the book call for the words to be read along with the playing of a range of musical styles, including German Lieder, cha-chas, patriotic songs, Middle Eastern music, Afro-Caribbean drumming, and, perhaps most notably, American jazz.

Karpman took up the challenge.

“Laura’s composition pays tribute to 1930s music, ragtime, 1950s bebop, folks songs and gospel, a true survey of American musical styles,” said George Manahan, who was on hand for the workshop in Ann Arbor, and will conduct the Carnegie Hall performance. Manahan is conductor of the New York City Opera.

From Monday through Sunday in mid November, U-M student musicians worked side-by-side with Manahan, Karpman, Norman and Annie Dorsen, who directs the multimedia production. Modifications to the composition were made throughout the week, leading up to a private performance on Sunday, attended by a select audience.

“The U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance is uniquely set up for us to do this kind of workshop,” Karpman said “The use of technology in this piece requires a proficiency in the latest musical technology, and the students at U-M are incredible talented in using a range of technology.”

Karpman also noted the talent of the students is among the best in the country.

“U-M has an astonishing vocal studio and orchestra of young musicians who can be directed, and are willing to explore the possibilities of a piece,” she said. “Their input was essential to the evolution of ‘Ask Your Mama.'”

Ultimately, “Ask Your Mama” is a survey of American music, weaving assorted styles and instrumentation into a tapestry of jazz, gospel, hip-hop and ethereal swaths of orchestral music. The compelling and intensely original opus includes traditional orchestration, spoken and sung voice, sampled electronic media, and a range of percussion instruments.

The show includes performances by Norman, The Roots, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s and visuals by Rico Gatson.

For more information on the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, visit: http://www.music.umich.edu/