Today at noon, the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History invites the public to bring a lunch and join Melva Houston for a “Lunch and Learn” at the Museum Annex, 144 W. Oak St. This program is free to the public.

Houston is a jazz and blues vocalist whose experience includes more than 20 years of live performances across the U.S. and internationally. She began her career with gospel performances. At the age of 16, she moved into R&B as a backup singer for Stax Records where she recorded with R&B greats such as Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Wilson Pickett and Sam and Dave.

Once Houston discovered jazz and blues, she found her musical passion and has been performing these styles for most of her career. Today, she tours the U.S., Spain, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and the Caribbean on her mission to keep jazz alive. In addition to her concerts, Houston also conducts vocal workshops for aspiring singers. By sharing her passion, energy and love of music, she has received the adulation of countless audiences around the world.

“New Harmonies” will be on display through April 24. Mount Airy Museum of Regional History and the surrounding community was expressly chosen by the North Carolina Humanities Council to host “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music” as part of the Museum on Main Street project — a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations.

For more information, contact the museum at 786-4478.