Experience a wide range of art activities by supporting our Creative Engagement, Creative Learning and UMEZ Arts Engagement grantees and their events this month.

Learn more here!

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WADE

WADEintoACTIVISM Festival
December 1 & 2 2023 at 6:30 and 8:30 PM
Arts on Site, 12 St. Marks Place,  New York, NY, 10003

Sunday, December 3, 2023 at 2:30 PM
Peridance Center, 126 East 13th Street, New York, NY, 10003

Monday, December 4, 2023 at 6:00 PM
Arts on Site, 12 St. Marks Place,  New York, NY, 10003

Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 6:00 PM
La Sala De Pepe, 73 Avenue C, New York, NY, 10009

Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 6:00 PM
NYU Tisch Dance, 111 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003

Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 6:30 PM
Paul Taylor Studios, 551 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002

December 8 & 9, 2023 at 6:30 and 8:30 PM
Arts on Site, 12 St. Marks Place,  New York, NY, 10003

Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 4:00 pm
The Tank, 312 W 36th St., New York, NY 10018

WADEintoACTIVISM is a performing arts festival calling for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls and presenting work by female and historically underrepresented artists and community masterclasses and panels with feminist allies surrounding gender-based violence. WADE Dance INC. is joining the Global 16 Days Campaign, launched by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) and feminists from around the world running from November 25th (the International Day Against Violence on Women) through December 10th (Human Rights Day). All Panels, Dance Playgrounds, and Community Masterclasses are free with advanced RSVP. All Arts on Site performances are $30.00/ticket. Attend an opening or closing night reception with the artists by making a cash or Venmo donation in the amount of $20.00 or higher. To pay cash, please pay at the door at the start of the event.

Find more information at: www.wadedance.org/wia

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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The Fantastic Experimental Latino Theater inc

The Golden Year Theater
December 1 – 3, 2023 at 7:00 PM and 2:00 PM
The Clemente, 2nd floor, 107 Suffolk St. New York, NY 10002

The Golden Year Theater” A series of short plays celebrating the legacy of artists of this generation. Plays full of touching moments as well as moments that make you laugh.

Grant Programs: Creative Engagement 

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Josué Pérez

Guitarrazón
Friday, December 1, 2023 at 8:00 pm
National Opera Center, 330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001

Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 6:00 PM
Leonovich Gallery, 706 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

Guitarist/Composer Josué Pérez unlocks the guitar’s inner logic to create a magical evening of GUITARRAZÓN. Experience the nuanced textures of the instrument in settings for guitar solo, duo, and ensemble with voice, cello and flute. Soprano Alexandra Filipe, tenor Alejandro Olmeda, cellist Jeanne Fox, flutist Kana Miyamoto, and guitarist Lisa Spraragen join Mr. Pérez onstage at the National Opera Center.

Find more information at: https://www.lisayjosueguitar.com

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Clutch Productions, Inc.

The Inheritance of a Long-Term Fault
Friday, December 1, 2023 to Saturday, December 23, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036

A new play by Mêlisa Annis and directed by Vanessa Morosco. While presenting the keynote at a high-profile conference, Me, a successful geologist in her field, asks her peers: what is our creation story? The Inheritance of a Long-Term Fault takes an explosive look at the generational impact of societal structures created by colonialism, and how these original sins continue to shape our world today; physically, linguistically, spatially, and spiritually. Interrelated scenes over space and time reveal the friction between what Me wants and what she’s inherited. Only a tectonic shift will allow her to hear the echoes from a mythological past, and explore new possibilities of what comes next.

Find more information at: https://bfany.org/theatre-row/shows/the-inheritance-of-a-long-term-fault/ 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement

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Association for the Development of Vocal Artistry and Neighborhood Cultural Enrichment

Angelitos Negros (Little Black Angels)
Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 7:30 PM
Advent Lutheran Church, 2504 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

MORE Opera presents “Angelitos Negros” a concert of songs, opera excerpts, Spanish folk music, and Spirituals featuring world premiere compositions and arrangements by Dr. Patricio Molina, composer and pianist on Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 7:30 PM at Advent Lutheran Church, 2504 Broadway, New York, NY 10025. The program includes an original dramatic narrative celebrating African American and Latino musical traditions. Dr. Molina conducts MORE Opera soloists and an intergenerational community chorus from the pianoforte. 

Find more information at https://www.moreopera.com/angelitos-negros and @moreopera on Instagram and FaceBook

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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NUNU Radio Productions

Nzinga’s Children
Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Saturday, December 9, 2023 at 7:00 pm
VIRTUAL

NUNU Radio presents a drama presentation of NZINGA’S CHILDREN.This phenomenal period piece is a story about a young, beautiful, hardworking, determined, African-American woman who not only struggles for a better and prosperous life but also struggles for a helpmate or partner who is equally willing to pursue and share her dreams of prosperity. During this young woman’s struggles, she receives an unsuspecting visit from five grandmothers — that is, five grandmothers from her ancestral bloodline. These grandmothers have come with some stern advice for this young woman. The question is: Will she take heed to the advice of her ancestors or simply dismiss their invaluable words of wisdom in pursuit of a self-entitled life?

Find more information at: 

December 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGe9CYy1HMM

December 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRRC_anyMpY

Grant program: UMEZ Arts Engagement 

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Leonardo Suarez Paz’s PIAZZOLLA 100

Her TANGO
Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 7:00 PM
The Chapel of the Good Shepherd, 543 Main Street, New York, NY 10044

Three iconic instruments of Tango – violin, guitar, and bandoneon and members of Nuevo Tango Ballet address the genre’s essence and evolution through a contemporary, multidisciplinary narrative, creating “Her TANGO,” an intimate portrait of a genre through the female gaze. The performance features the music of Astor Piazzolla and Leonardo Suarez Paz & the poetry of Horacio Ferrer. Soloists Leonardo Suarez-Paz (violin & voice), Rodolfo Zanetti (bandoneon), and Gabriel Hermida (guitar) and the dancers of Nuevo Tango Ballet – Olga Suarez Paz, Caitlyn Casson, Laura Izquierdo Jurado & Héloïse Ponsonnet. This program is bilingual (English/Spanish).

The concert includes a special, concurrent visual art exhibit with works by Argentine-born and New York-based abstract painter, Susana Aldanondo.

Find more information at: https://www.suarezpaztango.com/her-tango.html

Grant program: Creative Engagement 

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FIKI

Belated FELAbration at the Shrine NYC
Sunday, December 3, 2023 at 4:30 PM
Shrine World Music Venue NYC, 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd, New York, NY 10030

Belated FELAbration will serve as the first series of music celebrating the life of Nigeria’s foremost musical icon FELA KUTI to be held at SHRINE NYC. Rising Afropop artist, FIKI will be performing along with special guests.

Find more information at: www.eventbrite.com/e/belated-felabration-tickets-761916030357

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Alice Klugherz

Two Fairytale Rants, a Dance-ical beyond Grimm
Sunday, December 3, 2023 at 3:00 PM
Arts on Site, 12 Saint Marks Place, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10003

An older “Rapunzel Rants” about her love-search and confusion with the super-connected disconnect of the modern world. Plagued by memory loss and kept from spiraling off script by her stage manager she asks “What keeps me in the Tower?” The locks have rusted open and the witch is dead. In “Mami, El Ogre, y Pedrito”, (Mommy, the Ogre and little Pedro) Pedro interrupts Bruno Bettelheim’s analysis of Jack and the Beanstalk with his own life in Puerto Rico and the US. He moves away from Bettelheim’s Eurocentric conclusions to find answers and questions from his own culture.

Find more information at: https://www.artsonsite.org/tickets 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement

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Friends of the Erben Organ

Victorian Carol Sing-Along with Two 19th Century Pipe Organs!
Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, 261 Mott Street, New York, NY 10012

Join us for a merry evening of Victorian-era carols, and seasonal music and readings. After the carol sing, carols+tour ticket holders are invited to join us upstairs for a tour of the historic Erben organ with the Director of Music, Jared Lamenzo. Some selections on the evening’s program were performed on Christmas 1868, when the Erben organ was first heard. * Festive treats and libations are included with the Victorian Carol Sing!

 * 19th-century attire, while not required, is strongly encouraged!

 * Special guests: Award-winning youth choir, Konzertchor Rutheneum from Gera, Germany! The Konzertchor Rutheneum Gera is a mixed choir of 55 students plus their Director, Christian Frank, and accomplished organist Benjamin Stielau.

Find more information at: https://bit.ly/erbencarols23

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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The Cramer Quartet

The Cramer Quartet Presents Haydn: Dialogues + UCC Harlo
Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 7:30 PM
Alchemical Studios, 12th floor, 50 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011

Join the Cramer Quartet, a period instrument string quartet that combines the world of historically informed performance with commissioned works exploring and expanding the sound world of gut strings on December 7, where we’ll perform 30 mengstaße, by inti figgis-vizueta alongside Haydn’s Op. 71 No. 2 string quartet as part of the latest chapter of Haydn: Dialogues, a multi-year cycle combining Haydn’s 68 string quartets with sixteen new commissions by composers of marginalized identities. The program also feature a set by UCC Harlo with selections from her albums United, Topos, and unreleased music. UCC Harlo “reworks her own performances of medieval, Renaissance, and baroque music or begins from scratch, infiltrating hauntological new-age ambience with liturgical choral riffs, off-the-cuff recordings, and fur-soft ASMR vocals.” Stay after the concert and chat with us and other attendees over a glass of wine or makgeolli, a Korean unfiltered rice beer from our sponsor Màkku!

Find more information at: http://grpm.us/tjL-gw

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Makam New York, Inc.

Pearl Beneath the Sea “Makam Meets Blues”
Friday, December 8, 2023 at 7:00 PM
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, 58 West 129th Street, New York, NY 10027

The Turkish makam system and the blues originating in the United States are strategies for constructing, composing, and performing melodies. Surfacing from the depths of centuries-old cultural memory, the sounds of these two traditions are all around us, often outside of their formal practice. Though they have distinct qualities and meanings, these master musicians reveal qualities that make them not only similar but universal.

Find more information at: www.makamnewyork.org

Grants Program: UMEZ Arts Engagement and Creative Engagement 

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La Casa de la Herencia Cultural Puertorriqueña, Inc.

Schomburg: The Manuscript
Friday, December 8, 2023 at 7:30 PM

Saturday, December 9, 2023 at 4:00 PM
215 East 99 Street (lower level), New York, NY 10029 

World Premiere of Schomburg: The Manuscript by Antonio Bones

This theatrical production is inspired by the life and events of Puerto Rican historian, writer, researcher, and activist Arturo Alfonso Schomburg who spent his life collecting materials demonstrating the accomplishments of the African diaspora and the scope of Black history.

Find more information at: https://www.lacasapr.nyc 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Four Seas Players, Inc.

There Is Always Sunshine On The Stage
Saturday, December 9, 2023 at 3:00 PM
Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 3:00 PM
Friday, December 15, 2023 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Sunday, December 17, 2023 at 3:00 PM
Henry Street Settlement – Abrons Arts Center – Underground Theater – 466 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002

The Four Seas Players closes their 54th season with an original play written by Patrick Lee. The production is directed also by Patrick Lee with an ensemble cast, to be performed in Chinese and English with subtitles. The Sunshine Theater Group is on a quest for the perfect play to commemorate their 50th anniversary — possibly their final performance due to financial challenges. Life’s diversity brings forth a variety of narratives from different individuals, but yet their unique tales ultimately converge toward a collective story – “The People’s” story. Often overlooked even within the AAPI community, these stories need to continue living. This play aims to celebrate and preserve the plurality of humanity. Centered on authenticity and cultural stewardship, the play embodies a sense of hopefulness. By re-telling these stories genuinely, their narratives can be reclaimed from time and history’s erasure, ensuring the people are heard and respected.

Find more information at: https://fourseasplayers.org

Grant program: Creative Engagement

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SHEBA

MENAT (Middle Eastern, North African, and Turkic) Cultural Immersion Experience
Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Secret Room, 707 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10036

SHEBA Presents: A Night of Music, Dance, and Culture in the Heart of NYC! Live Middle Eastern and North African Music by Afrah Band (@afrahevents) Bellydance Performances by SHEBA Instructors and Special Guests Sunday, December 10th – 6:30pm Doors Open

 – 7:00pm Drum Circle (drums provided, or bring your own!)

 – 7:30pm Show Begins Secret Room

 707 8th Ave, NYC

(Between 44th & 45th Streets) For reservations, text 917-740-5059 Dancers: – SHEBA Instructors: Katherine Perez, Salit, Ti Gi, Suleima – Guests: Kaeshi Chai, Elizabeth Khard & Co. – SHEBA Students: Aracelis Roman, Christine Valentin, Daria Nadarajah, Diana Tenenbaum, Dolma Sherpa, Francesca Minardi, Jade Owhadi, Jasleen Ashta, Maria Silva, Olivia Dzumaga, Patricia Mims, Phalyn Williams, Regina Nicosia, Rima Sawaya, Sneha Madimi, Tiana Croce, Yasemin Akkaya, Zahraa Tounsi

 – SHEBA Troupe: Alliyah Williams, Autumn Fore, Esra Erdogan, Katherine Perez Campos, Pelin Qaulben, Sharon Twickler, Suleima

 – Luana Andre

 – Selda Cortes

 – Sharon Twickler 

Sponsored by LMCC

Find more information at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-arabic-music-and-belly-dance-show-tickets-752960835127?aff=oddtdtcreator

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Gerardo Morantes, Ambiente Artistico / Artistic Environments

Final Exhibition: Collaging Stories
Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 2:30 PM
141 West 73rd Street, New York, NY 10023 (Enter through “the annex”)

Join us for an in-person event where Project Find residents that participated in Artistic Environment”s collage program exhibit their final pieces! Participants will exhibit works that explores the program’s essential question: How can life experiences inspire us to create art? Participants will garner lessons on collage techniques to investigate their past in connection to their present, and represent stories through collage techniques. Mark your calendars and get ready to listen and see some unbelievable life stories! Date: Sunday, December 10 · Time: 12- 1 pm: Event opening performance by musicians of The Julliard School. 1pm- 3pm: Exhibition reception by Project Find Students and Artistic Environments.

Find more information at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/final-exhibition-collaging-stories-tickets-758973238387?aff=oddtdtcreator

Grant Program: Creative Learning

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Voices From War

Writing & Reading War Stories – A Writing Workshop for Veterans
Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 5:00 PM
Virtual

Voices From War invites you to join us for our 2023 WINTER SHOWCASE, a Reading and Virtual Reception featuring writing from our workshops this year! TICKETS are FREE – RSVP on Eventbrite Come hear excerpts from new memoir, fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry from 2023 . . . . We hope you will join us for an evening of community and writing, veterans’ stories, family members’ experiences, times of war and conflict, and times looking for peace, making sense through narrative. FEATURING writers from NYC, and further away, in our 2023 Manhattan workshops (Writing & Reading War Stories – A Writing Workshop for Veterans / 14th St Y) and our Spring 2023 Bronx workshops (Craft of War Writing / Morris Park Library). Instructors: SIOBHAN ADCOCK & DUNCAN MURRELL (Manhattan – 2023) JEREMY WARNEKE (Bronx – Spring 2023) Director: Kara Krauze VoicesFromWar.org A wonderful opportunity to hear directly from veterans and family members — come honor their stories!

Find more information at: Voices From War WINTER SHOWCASE 2023 – Public Reading of New Work Tickets, Sun, Dec 10, 2023 at 5:00 PM | Eventbrite

Grant Program: Creative Learning

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Christine Toy Johnson

A LITTLE MORE BLUE
Monday, December 11, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Riverside Theatre, 91 Claremont Avenue, New York, NY 10027

Moongate Productions presents a one-night only performance of “A Little More Blue”, the award winning solo play with music written and performed by Christine Toy Johnson on Monday, December 11, 2023 at 7 pm at the Riverside Theatre, 91 Claremont Avenue in NYC. Directed by Bruce Johnson, the play features songs by Christine Toy Johnson and Bobby Cronin with Lisa Liu on the guitar. Running time is 70 minutes. Winner of the 2022 Inaugural Alvin Epstein Memorial Prize for Solo Performance, A LITTLE MORE BLUE is about an Asian American woman who discovers how much her father’s lifelong quest to be an “All American guy” has galvanized her own journey to make fighting for his dream one of her own. Admission is free. RSVPs are kindly requested. This presentation is funded, in part, by a grant from the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, as part of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Find more information at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-little-more-blue-written-performed-by-christine-toy-johnson-tickets-678445146697?aff=oddtdtcreator

Grant Program: UMEZ Arts Engagement

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Keoni Movement Arts

Engaging Persons with Special Needs and Disabilities through Contemporary Dance
Thursday. December 14, 2023 to Friday, December 15, 2023 at 5:30 PM
Cameo Studios, 307 West 43rd St, Studio A, New York, NY 10036

Find more information at: https://www.keonimovementarts.org/creative-learning-dance-project-2023

Grant program: Creative Learning 

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Darrah Carr Dance

Céilí: Seán Curran Company and Darrah Carr Dance
December 14 –  16, 2023 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 3:00 PM
Sunday, December 17, 2023 at 7:00 pm
Irish Arts Center, 726 11th Avenue, New York, NY 10019

A collaboration by Darrah Carr Dance and Seán Curran Company, Céilí merges contemporary choreography with Irish tradition for a joyful new interpretation of Irish social dance. Score and live music by “top-notch fiddle-and-guitar duo” (New York Times) Dana Lyn & Kyle Sanna.

Find more information at: https://irishartscenter.org/event/ceili-sean-curran-company-and-darrah-carr-dance-2023 

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Mitamu

Be the cyborg
Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 7:30 PM
Manhattan School of Music, Miller Recital Hall, 130 Claremont Ave, New York, NY 10027

“be the cyborg” is a musical performance that invites and transports the listener to a not-so-distant future. The future in which we are broadcasting from is haunted by ubiquitous codification and commercialization of a reality not so different from our own. The project incorporates ideas of Asian Futurism as a tool to create narratives around the Asian diaspora as well as reimagine a decolonized future. The songs pay homage to jazz, house, and other contemporary styles to provoke questions centered on dystopia, hyper consumerism, and decolonization

Find more information at: https://mitamu.com/events/2023/12/14/be-the-cyborg-nyc-premiere

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Born Dancing, Inc. 

Revisiting
December 15 & 16, 2023 at 7:30 PM
New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th street, New York, NY 10011

Born Dancing will revisit some of its existing work and present them with a twist; some with different performers, others with a different version of the music or added new choreography. We will present Stillpoint (about shifting into calmness and healing), On the Way to School (Inspired by a documentary by Pascal Plisson about four children from Kenya, Argentina, Morocco, and India traveling great distances to school), and crowd-favorite Phantom Ring along with a few other beloved pieces and a new work. Joining our cast are students from P94M@340 and P811 Mickey Mantle School.

Find more information at: https://newyorklivearts.org/event/independent-works-revisiting

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Protestra

Community Chords: String Orchestra Music from Around the World
Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 2:00 PM
St. Paul’s German Church, 315 W. 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011
Sunday, December 17, 2023 at 2:00 PM
Third Street Music School, 235 E. 11th Street, New York, NY 10003

Join PROTESTRA for a family-friendly, multicultural holiday celebration with strings! In a creative twist on a traditional holiday concert, “Community Chords: String Orchestra Music from Around the World” celebrates the season of giving and togetherness with string orchestra repertoire from composers representing a variety of cultures. Featuring works by Teresa Carreño, Jessie Montgomery, and Fela Sowande, plus a world premiere by Chinese-Canadian composer (and friend of PROTESTRA) Vincent Ho. Our community partner for this event is EVLovesNYC, a food kitchen that has prepared weekly meals for the food insecure since 2020. We encourage concert attendees to bring the following items for donation to EVLovesNYC: toiletries, clothing, nonperishable food items, holiday cookies, and toys. This is a family-friendly program—all are welcome! Children 12 and under may attend free of charge; discounts are available for students (13–college senior) and senior citizens (65+). Visit www.protestra.org/upcoming-events for more information and to purchase tickets.

Find more information at: https://www.protestra.org/upcoming-events

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Gamelan Kusuma Laras

Klenèngan – Gamelan Kusuma Laras (Classical Javanese Music Jam)
Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 4:00 PM
Indonesian Consulate, 5 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065

An informal music event in Java, a klenèngan features musicians who gather for a kind of jam session, often arranged by a family for a special event, typically lasting until late at night. Guests come and go as they wish, quietly chat with other audience members, and immerse themselves in a transporting evening of music that draws from the Javanese classical repertoire.

Find more information at: https://kusumalaras.org/events/

Grant Program: Creative Engagement 

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Miguel Aparicio

New Latin Vibe
Wednesday, December 20, 2023 at 6:00 PM
14th St. Union Square Subway Station

Miguel Aparicio brings a modern Latin sound to Manhattan’s Union Square Station( above N/Q/R line) while locals and tourists commute to their destinations. What makes the experience new and unique is the percussion kit he will be playing, it’s called “multi-percussion”, including Timbales, Congas, and a drum set merged together as one kit. Typically Latin music such as Salsa, does not include a drum set, so the inclusion of the drumset and the use of instruments that typically are played by three musicians, creates a fresh take at percussion of Latin popular dance music. The use of this kit and the knowledge to play it explores the forefront of latin popular dance music.

Find more information at: https://fb.me/1RSPpuhBHAnVR0c

Grant Program: Creative Engagement