Resonate! Afternoon Series Explores Culture in African Diaspora

This April, Lincoln Center's Meet the Artist joins New York University's Institute of African American Affairs to present Resonate! African America in Sound and Story, four, FREE, Wednesday after-school programs that will explore the cultural connections of the African Diaspora today. Each hour-long (4-5 p.m.) program features a performance by a noted African or African-American artist, followed by discussion and questions and answers moderated by Meklit Hadero, Artist-in-Residence of New York University's Institute of African American Affairs. Tom Dunn, Director of the David Rubenstein Atrium said, "Lincoln Center is delighted to be partnering with NYU to present this series which is geared towards teens and college-aged students. 'Resonate' is an outgrowth of Lincoln Center's long-running Meet the Artist School Series' and the newest addition to on-going initiatives at the Atrium to bring free arts and events to the community."

On April 6 African-American vocalist Chanda Rule and African vocalist Somi perform Listening to Roots & Voicing Branches, a multi-media work combining video, story and song that attempts to redress intra-racial tensions in the African Diaspora by exploring the cultural memory of various strands of the Black Atlantic experience.

April 13 features acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitarist Toshi Reagon, whose unique sound reflects a distinctive approach to rock, blues, R&B, country, folk, spirituals and funk, with a message that reaches deep into the heart and soul.

The April 20th program offers a solo dance performance by visionary dancer/choreographer, Zimbabwe-born Nora Chipaumire, (pictured) in work that breaks down all sorts of boundaries as it explores the meanings of identity in a complex world. The award-winning artist has performed and collaborated with Urban Bush Women, Anna Deveare Smith, and Thomas Mapfumo and his band.

The concluding program on April 27, And Lay Duo, is a special collaborative project by two members of the internationally-renowned Ethiopian funk and groove collective, Debo Band-Ethiopian-born saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and Boston percussionist Adam Clark. The two will premiere traditional Ethiopian folk songs and original compositions.

Now in its 31st season, Lincoln Center's Meet the Artist School Series gives New York area students in grades Kindergarten through 12 the opportunity to learn about the performing arts and experience the arts first-hand from professional artists in diverse artistic disciplines. The series serves more than 20,000 school children annually with programs at Lincoln Center that combine a performance, participation, and carefully-prepared curriculum materials for teachers, as well as an optional tour of Lincoln Center.

In addition to the Meet the Artist School Series, Lincoln Center has introduced a number of Free community programs as offshoots of the series. Meet the Artist Saturdays, a family program, takes place on the first Saturday of each month in the David Rubenstein Atrium; the Meet the Artist Library Series, a program geared for audiences of all ages, takes artists into public libraries in the outer boroughs in the spring and summer; and this spring, Lincoln Center brings specially-designed Meet the Artist programs for seniors, children and teens to the Lincoln Square Community Center. All of the MTA programs are designed to introduce audiences to the arts through intimate, live performance, paired with the opportunity to engage with artists. Performers hail from diverse artistic disciplines, including music, dance, theater, and spoken word. For more information about Meet the Artist programs call Lincoln Center Visitor Services, 212-875-5370, 212.875.5289 or e-mail: hmcandrew@lincolncenter.org.

Ethiopian-American singer and songwriter Meklit Hadero, who will moderate the post-performance discussions for Resonate! African America in Sound and Story, is Artist-in-Residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs for six weeks this spring. "She sings of fragility, hope and self-empowerment, and exudes all three," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle about one of her performances. Meklit's music has a wide range of influences, from the jazz and soul favorites she grew up on; to hip-hop and art-rock; to folk traditions from the Americas and her forebears' East African home. She was named a TED Global Fellow in 2009, and has been artist-in-residence at the De Young Museum and the Red Poppy Art House. Meklit is an Artist Consultant for the Association of Arts Presenters. For more information visit: Meklithadero.com

The Institute of African American Affairs (IAAA) at New York University was founded in 1969 to research, document, and celebrate the cultural and intellectual production of Africa and its diaspora in the Atlantic world and beyond. IAAA is committed to the study of Blacks in modernity through concentrations in Pan-Africanism and Black Urban Studies. For its spring 2011 artist-in-residence program, the IAAA presents "THE AFRICAN DIASPORA AND/IN THE WORLD," a unique space of artistic collaboration between two great talents of the African Diaspora Meklit Hadero, (musician), and John Akomfrah, (filmmaker). For more information, visit: http://africanastudies.as.nyu.edu/object/akomfrah_hadero.html

LINCOLN CENTER'S MEET THE ARTIST AND NEW YORK UNIVERSITY'S
INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AFFAIRS PRESENT
Resonate! African America in Sound and Story

David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Streets
Wednesdays, April 6-27, 4-5 p.m.
FREE ADMISSION

Wednesday, April 6
Listening to Roots & Voicing Branches
Co-written and Performed by Chanda Rule and Somi
With Liberty Ellman, guitar
Directed by Elizabeth Herron
Original Score by David Gilmore
Listening to Roots and Voicing Branches is a multi-media performance work by vocal artists Somi and Chanda Rule that attempts to redress intra-racial tensions in the African Diaspora by exploring the cultural memory of various strands of the Black Atlantic experience. With jazz as its foundation, the piece weaves together song, spoken word and visual elements to carve out a new space of cultural belonging and exchange. Born in Illinois to immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, Somi's sound derives from African and jazz legacies. She has collaborated and performed with Bobby McFerrin, Baaba Maal, John Legend, Cassandra Wilson, Mos Def, Danilo Perez, Paul Simon, and Nicholas Payton. With feet rooted in gospel, a heart filled with soul, and a voice touched with jazz, singer/songwriter and Interfaith minister Chanda Rule has been weaving stories through song, humming melodies, and bending words since her childhood. She has opened for Regina Belle & The Whispers, India.Arie, Angela Bofill, and Amel Larrieux, and been a featured vocalist at venues such as Birdland, The Apollo, Symphony Space, Sacred Center, Harlem Stage, Hard Rock Café, and the Jazz Standard. For more information visit: Somimusic.com, Likewatermusic.com and NewAfricaLive.org

Wednesday, April 13
Toshi Reagon
Described by Vibe magazine as "one helluva rock'n'roller-coaster ride" Toshi Reagon is a one-woman celebration of all that's dynamic, progressive and uplifting in American music. The versatile singer-songwriter-guitarist has moved audiences of all kinds with her big-hearted, hold-nothing-back approach to rock, blues, R&B, country, folk, spirituals and funk. Reagon has collaborated with top artists in many genres including Lenny Kravitz, Nona Hendryx, Elvis Costello, Ani DiFranco, Pete Seeger, Dar Williams, Lizz Wright, Me'shell NdegéOcello and Marc Anthony Thompson (aka Chocolate Genius). Her performances with her mother, Bernice Johnson Reagon-civil rights activist and founder of the a cappella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock-are legendary. For more information visit: ToshiReagon.com

Wednesday, April 20
Nora Chipaumire
Solo dance
Born in Zimbabwe, dancer/choreographer Nora Chipaumire is a remarkable solo artist whose work is transnational, unafraid, and eager to break cultural, creative, and geographic boundaries while illuminating what it means to be Zimbabwean/woman/black/human in an increasingly borderless world. The Boston Phoenix said, "Her dancing hits you with a vengeance." This past year, she participated in a nine-day colloquium at New York University under the direction of Anna Deveare Smith. She is currently collaborating and touring a project with the legendary Thomas Mapfumo and his band, The Blacks Unlimited and is also collaborating with Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Artistic Director of Urban Bush Women where Chipaumire served as Associate Director) on the creation of a new work. Her newest solo work, MIRIAM, inspired by the life of Miriam Makeba, commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, will premiere at The Next Wave Festival 2012. Chipaumire was featured in the documentary Movement(R)evolution: Africa and the film, Nora, both of which were screened at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Dance On Camera series. For more information visit: Chipaumire.com and view performance excerpts on Youtube

Wednesday, April 27
And Lay Duo
Danny Mekonnen, saxophone
Adam Clark, drums
A special project created by Debo Band members, saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and multi-instrumentalist Adam Clark, And Lay Duo, will premiere a set of traditional folk songs and original compositions arranged specifically for this instrumentation, and inspired by some of the great saxophone-drum duos of the last 30 years: Gétatchèw Mèkurya/Katherina Bornefeld, Dewey Redman/Ed Blackwell, and Ken Vandermark/Paal Nilssen-Love Ethiopian-American saxophonist Danny Mekonnen is the founder and director of Debo Band, an internationally renowned Ethiopian funk and groove collective. He has collaborated with many important Ethiopian artists including Mahmoud Ahmed, Gétatchèw Mèkurya, and Abegaz Shiota and with dancer Melaku Belay, with whom he co-leads the project Debo Band with special guests Fendika. Mekonnen has an M.A. in ethnomusicology from Harvard University. Boston-based multi-instrumentalist, graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music Adam Clark has achieved international acclaim as composer and drummer of Afrobeat band THE SUPERPOWERS. He later sang and played bass/drums with FULL TANG, a World Rock Ensemble. In August 2010, he became the drummer for the Debo Band. He has also performed and recorded with Rudy Gomis of Orchestra Baobab, talking drummer Baye Kouyate and griot Boubacar Diabate from Mali, B3 Legend Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Master Drummer/Music Mentor Rakalam Bob Moses. For more information visit: Deboband.com; Myspace.com/fulltangband and view a performance excerpt on Youtube.

The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, the new community, visitors and ticketing facility, is home to an array of programs, services and amenities designed for area residents, out-of-towners and visitors to Lincoln Center. This new public space is named in honor of the philanthropist, financier and Vice Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, in recognition of his $10 million gift to the Bravo Campaign. Serving as a gateway to Lincoln Center and the entire Upper West Side community, the Atrium offers-for the first time in Lincoln Center history-day-of discount tickets to available performances across the campus in addition to access to full-price tickets via onsite kiosks and telephone services. Along with free performances, including Target® Free Thursdays every Thursday night of the year, and Meet the Artist Saturdays-free, family-friendly participatory programs at 11 a.m. on the first Saturday of every month-other attractions and amenities in the Atrium include: a 'wichcraft café, a departure point for expanded Lincoln Center tours, a staffed Information Desk, free Wi-Fi, and restrooms. For more information visit:
LincolnCenter.org/Atrium

About Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center is the world's leading performing arts complex, representing the highest standards of excellence in opera, symphonic and chamber music, theater, dance, film, and arts education. Its 12 resident organizations-The Chamber Music Society, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and School of American Ballet-welcome 5 million visitors each year. After five decades of artistic excellence and service to its community, the nation and the world, Lincoln Center is nearing completion on a major transformation initiative to fully modernize its concert halls and public spaces, renew its 16-acre campus, and reinforce its vitality for decades to come. For more information, visit: LincolnCenter.org

Meet the Artist School Series is sponsored by Neuberger Berman.

Major support for Meet the Artist Saturdays is provided by Betty and John Levin. Additional support is provided by Newman's Own Foundation.

Endowment support for Meet the Artist is provided by The Walt Disney Company

General operating support for the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center has generously been provided by David M. Rubenstein, the Ford Foundation, Booth Ferris Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation New York City Cultural Innovation Fund, Algin Management Co., LLC, the Altman Foundation, Cushman & Wakefield, The Mai Family Foundation, the Xerox Foundation, and the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

Discounted tickets to Lincoln Center events are made possible in part by a generous gift from the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.

Target is proud to sponsor Target® Free Thursdays at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.

Movado is an Official Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.
United Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center, Inc.

First Republic Bank is the official sponsor of the Fashion Lincoln Center Online Experience

MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.

Meet the Artist is a presentation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. (LCPA), which serves three primary roles: presenter of superb artistic programming, national leader in arts and education, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. As a presenter of more than 400 events annually, LCPA's programs include American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, White Light Festival, Tully Scope Festival, and Live From Lincoln Center. In addition, LCPA is leading a series of major capital projects on behalf of the resident organizations across the campus.

Lincoln Center is committed to providing and improving accessibility for people with disabilities. For information, call the Department of Programs and Services for People with Disabilities at (212) 875-5375.