Samora Pinderhughes to Unveil New 'Call and Response' Exhibit at MOMA

Pianist, composer, and vocalist Samora Pinderhughes’ exhibit at MOMA, Call and Response, will open January 24 and run through February 15. Featuring a series of evening performances in the Kravis Studio and a public program developed with community partners, the exhibit will also see an installation of Pinderhughes’ new film REAL TALK remaining on view during Museum hours.

Call and Response caps Pinderhughes’ tenure as the 2025 Adobe Creative Resident at MoMA, which has seen him focus his work on individuals impacted by the prison industrial complex to imagine a world based around healing rather than punishment. The exhibit seeks answers to the questions, “How do we survive in America?” “How do we support each other?” and “What if we built a world around community care?”

Pinderhughes’ new mixtape, Black Spring, made in collaboration with The Healing Project, was released in July. Formed around new songs inspired by Pinderhughes’ sold-out performance in February at Harlem's legendary The Apollo, the mixtape celebrates the 100th birthyear of seminal author and activist James Baldwin, and challenges racial capitalism, police violence, mass incarceration, and systems of domination both in the U.S. and globally, providing a clear message of resistance. 

Pinderhughes recently performed four songs for a special Ted Talk—“Tongues,” “Gatsby,” “Masculinity” and “Process/Forgive Yourself”—accompanied by members of his tight knit New York community, including Elena Pinderhughes, Elliott Skinner and The Healing Project Choir. Watch it below.

In addition to his MOMA residency, Pinderhughes has been named a Pioneer Works Visual Art & Music Resident; he’s also currently getting his Ph.D. at Harvard University, where he teaches an undergraduate class titled “Music in Social Practice: Sounding the Chorus of Community.’

About Samora Pinderhughes

Samora Pinderhughes is a composer, pianist, vocalist, filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Pinderhughes began playing music at two years old and went on to study music at Juilliard, where he met his primary artistic mentor, MacArthur-winning playwright Anna Deavere Smith. Pinderhughes has collaborated and performed with a number of artists including Common, Robert Glasper, Karriem Riggins, Kyle Abraham, Sara Bareilles, Daveed Diggs, and Herbie Hancock, and his works have been commissioned by institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Sundance Film Festival, The Kitchen, Yerba Buena Center for The Arts, and the Kennedy Center. 

In addition to the aforementioned awards and appointments, Pinderhughes also recently won an Emmy for his work as the composer, pianist and vocalist on Michéle Stephenson and Joe Brewster’s documentary, “Going to Mars: the Nikki Giovanni Project,” which also earned a place on the Oscars shortlist on top of IDA and Cinema Eye Honors nominations for Best Music Score.

Photo credit: Walter Wlodarczyk