National Sawdust Unveils Spring 2023 Season Featuring World Premieres & More

This season’s artists create wholly new soundscapes that become sites of repair, considering how to create an even stronger, more beautiful existence.

By: Dec. 21, 2022
National Sawdust Unveils Spring 2023 Season Featuring World Premieres & More
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National Sawdust has announced its Spring 2023 season, a meditation on the concept of repair that borrows from the Japanese art of Kintsugi, which rejoins broken pottery using precious metal-infused lacquer-making objects all the more magnificent in their reconstruction. As we pick up the pieces in the aftermath of shattering events, this season's artists create wholly new soundscapes that become sites of repair, considering how to create an even stronger, more beautiful existence.

The Spring 2023 season also sees National Sawdust finding new inspiration and urgency in two of its earliest and most essential goals: to serve as "a devotional space for far-out sound" (New York Times), and to create mentorship programs that offer a salve, support, and solutions to artists who are women and of other marginalized genders, such as through continued evolution of the Hildegard Commission and support of its recipients.

National Sawdust Co-Founder and Artistic Director Paola Prestini says, "National Sawdust is both an indispensable platform for artists, especially those who have been historically marginalized, and a sanctuary for people of all backgrounds to experience the life-changing, world-changing power of sound. I can't wait to see this season's artists seize the creative potential of our state-of-the-art Meyer Sound system in performances and programs that inspire healing, action, change, and for the communities convened in our space."

National Sawdust's Spring 2023 programming features singular musical works and events that fuse genres, demonstrate innovation, and reimagines what's broken in our world. While music and the performing arts still form the core of National Sawdust's programming, this season furthers the institution's exploration of how spoken language is itself a powerful medium with its own potential to harm and heal. To this end, poetry takes an elevated position in the season, both as fertile ground for inspiration and with featured guests, especially in the work that poet Lynne Procope curates and creates for as editor of National Sawdust's digital hub, the Ideas Zone.

National Sawdust Programming Director & Senior Curator Nicole Merritt says, "Artists in every genre are asking questions about the new world that we're all reentering-is it what should it be, and how do we get there? The sonic universes artists create, and the collaborations that merge disparate forms, bear healing, reparative properties-while also highlighting the fissures in our world."

**See "National Sawdust Spring 2023 Schedule" section below for a full list of programming and additional details.**

In a highlight of the Fall 2022 season, JOJO ABOT and Esperanza Spalding used National Sawdust's cutting-edge Meyer Sound spatial technologies to envelop audiences in an inter-dimensional, regenerative soundscape as part of their National Sawdust-commissioned opera A God of Her Own Making. Works in Spring 2023 continue to expand the Meyer Sound system's ability to build whole ecosystems of sound-and bring audiences into these restorative and visionary worlds. Multi-disciplinary musician Eli Fola's Soundscapes, featuring a string duo playing in tandem with spatial sound and visuals, examines the healing properties of techno, on February 18. Saxophonist and Debo Band founder D.A. Mekonnen debuts new work in his dragonchild project, which he describes as "a culmination of decades of musical experimentation, embodied spiritual practice, and critical thinking." This premiere, BLACK, is a series of one-sided albums played together to "create an immersive and disorienting swarm of sound" with visuals by Ethiopian artist Michael Tsegaye (April 15). Moral Injuries of War, a therapeutic spatial sound workshop designed by psychologist Jack Saul and featuring guest facilitation by celebrated psychotherapist Esther Perel, brings audiences into the journeys of veterans and those processing trauma, on June 1 and 2.

Other programs at National Sawdust this season invite audiences to explore the expansive sonic worlds artists create through electronics, vocals, custom instruments, found sounds, and field recordings. On February 24, Faten Kanaan will perform earthy, visceral electronic music from her latest album Afterpoem, which uses counterpoint as a narrative tool, with an improvised opening set from JJJJJerome Ellis-who makes contemplative soundscapes using saxophone, flute, dulcimer, electronics, and vocals. Catalan duo Tarta Relena make their New York debut at National Sawdust, in a performance co-presented with World Music Institute (March 30), showcasing their electronic-accented folk that reimagines the traditional music of the Mediterranean. On April 6, Fuji=ferh a< ,ikswojeicoK suiraM fo yrteop eht yb deripsni ,sevael fo duorhs a otni em wes elcyc trap-eerht ,ruoh-11 wen s;93#&hcsreH leahciM resopmoc fo ereimerp .S.U eht ;)01 enuJ( cisum ot steop desab-nylkoorB 21 fo krow eht gnittes ,ytiC eht ni gniklaW tcejorp yraretil-cisum yranilpicsidretni sih gnireimerp aidolE esahC remmurd dna resopmoc :edulcni-yrteop-nosaes siht muidem evitaraper ,evitcennoc rojam a thgilhgih taht smargorP>p< >p/<.noitisopatxuj ni sesrevinu cinos ralugnis rieht tneserp ,eaitunim yadyreve fo sdnuos fo ecnacifingis eht sedolpxe cisum esohw ,yasuor erialc dna ,nagro epip detacirbaf-dnah sih htiw gnipool hguorht sepacsdnal setaerc ohw tsitra dnuos esenapaJ a ,at||"/people/Christopher-Middleton/">Christopher Middleton, and W.G. Sebold and his own experience having cancer (May 13).

This year's Hildegard Commission - the cornerstone program in National Sawdust's foundational commitment to mentorship, given to composers with marginalized genders - challenges the five recipients to create works inspired by C.P. Cavafy, arguably the most significant Greek 20th century poet. Composers Andrea Guterres, Hannah Ishizaki, Yaz Lancaster, DM R, and Kelley Sheehan, under the mentorship of Du Yun, Miya Masaoka, Angélica Negrón, Lena Platonos, Paola Prestini, and Jeffrey Zeigler, will present their works in a concert on March 9.

Another event interconnecting the architectures of music and literature, Space & Time joins writer Maria Popova, cellist Zoë Keating, and Stephon Alexander, James Gleick, Marie Howe, and Joan As Police Woman and Radiolab creator Jad Abumrad (March 25). Paraíso, a new opera co-presented with New Latin Wave, similarly showcases the depth of collaborative work between poets and musicians: composed by New Latin Wave director Sokio, with a libretto by Venezuelan poet Natasha Tiniacos, and featuring stefa marin alarcon, the chamber opera is inspired by a true story, and follows a young woman crossing the Mexico/US border by foot with her one-year-old child. Following National Sawdust's co-presentation of Niloufar Nourbakhsh's We, The Innumerable, a work she developed by a Hildegard Commission recipient, the organization continues to find new ways to present socially relevant contemporary opera in an intimate space.

In a season filled with inventive sonic landscapes, the continuation of NationalSawdust+ with the three-part series For Nature looks to music to provoke conversations about the preservation of nature. For Nature gathers visionaries including legendary multidisciplinary artist Laurie Anderson and musician and activist Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota (February 2); composer and environmentalist Gabriella Smith and cellist Gabriel Cabezas (March 23); and Vicky Holt Takamine, kumu hula, and her NYC-based halau, of Pua Ali'i Ilima O Nuioka, will join coral reef scientist and diver Kailey Pascoe (May 10). Programmed by Elena Park, NationalSawdust+ is a lively performance and conversation series, brings together luminaries from across disciplines to share their passion for music and explore ideas, making surprising connections. It taps artists and thinkers from theater, film, visual art, literature, science, and beyond to create insightful, often topical, programs.

The Spring 2023 season also solidifies National Sawdust's position as a home for jazz in its multitude of forms. Trombonist Kalia Vandever and free jazz composer, bassoonist and former National Sawdust New Works commission winner Joy Guidry both return to the space for the first time as headliners (April 5). Black Science Fiction offers an evening of Black sonic futurism, a multi-format performance created by contemporary jazz artists, on June 4.

National Sawdust will also welcome back Oran Etkin for monthly installments of his acclaimed children's jazz series Timbalooloo, with spring guests including Vince Giordano, former National Sawdust artist in residence Samir Langus, and more.

Tickets for National Sawdust programs are typically between $20 - $35 before handling fees, and can be purchased at nationalsawdust.org. Tickets to many shows are available now, with all events on sale by January 5, 2023 following a member pre-sale.

National Sawdust Spring 2023 Schedule

02.01.23 - Trina Basu & Arun Ramamurthy: Nakshatra Album Release

Violinists Trina Basu and Arun Ramamurthy bring their transformative debut album Nakshatra to National Sawdust in this album release concert, featuring special guests. Nakshatra, a Sanskrit word evocative of the celestial realm, is a testament to Basu and Ramamurthy's transcendent collaboration. The album centers around two violins vibrating together in sublime harmony, lending Nakhastra an intimate but expansive feel. After five years of working together on Nakshatra, Basu and Ramamurthy have created a timeless musical language out of South Indian classical music, Western chamber music, and jazz. Experience two kindred spirits coming together as one to perform this lush, spiritual work that bridges traditions and defies genres.

02.02.23 - NationalSawdust+: The Wisdom of the Natural World with Laurie Anderson & Tiokasin Ghosthorse

Two NationalSawdust+ regulars, creative pioneer Laurie Anderson and musician/activist Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota, return for an evening of music and conversation devoted to the wisdom of nature. An international speaker on Peace, Indigenous and Mother Earth Perspective and a master of the ancient Lakota flute, Ghosthorse will perform original music and take part in a conversation with Anderson, one of the country's most renowned - and daring - artists whose expansive work tackles a range of contemporary issues, from human rights to climate change.

This event kicks off For Nature, three NS+ programs exploring the natural world with artists and musicians, scientists, and leaders and activists working to preserve and restore the environment. Curated by Elena Park, the events will spotlight works connected to ocean, land, and the animal kingdom; native and indigenous wisdom; and recent research and ways forward. The other programs in this series take place on March 23 and May 10.

02.03.23 - AdHoc Presents: Audiofemme "The Agenda" Grant Showcase

Join us as Audiofemme-a music publication that centers writing by women and non-binary journalists-celebrates the multidisciplinary work of their first two Agenda cohorts in this showcase presented by AdHoc. Launched in 2020, the Agenda Artist Grant is an extension of Audiofemme's mission and has provided institutional support for artists and creators like New York City-based curatorial and producing platform four/four presents and revenge pop act Medusa. In this showcase, four/four presents will premiere two new pieces that bridge the gap between dance and music, while Medusa will premiere their short film 'Allegory of the G/Rave.' Don't miss out on this special night of dance, music, and art, and stay tuned as we announce the rest of the line-up.

02.05.23 - Timbalooloo with Samir Langus

Our Timbalooloo series kicks off this February with special guest Moroccan Gnawa musician Samir Langus. The Grammy-nominated artist has mastered the musical traditions of his native Morocco and has expanded the art form, collaborating with musicians like Bonobo and Randy Weston. Your budding musicians will dance, sing, and drum as Langus introduces them to the Sintir and Karquaba instruments.

02.18.23 - Eli Fola presents "Soundscapes" with opener Cyrus Ellis

In 'Soundscapes,' multi-disciplinary Nigerian-born sound artist, saxophonist, DJ, and producer Eli Fola explores the healing potential of techno. Already well-known for pioneering the "Yoruba Tech Soul," Fola will expand on the live-hybrid set with National Sawdust's Meyer Sound spatial sound system. Fola will create an immersive soundscape by combining original electronic compositions and live saxophone, cello, and violin. Poet Cyrus Aaron, whose unique blend of powerful commentary and empowerment has made him a sought-after storyteller, will set the tone for the night.

02.24.23 - Faten Kanaan with opener JJJJJerome Ellis

Brooklyn-based composer, musician, and producer Faten Kanaan brings her blend of early music and modern minimalism to the National Sawdust stage with an opening improvised set from JJJJJerome Ellis. The performance comes on the heels of Kanaan's fifth album, Afterpoem, which is out in early 2023 on Fire Records and takes her sweeping melodies into new, hazier directions. JJJJJerome Ellis's set ushers in the concert with his contemplative soundscapes that explore relationships among blackness, disabled speech, divinity, nature, sound, and time using a palette of hammered dulcimer, tenor saxophone, piano, electronics, and voice. Join us for this meditative evening of lush ambient soundscapes.

03.01.23 - AdHoc Presents: Charlie Cunningham

Charlie Cunningham is an English singer-songwriter based in Oxford. Cunningham is a fresh talent, proving to be more than just a man with a guitar and a voice-a regularity that we have become all too familiar with. His new and ambitious EP, Outside Things, combines beautiful, honest songwriting with percussive guitar playing that stands out from the crowd. The Outside Things EP not only demonstrates Cunningham's impeccable writing ability, but his intricate and skillful playing technique, developed and picked up from his time spent in Seville, and his individual voice. Through the EP, Cunningham's percussive, yet flexible, guitar is something to be wholeheartedly admired.

03.05.2023 - Timbalooloo with Vince Giordano

This installment of Timbalooloo will feature renowned early-jazz expert Vince Giordano, who will bring in his collection of vintage low-end instruments: the tuba, bass-sax, and a metal upright bass as well as the banjo. Giordano and Timbalooloo's Oran Etkin will take the children on a journey starting with the sounds of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, traveling up the Mississippi and all the way to New York. Giordano is a GRAMMY Award-winning bandleader of The Nighthawks and composer of music for HBO's Boardwalk Empire and numerous films and is considered one of the leading experts on American music of the 1920s/'30s.

03.09.23 - Hildegard Commission Concert

Join us in celebration of the winners of this year's Hildegard Commission, National Sawdust's mentorship initiative that highlights outstanding women and other marginalized genders in the early stages of their careers. Five commissioned composers-Andrea Guterres, Hannah Ishizaki, Yaz Lancaster, DM R, and Kelley Sheehan-will present world premieres inspired by the poetry of the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy. These sound art-focused pieces will be performed by the National Sawdust Ensemble led by cellist Jeffrey Zeigler. After the concert, the pieces will be placed throughout the city at a yet-to-be-announced, site-specific installation in collaboration with the Onassis Foundation. Commission finalists Zara Ali, Nicole Brancato, and Foteini Tryferopoulou will each have a work from their current repertoire performed.

The five winners of the Hildegard Commission each receive a $5,000 cash prize, a commission for Pierrot-plus ensemble, a professional performance, a live recording, and one-on-one mentorship with established figures in the field: Composer, Co-Founder, and Artistic Director at National Sawdust Paola Prestini; composer Du Yun; composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón; composer and sound artist Miya Masaoka; and composer and sound artist Lena Platanos.

National Sawdust Ensemble (NSE), led by cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, is the in-house band of National Sawdust. Made up of highly acclaimed artists, this instrumentally flexible group is an integral part of National Sawdust Mentorship Initiatives, playing, teaching and collaborating with emerging and professional composers. The mission of the ensemble is to give composers and artists access to the high caliber of musicianship and mentorship that is integral to National Sawdust. The NSE has also supported projects such as Liederabend, Opus Senses with Beth Morrison Projects.

03.11.23 - Liquidverse with Ricardo Romaneiro: FRAG'MENTS

Inspired by the concept of Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with gold to make it stronger and better than it was before, FRAG'MENTS is an hour-long meditative/healing audiovisual spatial work created by Ricardo Romaneiro. The work features a string trio, piano, harp and electronics and weaves original compositions with reimagined pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Satie, and Chopin. Accompanied by a live liquid light show created by Liquid Light Lab, audience members are immersed in a psychedelic kaleidoscope of colors and patterns using gold oil dyes.

03.12.23 - Berklee Indian Ensemble Live: The Shuruaat Tour

The Berklee Indian Ensemble is bringing its genre-bending sound to Brooklyn for the first time since 2018. Fresh off the release of their GRAMMY-nominated debut album, Shuruaat, the Ensemble is on the road with a slate of originals, new arrangements, songs from the album, and crowd-favorite classics. This year's nine-piece touring band features some of the Ensemble's most recognizable faces from over 10 years of making music. Join the Ensemble for an evening of joy, celebration, laughs, and of course, incredible music.

03.15.23 - Palaver Strings & Kebra-Seyoun Charles

Palaver Strings celebrates the joy and catharsis of music in a program featuring bassist Kebra-Seyoun Charles, winner of the 2022 Sphinx Competition. In a mashup of musical styles and eras, the ensemble combines string orchestra classics by Grieg and Bartók with fiddle tunes and "Feeling Good," a song made famous by Nina Simone. At the heart of this program is John B. Hedges' Raise Hymn, Praise Shout, a concerto for bass and strings originally commissioned by the Sphinx Organization in 2014. This piece is rooted in African American church music traditions: The soloist "lines out" hymns and leads the "congregation" (string orchestra) in song. To spontaneously connect with the audience and each other, Palaver will play much of the program from memory. Presented in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.

03.23.22 - NationalSawdust+: Regenerative Nature with Gabriella Smith & Gabriel Cabezas: Music from Lost Coast and more

With the Billion Oyster Project's Danielle Bissett

Just 30 years old, Gabriella Smith has developed into a tour-de-force artist and environmentalist whose enthralling, groundbreaking work not only connects listeners with the natural world but prompts action around climate solutions. Following their acclaimed Philharmonie de Paris performances, Smith (vocals, violin and electronics) and Gabriel Cabezas (cello and electronics) team up for selections from Lost Coast, their album that expresses Smith's "grief, loss, rage, fear, and hopelessness experienced as a result of climate change-as well as the joy, beauty, and wonder I have felt in the world's last wild places." Danielle Bissett, the Billion Oyster Project's Director of Restoration, will share about the collective effort to rebuild the natural resources and habitat of New York Harbor's estuary - with 100 million live oysters restored to date!

This event is part of For Nature, three NS+ programs exploring the natural world with artists and musicians, scientists, and leaders and activists working to preserve and restore the environment. Curated by Elena Park, the events will spotlight works connected to ocean, land, and the animal kingdom; native and indigenous wisdom; and recent research and ways forward. The other programs in this series take place on February 2 and May 10.

03.25.2023 - Space & Time: an evening of music and literature with Maria Popova, Zoë Keating, and Friends

Hosted by writer Maria Popova, Space & Time explores the fundamental dimensions of our world and our conscious experience through the twin portals of truth and beauty: music, poetry, and science. Carrying the evening will be music by cellist and composer Zoë Keating, punctuated by performances by poet Maria Howe, musician Joan As Police Woman, science historian James Gleick, physicist Stephon Alexander, Radiolab creator Jad Abumrad, and other friends. Radiating from the totality is a symphonic exploration of the elemental strata of being.

03.30.2023 - Tarta Relena

Catalan folk duo Tarta Relena make their New York premiere at National Sawdust, performing work from the award-winning 2019 album Ora Pro Nobis. Started in 2016 as an acapella project between Helena Ros and Marta Torrella, Tarta Relena's electronic-accented folk reimagines the traditional music of the Mediterranean as a growing form unbound by precedent. Together Ros and Torrella trace vocal styles across time and borders, revealing the universal nature of pain and joy and unearthing the ties that exist between different cultures. Join National Sawdust, World Music Institute, and Tarta Relena for an evening celebrating the timelessness of folk and its ability to resonate with us for centuries to come. Presented in partnership with World Music Institute.

04.05.23 - Kalia Vandever & Joy Guidry

Kalia Vandever and Joy Guidry, two rising stars in New York City's jazz scene, unite on this double bill and will perform music from their respective albums We Fell In Turn and Radical Acceptance. Vandever's forthcoming album (out March 31 via AKP Recordings) debuts her solo works for trombone, effects, and voice and is inspired by Hawaiian mythology, ephemerality, dreamscapes, and ancestry. Guidry's Radical Acceptance tells a story of processing trauma, self-care, self-love, and finding hope for the future using improvisation, graphic scores, electronics, bassoon, gospel, and more. Guidry was awarded National Sawdust's New Works Commission in 2020. Join us to hear these groundbreaking records performed live by the composers.

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05.16.23 - JG Thirlwell String Quartets performed by Mivos Quartet

JG Thirlwell presents string quartets "Narcolepsy," "Ozymandias," "Heliophobia," "Apeirophobia," and more from his new album Dystonia on the National Sawdust stage. Performed by Mivos Quartet, "one of America's most daring and ferocious new-music ensembles'' (The Chicago Reader), the six-piece program features works composed between 2014-2021 that draw on influences across the different facets of Thirlwell's cross-genre practice creating music of dramatic intensity and evocative, cinematic quality. These string quartets feature both long-form, conventional writing and open instructional pieces.

06.01.23 & 06.02.2023 - Moral Injuries of War

When the dust settles, what remains? Weaving together the voices of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, Moral Injuries of War is a visionary production that brings the untold stories of war to the American public. Using National Sawdust's Meyer Sound spatial sound system, this immersive experience combines 3D spatial audio with ambient visual design to invite us to journey alongside veterans as they grapple with their memories. This profound experience, which innovates at the intersection of testimony, civic engagement, and community, will make you question everything you believe about war.

The immersive listening experience will be followed by a live conversation with veterans and war journalists, hosted by the artist and psychologist Jack Saul and renowned psychotherapist Esther Perel. The program will close with an exploration of embodied action, led by Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff W. Jones of Afro Flow Yoga®.

Please note: Due to explicit content and language, Moral Injuries of War is not recommended for children. This production contains discussion of violence.

06.04.2023 - Black Science Fiction

Black Science Fiction welcomes you to an evening of Black sonic futurism, exploring a genre-bending, multi-format performance composed by contemporary jazz musicians. Black Science Fiction has previously worked with free jazz artists, composers, beat makers, noise, and electronic musicians like amani, BSTFRND, Aquiles Navarro, Contour, duendita, keiyaA, JWords, Matthew Jamal, and more. Black Science Fiction's mission is to invest in and sustain an ever-evolving conversation around Black culture and imagination. In order to facilitate this community conversation, Black Science Fiction creates spaces orientated around Black futures where music can be celebrated, workshopped, and discussed. Join us as Black Science Fiction celebrates the vitality of Black cultural production and stay tuned as we announce our special guests.

06.10.23 - Chase Elodia: Walking in the City

Brooklyn composer and drummer Chase Elodia presents the world debut of his interdisciplinary project Walking in the City, which illustrates Brooklyn in words and music. To create the piece, Elodia invited 12 intergenerational, multiracial, and transcultural writers from across Brooklyn to submit a text inspired by the experience of walking down a street in their neighborhood. The finished work sets their poetry to music, surrounding their words about life in the borough with sampled texts, field recordings, and drum harmonies. At the performance, each poet will read their work as Elodia plays live-triggered melodies and rhythms. National Sawdust is proud to produce the first live, interactive realization of this bold and imaginative new work that celebrates the diverse set of voices that make up this borough.

06.11.2023 - Timbalooloo

Timbalooloo is an interactive concert series led by founder and internationally-renowned clarinetist Oran Etkin that introduces your children to a new musical tradition each month with the help of a special guest. The Timbalooloo method brings instruments to life and encourages children to "talk" through music, activating your child's imagination and encouraging their self-expression. Designed to teach your children complex musical concepts through age-appropriate games and stories, Timbalooloo makes music fun and educational.

06.14.23 - Contemporaneous: Dreams of One/All

Dreams of One/All reimagines the idea of what a "concerto" can be through three cutting-edge premieres. Composed by Donnacha Dennehy, Tonia Ko, and Dan Trueman, these new works expand the relationship between a solo instrument and a large ensemble. Dennehy writes a startling, powerful piece for piano, performed by Eliza McCarthy; Ko pens a solo for amplified bubble wrap, an innovative instrument she invented and plays; and Trueman teams up with legendary Irish fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh on a piece for 10-string fiddle that brings the history of Irish traditional music in dialogue with the orchestra. Performed by the 23-person ensemble, and former National Sawdust group in residence Contemporaneous, these new works represent a culmination of many years of collaboration, and open up new futures for the concerto form.

06.16.23 - New Latin Wave and National Sawdust present: Paraíso

New Latin Wave and National Sawdust present Paraíso, an experimental chamber opera that follows a mother and child from Puebla, Mexico as their lives are shaped by the political and economic factors that govern who gets to cross the U.S.-Mexico border and how. Set at the turn of the 21st century, Paraíso starts with the mother as she embarks on the months-long journey across the border with her 1-year-old child to reunite with her husband in New York City. Even after crossing the border and building a new life in the U.S., their lives continue to be shaped by their border crossing. Featuring a libretto by Venezuelan poet, scholar, and educator Natasha Tiniacos in collaboration with Sokio, this generations-spanning opera will expand the form of opera by incorporating the use of samplers, modular synths, recordings, and improvisation. By telling the story of a mother-child duo grappling with the fear of deportation and a diasporic longing for Mexico, Paraíso hopes to connect audiences with the real immigration struggles that the U.S.'s vibrant Latinx community experiences. Join us for the premiere of this powerful opera about immigration, family, and survival.




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