Kelsey Pyro to Debut MAKADEWIIYAASIKWE With The Shed At Hudson Yards

Brooklyn-based artist Kelsey Pyro announces the debut of her forthcoming performance work, Makadewiiyaasikwe (to be pronounced phonetically as spelled).

Makadewiiyaasikwe depicts the grief process of a woman with a unique identity, exploring cultural and generational trauma through electronic music, live performance, spoken word and film. Translating to "Black woman, woman of African descent," the title pays homage to the artist's Ojibwe ancestors and her own identity as an unapologetically Black and Native American woman.

Makadewiiyaasikwe will be commissioned by The Shed Open Call to play the inaugural season of the new Hudson Yards from June 12-15, 2019. The piece is fully written and produced by Kelsey Pyro, with musical contributions by Benjamin Hoffmann and Compton Timberwolf and multimedia contributions by Kino Galbraith. A staged reading of the work will be held on May 14th, 2019 at Starr Bar in Brooklyn, New York with special guest performances by Miss Olithea and Steff Reed. All shows are free and open to the public, with suggested donation.

Kelsey Pyro creates music melding an eclectic R&B sound with raw, uncensored lyrics rooted in the oral traditions of her ancestors. As a music producer, poet, and songwriter, she's shared bills with the likes of Erykah Badu, Logic, Wu-Tang Clan, Wale, MC Lyte, Rapsody and more throughout much of the United States and internationally. A proud Black and Ojibwe woman, Kelsey Pyro is redefining hybridity in the twenty-first century as a multifaceted artist and creative educator.