National Sawdust Purchases Williamsburg Home; Announces Fall 2023 Season

National Sawdust, the acclaimed non-profit that commissions, produces, and presents genre-spanning new music and interdisciplinary works, has announced that it has purchased its building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and revealed the programming that will animate the venue this fall.

The Building Purchase

National Sawdust has acquired its $21 million building located at 80 North 6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, renovated and opened in 2015 through an innovative “philanthropic investor” model, making major donors co-owners of the venue in return for their financial investment. The purchase has been shepherded by National Sawdust's recently appointed Managing Director, Ana De Archuleta; its Co-Founder and Artistic Director, the composer Paola Prestini; and the board and staff; and made possible through generous donations by founding board members.

Housed in a century-old former sawdust factory, National Sawdust's 13,000-square-foot venue is one of the few remaining arts spaces in gentrified Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and occupies a vital place in the city's—and the country's—cultural landscape. The women-led organization, driven by the core values of curiosity, experimentation, innovation, and inclusivity, provides composers, musicians, and other artists a home for the creation of new work and for artist-to-artist mentorship, and gives audiences a place to discover wide-ranging music at accessible ticket prices.

When National Sawdust founders Paola Prestini and Kevin Dolan were endeavoring to build the venue, for $17 million, in 2015, none of them had opened or led an arts institution before, so convincing potential donors of National Sawdust's sustainability was especially challenging. Dolan, a tax attorney, musician, and composer, contributed an initial amount for building acquisition, design, and reconstruction of the core and shell of the building, led by Peter Zuspan of Bureau V. To raise the balance of $7 million for the interior build-out, the founders appealed to others to join them as Philanthropic Investors, a term they coined at the time. In exchange for their investment, the Philanthropic Investors would co-own the building, provide National Sawdust use of the space, and actively nurture the non-profit.

Thanks to the generous contributions of Philanthropic Investors such as Rick D'Avino, Kevin Dolan, Susan Hermann, Harvey Mogenson, Jill Steinberg, and other supporters, National Sawdust has successfully acquired the building. Ownership of the facility gives the organization the financial freedom to scale up its indispensable work, including commissioning, development, and presentation of new work, especially by artists from communities historically underrepresented in classical music; and mentoring of these artists.

National Sawdust Managing Director Ana De Archuleta said, “Today marks a monumental milestone in National Sawdust's journey of artistic excellence and inclusivity. This strategic acquisition not only cements our unwavering dedication to innovation but also opens avenues for alignment with artists and organizations in our community . Our commitment extends beyond just advocating for a diverse range of artists and nurturing innovative creations, to ensuring the development of both physical and creative space for all. We are grateful for our dedicated staff, visionary board members, and generous supporters who made this achievement possible. Together, we will continue curating transformative experiences that resonate with audiences, and empower artists through our mentorship work.”

National Sawdust Co-Founder and Artistic Director composer Paola Prestini said, “I am immensely grateful to these incredible supporters for their invaluable contributions to this remarkable milestone and for their unwavering belief in our shared vision. Achieving such a feat in less than a decade, especially amidst the challenges we've faced, is a true accomplishment. This exciting new chapter for National Sawdust fills me with joy, as we embark on a journey to foster stronger connections, create more opportunities, and cultivate innovative future-leaning solutions that will enhance the vibrancy and inclusivity of New York City and the international arts ecosystem, benefiting both composers and musicians alike.”

Fall 2023 Season

National Sawdust's Fall 2023 season explores the idea of the sound of connection, the concept of agency, and the sensation of awe. In countless musical form-expanding events, the organization demonstrates its long-standing commitment to nurturing the careers of curious and groundbreaking artists—especially those who have historically been marginalized in the performing arts—through mentorship and the development and presentation of bold new multidisciplinary works. Having established itself, in its first nine years, as an internationally influential hub of artistic innovation, National Sawdust continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of artists.

Fall 2023 is the first season curated by LeeAnn Rossi, who recently became National Sawdust's Senior Curator & Creative Producer after working as an independent creative producer following more than a decade as Managing Director of David Byrne's Todomundo. Joining National Sawdust's Co-Founder and Artistic Director Paola Prestini and Managing Director Ana De Archuleta, Rossi expands the all-women leadership team stewarding the organization. Her rich curation highlights the organization's unique sound system with artists that reaffirm National Sawdust as “a devotional space for far-out sound” (The New York Times).

Explains National Sawdust Senior Curator & Creative Producer LeeAnn Rossi, "I'm inspired and energized by Paola's singular vision for what a performance-based organization can be, and I'm excited to work alongside her and the incredible team at National Sawdust. I approach this role with great respect, admiration, and interest in the artists making and sharing new work here, and with great enthusiasm for welcoming audiences into that process. I also believe that an essential part of being a responsible and respectful curator means being open to the conversations and evolution necessary for programming to grow and flourish. That feels very much in line with National Sawdust's spirit—its boundlessness and mutability.”

National Sawdust Co-Founder and Artistic Director Paola Prestini says, “LeeAnn has already found meaningful new ways to support artists who have thrived in our space previously while expanding our community further in thrilling, surprising, and thought-provoking projects. I could not be more excited to work alongside her.”

Tickets for National Sawdust programs are typically between $20 - $35 before handling fees, and can be purchased at nationalsawdust.org. A member presale is currently underway, with all events on sale to the general public on July 20, 2023. See the Fall 2023 Schedule section below for programming details.

National Sawdust Fall 2023 Schedule

 

September 15 (7:00PM and 9:00PM) - Alicia Hall Moran: COLDBLOODED

National Sawdust welcomes back Alicia Hall Moran and her indoor ice-skating show, featuring a quartet of exceptional performers and dynamic percussionist Jacquelene Acevedo. As one of our inaugural artist-in-residence, Moran's return tells the story of the evolution of our incubator of artistic work through our residencies. Moran challenges the traditional notion of ice skating, subverting the art form to empower and celebrate the strength and athleticism of skaters. Her program embodies the spirit of National Sawdust, investing in individual artists and promoting their unique talents to the performing arts community. Moran aims to spread her message of empowerment and bold vision of artistry to all who will listen.

 

September 16 and 17 - John Zorn and Jesse Harris: Love Songs

Following up on the success of their two previous projects (The Song Project and Songs for Petra) composer John Zorn and lyricist Jesse Harris have created sixteen new songs fashioned in the form of an Off-Broadway musical. Love Songs tells the story of a young woman, her friends, their relationships both past and ongoing, and struggles with identity and trauma. This world-premiere concert performance features the remarkable voice of Petra Haden, accompanied by Brian Marsella on piano, Jorge Roeder on bass, and Ches Smith on drums. Blending influences from Burt Bacharach, Stephen Sondheim, Kurt Weill, and the Tin Pan Alley/Brill Building tradition, this is a lyrical and dramatic tribute to contemporary song that will appeal to young and old alike.

 

September 19 - Jeremy Dutcher

Five years after rising to international acclaim with his Polaris Prize-winning album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, song carrier, composer, activist Jeremy Dutcher comes to National Sawdust with the deeply personal experimental pop of his latest album Motewolonuwok. This moving and radiant exploration of contemporary Indigeneity, Two-Spirit identity, and his place within it continues the work of Dutcher's debut by continuing to reimagine the song traditions of his people. Motewolonuwok marks Dutcher's first time writing and singing in English versus his native tongue of Wolastoqey–a powerful invitation to settlers for collective healing and understanding.

 

This next sonic journey is rooted in an ancestor quote:

Tan qiniw iyuwok wasis kpomawsuwinuwok, 'tankeyutomon-oc kihtahkomikomon.

As long as there is a child among our people, we will protect the land.

 

September 21 - Julianna Barwick

Los Angeles-based composer, vocalist, and producer Julianna Barwick brings her deep, reflective compositions to National Sawdust for an intimate, headlining performance. The ambient musician folds together her distinctive loops and layered singing to create harmonious productions. Her last album, 2020's Healing is a Miracle earned Pitchfork's coveted “Best New Music” and was praised as “a medium for the unconscious, a salve for the collective wound.”

 

September 24 - Han Chen: Infinite Staircase

This fall pianist Han Chen world-premieres his latest commissioning project, “Infinite Staircase” at National Sawdust. Inspired by György Ligeti's 18 Piano Etudes, “Infinite Staircase” brings together 18 contemporary composers, hand-picked by Chen to represent a more diverse and creative future of classical music. Each composer is paired with one of the Ligeti etudes as a starting point for a new work. Chen, who has just released a new recording of the complete Ligeti Piano Etudes on Naxos, will perform all 36 works – both the original etudes and the new pieces they inspired – in one evening as a celebratory tribute to the iconic avant-garde composer's centenary this year.

 

September 27 - Kavita Shah: Cape Verdean Blues, Co-Presented by WNYC's New Sounds

Award-winning jazz vocalist, composer, and educator Kavita Shah brings her latest album, Cape Verdean Blues to National Sawdust. Cape Verdean Blues is a 12-song album of mainly traditional Cape Verdean music, carefully curated as a tribute to morna singer Cesária Evora, the archipelago of Cape Verde, and its welcoming people. Kavita Shah blends a jazz approach with tradition to convey a sense of “sodade,” the Kriolu word for a melancholy sense of transience that encapsulates both the Cape Verdean experience and that of modern global migrants. Cape Verdean Blues is the culmination of a diaspora's quest to find a spiritual home, a gift from Shah to the Cape Verdean people for providing that sense of home that has eluded her as the daughter of immigrants. Join us as Kavita Shah celebrates the music and warm-spirited people of Cape Verde, alongside master musicians from the islands: guitarist Bau (Cesária's former musical director), guitarist Jorge Almeida, percussionist Miroca Paris, and special guest vocalist Fantcha. This concert is a co-presentation with WNYC's New Sounds, hosted by John Schaefer, and will be recorded for broadcast on a future episode of the show.

 

September 28 - Abyss X: Freedom Doll

Artist, polymath, and songstress Evangelia VS aka Abyss X debuts her live performance Freedom Doll, an immersive exploration of modern-day womxnhood and post-internet living and loving. Named after her sophomore album, the performance piece Freedom Doll represents a special iteration of Abyss X's new material featuring a blend of folk, rock, and gospel music, dance, performance, and spoken word. Abyss X's playful movement, theatrics, and 4-octave vocal range innovate on the classic live concert stagecraft, providing a look into her own psychedelic mind. Abyss X will take the audience on a romantic escapade, joined by Berliner multi-instrumentalist Leo Luchini and NYC-based choreographer, dancer, and movement alchemist Sigrid Lauren.

 

September 29 - Emile Mosseri: Heaven Hunters

Emile Mosseri creates a one-of-a-kind evening celebrating his heartfelt debut album Heaven Hunters, featuring an orchestra of his own design adapted specifically for National Sawdust. After composing scores for films like Last Black Man in San Francisco and Minari, Mosseri has turned his poignant lyricism and warm melodies inward for his most personal collection yet. On his debut, Mosseri asserts that "hunting" for a suffering-free life (Heaven) is a fruitless exercise that prevents us from finding peace with the highs and lows of life. Heaven Hunters celebrates life as it is, using Mosserie's gift of musical storytelling to share songs of longing, love, heartbreak, familial struggle, and domestic bliss.

 

October 1 - Kaki King's Everybody Loves You 20th Anniversary

Join us as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of guitarist and composer Kaki King's debut album, Everybody Loves You, with a new show based on 20 years of her role as a guitarist, composer, and artist. This performance will feature fan-favorite songs like “Night After Sidewalk,” “Fortuna,” and much more. Throughout the evening, King will share never-before-heard anecdotes about the music, reflect on the impact of these 20 years, and invite the audience to actively participate in storytelling.

 

October 2 - TENGGER

Traveling musical family TENGGER stops by National Sawdust for a night of New Age drone magic. This family affair features the couple itta (Indian harmonium, vocals) and Marqido (synths and electronics) and their young son RAAI (toy instruments, vocals, synth, and dance), who joins them on stage. Previously called 10, itta and Marqido changed the group's name to TENGGER (“unlimited expanse of sky” in Mongolian) to inaugurate the birth of their son. Inspired by their travels, the family's yearly pilgrimages are spiritual experiences that inform their artistic practice.

 

October 4 - Niia

Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and director Niia brings her ghostly pop and a jazzy timbre to live performances . A classically trained pianist with an introverted personality, Niia's work and musical sensibility is best encapsulated in 2021's If I Should Die EP. On this EP, Niia turns inward, using her music as a therapeutic lens to process her doubt, anxiety, lust, karma, and sense of self.

 

October 5 - Eydís Evensen

Icelandic pianist and classical sensation Eydís Evensen brings her sophomore album The Light to National Sawdust. Inspired by the resilience in all of us, The Light is Evensen's sophomore album, and sees the Icelandic pianist confront her own hardships and sorrows—from her dread at the natural wonders of Iceland that will be impacted by climate change, to the Covid-19 pandemic, her horror at Russia's war on Ukraine, and her own personal ordeals. Performing songs from the album live, Evensen moves through all of these emotions, using her long-time "best friend" the piano as a source of catharsis, experimenting with her own voice as instrument as well. As Evensen reckons with these personal and collective catastrophes on The Light, she insists that "the beautiful light still survives," reminding us that the pain and grief will eventually thaw away.

 

October 6 - Elsa Nilsson: Band Of Pulses

What is the line that makes sound music? Flutist Elsa Nilsson, pianist Santiago Leibson, bassist Marty Kenney, and drummer Rodrigo Recabarren seek to answer that question in Pulses, a suite of music based around the rhythmic and melodic aspects of Dr. Maya Angelou's voice. Pulses explores the intersection between jazz and communication by highlighting the subtle melodic development and deep groove in Dr. Angelou's reading of her poem “On the Pulse of Morning,” replete with the sounds of rocks, rivers, and trees. With Dr. Angelou's voice as one of the instruments, Nilsson has crafted composed and improvised sections based on her pitch and phrasing.

 

Pulses by Elsa Nilsson and the Band Of Pulses has been made possible with support from Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works program funded through the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

 

October 8 - Martina DaSilva and la reserve: LIVING ROOM

Jazz vocalist and native New Yorker Martina DaSilva brings her project LIVING ROOM to a live audience for the first time ever at National Sawdust. The LIVING ROOM functions as a video piece on New York's jazz community today, literally bringing us into DaSilva's home for authentic and intimate jazz performances. In early 2020, DaSilva set out to challenge herself to invite a group of friends and collaborators over to her house once a week to record a live performance of a song. DaSilva creative-directed the entire shoot on a shoe-string budget, immersing herself in the smallest visual details form the feel of the camerawork to what the band wore to create a distinctive DIY look to draw the viewer in.

 

October 9 - Chief Ayanda Clarke and THE FADARA GROUP

present True To Our Native Land

“Drum Talk: The Dialogue of Music & Spirit”

This insightful masterclass featuring Chief Ayanda Clarke returns to Brooklyn, NY as the prelude to the True To Our Native Land “A Contemporary-Traditional African Cultural Performance” fall event at National Sawdust.

The misperception that Africa is undeveloped, stagnant, and irrelevant is problematic in the 21st century. Chief Ayanda's True To Our Native Land is the cultural education program of THE FADARA GROUP and it seeks to correct that perception. The series features performances, lectures, and conversations all designed to help the public better appreciate traditional African and African Diaspora cultures.

At “Drum Talk,” the GRAMMY Award-winning master percussionist will discuss some of the concepts, folklore, and aesthetics that inform and inspire his approach to music-making. Part discussion, part demonstration, the gathering will highlight the sources and material central to Chief Ayanda's upcoming presentation on November 4, 2023.

Musicians, music lovers of all genres, students, and curiosity-seekers alike will be enriched by a program designed to enlighten the mind, body, and spirit. “Drum Talk,” which premiered in Brooklyn in 2018, is an opportunity to gain powerful clarity from the Chief!

This event is co-presented and co-produced by THE FADARA GROUP and AKILA WORKSONGS.

 

October 11 - Raia Was: Captain Obvious

Accompanying the release of her new record Captain Obvious, Raia Was performs an intimate reimagining of the album as solo installation at National Sawdust. The songwriter, pianist, vocalist, and producer has become known for her darker take on art-pop, with ruminative lyricism that oscillates between brooding intensity and cathartic euphoria. She has performed since she was a teenager and her stagecraft reflects that practice as she meticulously plots her live shows and the unique sense of color and space that brings her music to life.

 

October 12 and 13 - Courtney Barnett: End of the Day

Comprised of 17 seamless improvisations which were originally created as part of the score to the documentary Anonymous Club, Courtney Barnett's new album, End Of The Day is a meditative, slow-burning and beautiful record, prioritizing atmosphere, tone and texture over traditional song structures and melodic hooks. It's a fearless and stunning turn for an artist who built her formidable reputation through profound lyricism and riff-based fireworks.

 

These intimate performances will see Barnett perform with collaborator and producer Stella Mozgawa. The first set will see the pair perform instrumental music from the End Of The Day album. The second set will see Barnett select from her catalogue with songs from Things Take Time, Take Time, Tell Me How You Really Feel, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, and Sea of Split Peas.

 

October 15 - Jihye Lee Orchestra: Infinite Connections

Brooklyn-based composer, arranger, conductor, and 2022 Toulmin Fellow Jihye Lee presents the world premiere of her new work Infinite Connections, performed by her 18-piece jazz orchestra. This personal trilogy of works will showcase the bonds between Lee, her mother, and her grandmother in celebration of one of the most fundamental connections in the human experience: that of a mother and child. Branching out from the mother-child relationship, the Jihye Lee Orchestra will explore all of the different, infinite connections between humans and the universe around them across nine compositions. Inspired by the traditional Korean rhythms that she fell in love with while on her creative journey to learn about her roots, Lee brings her ancestors' music and philosophy into the jazz world to create an unconventional sound that reminds us of our harmonious kinship.

 

October 20 - Forró Sem Palavras

On October 20th, National Sawdust has the honor of opening the Forró New York Weekend (Autumn Edition) Festival with a large chamber ensemble performance directed by Latin GRAMMY-nominated composer Rafael Piccolotto. Inspired by the musical vocabulary and rhythms of Brazilian Forró music, this performance will feature a new take on the genre by mixing it with influences from jazz and classical music for a sound that will have you dancing.

 

October 21 - THE RASA PROJECT

National Sawdust presents the world premiere of THE RASA PROJECT, a multimedia experience that confronts the escalating climate crisis. Created by a team of musicians, software engineers, neuroscientists, and visual artists, this cross-disciplinary performance reimagines John Cage's fascination with indeterminacy by immersing the audience in real-time, A.I.-generated projections. The program—featuring the New York premiere of 2019 Hildegard Winner inti figgis-vizueta's INBHIR, Reena Esmail's exhortative Varsha वर्षा, and Cage's monumental Sonatas and Interludes—invites a poignant reflection on the decay of the planet.

 

October 27 - Chris Williams and Alaara

Interdisciplinary artist and musician Chris Williams and Brooklyn-based trio Alaara take the stage at National Sawdust for this double headline performance of improvisation and experimentalism. Alaara, comprised of Sonya Belaya (piano), Grey McMurray (guitar), and Nicole Patrick (drums) will open the night with their characteristic long-form improvisations that spiral through jazz, minimalism, and ambient. Williams, who performed in our previous season as a part of The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, will perform a solo electronic set building on his work exploring the dyad of ancestral trauma and power existing in all Black Americans.

 

October 28 - James Austin Smith: Hearing Memory

Oboist James Austin Smith brings his musical-historical project, Hearing Memory, to National Sawdust, exploring music lost to the “end of history.” The daring, theatrical and political contemporary music of East Germany was created within brutal borders yet not entirely in cultural isolation; Austin Smith and pianist Cory Smythe tell the story of a forgotten avant-garde resistance and its complex legacy, illuminating the myth of political borders in the face of human creativity. Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hearing Memory asks how an overlooked cultural history might inform our political present.

 

October 29 - John Raymond & S. Carey: Shadowlands feat. Gordi

GRAMMY-nominated jazz trumpeter John Raymond and multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer S. Carey of indie folk band Bon Iver bring their debut collaborative album Shadowlands to National Sawdust. Shadowlands builds on the nearly twenty years that Raymond and Carey have been playing music together since their time at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. This stunning, genre-bending collection of songs combines the warmth and beauty of Carey's aesthetic with the improvisational, spontaneous nature of Raymond's. The music ranges from intimate and meditative to soaring and anthemic, with electric moments of musical interplay throughout. The duo will take advantage of National Sawdust's setting to convey the delicacy of their sound and bring Shadowlands to life.

 

November 4 - Chief Ayanda Clarke and THE FADARA GROUP present True To Our Native Land

A Contemporary-Traditional African Cultural Performance

The misperception that Africa is undeveloped, stagnant, and irrelevant is problematic in the 21st century. Chief Ayanda Clarke's True To Our Native Land is the cultural education program of THE FADARA GROUP and it seeks to correct that perception. True To Our Native Land features performances, lectures, and conversations all designed to help the public better appreciate traditional African and African Diaspora cultures.

For this Fall 2023 installation of True To Our Native Land, Chief Ayanda Clarke will draw inspiration from contemporary expressions of African musical sensibilities worldwide as he reimagines traditional rhythms, songs, and folklore from across the African Diaspora. Featuring traditional percussion ensembles from Ghana, Nigeria, and Cuba, THE FADARA GROUP's high-energy, interactive performance will unlock the polyrhythm within you!

This event is co-presented and co-produced by THE FADARA GROUP and AKILA WORKSONGS.

 

November 5 - Mathis Picard Trio: Heat Of The Moment Album Release w/ Special Guests

Coming off the heels of pianist/composer Mathis Picard's new album Heat Of The Moment on La Reserve records, the Mathis Picard Trio (where Picard is joined by Savannah Harris on drums, Parker McAllister on bass, and a host of special guests) kick off their national release tour with a show in French expat Picard’s chosen hometown of NYC. Heat Of The Moment is a project rooted in Picard’s research on the sonic connections between healing and presence, inviting both the trio and listener on a unique musical journey. A joyous portrait of the NYC musical community that the pianist has built over a decade in New York, this celebratory show brings Picard's newest compositions to the forefront, while spotlighting some of his closest collaborators of the past decade.

November 17 - Magos Herrera

Mexican singer and composer Magos Herrera brings her new album Aire to National Sawdust, transforming through delicate alchemy the grief, fears, and loneliness of a deadly plague into “a celebration of our humanity and the healing power of music.” Aire (Air) is a luminous collection of twelve songs and includes her new compositions, commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works, and jewels from the Great Latin American Songbook, such as "Alfonsina y el Mar" and "Gracias a la Vida." Those two classics suggest bookends of the experience in Aire, "Alfonsina ..." as an acknowledgment of impermanence and death, "Gracias a la Vida" as a prayer of gratitude for the many gifts of life. For this performance, Herrera will be joined by her jazz trio–Vinicius Gomes (guitar), Alex Kautz (drums), Matt Penmann (bass), and –and special guests PubliQuartet.

November 18 - El Khat

El Khat brings their original compositions—played on homemade instruments and inspired by Aden, Yemen's golden age of music—to National Sawdust. The Tel Aviv-based project features musicians from Iraq, Poland, Morocco, and Yemen, and is fronted by dynamic vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Eyal El Wahab. A former busker and self-taught cellist, El Wahab earned a spot in the Jerusalem Andalusian Orchestra but left to investigate and reconnect with his Yemenite roots. El Khat is the musical culmination of this personal journey, his "homemade junkyard band" an homage to lo-fi recordings of Yemeni music and the Yemenite people’s musical resourcefulness. Presented in partnership with the World Music Institute.

November 19 - Astghik Martirosyan: Distance

Armenian born, New York City-based vocalist, composer, and pianist Astghik Martirosyan brings her powerful album Distance to National Sawdust. Distance is the product of intense reflection around the early days of the pandemic, when Astghik was in Boston and receiving daily news of the 45-day war from friends and family back in Armenia. Distance ponders the relationship between the present and the past, self and nation, and one’s inner emotional life and their homeland across seven compositions. With lyricism influenced by the poetry of Eastern Europe and Armenian folk songs and the modalities of classical, jazz, and improvisational music, these compositions reflect the sensitivity and vulnerability of a particular moment in time. This performance will feature Ari Hoenig on drums, Joe Martin on bass, and Vardan Ovsepian on piano.

November 26 - Craig Harris Presents Brown Butterfly

Craig Harris, a student of and performer with the late Afrofuturism pioneer Sun Ra, is a trombonist, composer, bandleader, and gifted sonic shaman. He presents Brown Butterfly, a multi-media work based on the life and movement of Muhammad Ali, the world-renowned heavyweight champion boxer revered as one of the greatest athletes of all time. Harris's Brown Butterfly is poetry in motion, set to live music. It skillfully captures The Champ's speed, wit, and spirit.

Ali was a prime catalyst for the racial and cultural transformation that took place in the United States in the 1960s. His razzle-dazzle style and ability to deliver a punch, while adhering to high moral standards, have inspired millions from the moment he first started training as an amateur boxer at age 12 in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Looking at the life of The Greatest, as Ali was affectionately known, Brown Butterfly will take the audience on a multi-layered, percussive "dance" into some of the forces that propelled us in the 20th century. The audience will experience Ali in his physical and verbal glory. Brown Butterfly will present the power of a man–formerly known as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr–who evolved into a humanitarian with great integrity and who was a beacon of hope for all ages, all races, and people of all beliefs.

This event is co-presented and co-produced by Craig Harris, Arts & Education Continuum, and AKILA WORKSONGS.

December 2 and 3 - Tiffany Mills Company + Ensemble Ipse

Brooklyn-based Tiffany Mills Company and Ensemble Ipse join together to create three live music and dance-theater works featuring seven dancers and seven violists. The rich sensory landscape of bodies, text, violas, and electronic sounds entwine to weave a fabric of questions: who are we when we are unseen? What role do we have in shaping how we are seen by others? And what meaning should we make from our waking visions? The program includes two pieces directed by Tiffany Mills: a “Poem from Exile,” composed by Stephanie Griffin and inspired by Ovid’s account of his wife’s agony when he was exiled to the remote regions of the Roman Empire (now Romania) and “Doa Persembunyian - A Prayer for Refuge,” composed by Tony Prabowo for choir, arranged by Griffin, based on a poem by Goenawan Mohamad about a woman’s suffering in civil war-torn Romania. The trilogy is completed by “Vapor/Blood,” composed by Max Giteck Duykers, dramaturgy by Peter Petralia, with choreography by Mills, in collaboration with the Tiffany Mills Company. This newest work interrogates the power of sight in its many literal and metaphorical manifestations. Text generated by the dancers and inspired by their movements are woven into a multisensory performance that invites the audience to consider what it means to be seen for who you really are. These texts interact with a physical language rooted in the company’s main influences—partnering, improvisation, and somatic modalities—all forms that contribute to self-exploration, human vulnerability, and individuality. Duykers’ score features seven violists who perform alongside pre-recorded sounds that are given life through triggering and processing in the space—thereby connecting music to text to movement. Dance artists for the evening include: Alex Biegelson, Tony Bordonaro, Ching-I Chang, Guanglei Hui, Tiffany Mills, Jordan Morley, and Emily Pope.

December 6 - Ashley Bathgate and Mantra Percussion Premiere Matt McBane’s Topography, Co-Presented by WNYC’s New Sounds

Composer and electronic musician Matt McBane returns to National Sawdust to present Topography, the “terrestrial companion” to 2022’s aquatic Bathymetry, written for cellist Ashley Bathgate and percussion sextet Mantra Percussion. The 45-minute piece evokes open spaces and natural landscapes through individual movements ranging from textural, ambient slow-movements, to pattern-based, contrapuntal fast-movements. Topography builds on the intersection of acoustic and electronic sounds that McBane introduced on Bathymetry, with the percussion “orchestra” consisting of both standard and found percussion instruments as well as analog synthesizers (played live), piano and drum set, all played by the six percussionists. Bathgate will perform an opening set featuring the world premiere live performance of Anuj Bhutani’s, On Letting Go and a performance of Kate Moore’s “Velvet” (from Bathgate’s and Moore's album, Stories for Ocean Shells). This concert is a co-presentation with WNYC’s New Sounds, hosted by John Schaefer, and will be recorded for broadcast on a future episode of the show.

December 9 - Alex Kautz Project: Where We Begin Album Release

Brazilian drummer and composer Alex Kautz will be celebrating the release of his new album Where We Begin, a project that represents unity between different cultures. Joined by a stellar ensemble featuring Helio Alves, John Ellis, Joe Martin, Chico Pinheiro, and special guest Magos Herrera, Kautz will present original music as well as arrangements of different composers as a creative platform for a multicultural musical conversation between jazz, Brazilian, and world music.

December 14 - JJJJJerome Ellis

Stuttering, Afro-Caribbean composer, poet, and performer JJJJJerome Ellis returns to the National Sawdust stage to celebrate the release of his forthcoming new solo piano album. JJJJJerome Ellis, who previously opened for Faten Kanaan at National Sawdust last season, will play some pieces from the album on piano, electronics, and saxophone. JJJJJerome Ellis' work features contemplative soundscapes that explore relationships among blackness, disabled speech, divinity, nature, sound, and time.

December 16 - NationalSawdust+ Presents Breathless: Catie and the Robot

This durational duet pairs dancer/choreographer/engineer Catie Cuan with an industrial robot arm for an eight-hour dance that unfolds over the timespan of a single American workday. The performance contrasts the beauty, strength, and frailty of the human body with the relentless precision of machinery. Drawing inspiration from the photography of Eadweard Muybridge, the avant-garde cubism of Marcel Duchamp, and Frederick Taylor's quantization of human work, the artists address collective fears about artificial intelligence and the replacement of human labor, the historical, cultural, and emotional complexity of these fears, and the significant technical gaps that remain between science fiction and contemporary robotics. Presented in partnership with UC Berkeley’s AUTOLab, Breathless also invokes American feminism within the Labor movement and the xenophobia implicit in the controversial "Great Replacement" Theory. At the conclusion of the eight-hour duet, Cuan, a robotics engineer, will sit down for a conversation with fellow artist and UC Berkeley engineering professor Ken Goldberg, moderated by NS+ Curator Elena Park.

About National Sawdust

Opened in 2015, National Sawdust believes that artistic expression empowers us all to create a more joyful and just world. The artist-led organization commissions, curates, and produces works rooted in curiosity, experimentation, innovation, and inclusivity. National Sawdust’s state-of-the-art home is located in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

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