Amir ElSaffar News

For Volume 15 of the Digital Discovery Festival, National Sawdust is erecting Global Bridges, spanning audiences and artists hailing from an array of unique ethnic and national backgrounds, proving that (even in crisis) we can reap the benefits of the modern urban experiment.

With over sixty total events featuring more than 100 artists over a four month span, National Sawdust's ongoing Digital Discovery Festival is the rarest sort of story in NYC's post-COVID live music world: an unalloyed success.

For the first time since its inception four years ago, The India Center Foundation (ICF) has been awarded a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the production of their ground-breaking musical project, Raga Maqam. This collaborative venture explores the confluences of two modal systems, Raga from the Indian subcontinent and Maqam from traditional Arab, Turkish and Persian music, both of which have their own unique and specific rules and structure.

National Sawdust's physical doors are still closed but, thanks to a generous grant from the Alphadyne Foundation, the mission of providing artists the resources and support they need to create and present new work continues with the Digital Discovery Festival, featuring over 100 artists from May through August.

A Message has been released from Thor Steingraber, Executive Director - The Soraya. 

Heather Raffo's critically acclaimed, 9 Parts of Desire, will open this month at Portland Center Stage at The Armory, starring Nora el Samahy.

Heather Raffo's critically acclaimed, 9 Parts of Desire, will open this March at Portland Center Stage at The Armory, starring Nora el Samahy. An intimate and complex examination of the extraordinary (and ordinary) lives of nine Iraqi women, this remarkable solo work offers a meditation on what it means to be a woman in a country overshadowed by war. Based on Raffo's interviews with real women during the reign and fall of Saddam Hussein, Raffo weaves nine utterly distinct voices into a tapestry of humanity, love, and endurance in the face of oppression.

The Amarillo Symphony announced this past weekend that Music Director Jacomo Bairos' remarkable tenure will conclude in 2021. Defined by musical excellence, widespread acclaim, artistic partnerships, innovative programming, and extensive orchestral achievements, the Bairos era of the Amarillo Symphony will be recognized as one of the more storied and one of the institution's most illuminating.

The Iraqi maqam (modal system), one of Iraq's richest cultural offerings, features sophisticated melodies, infectious rhythms, and eloquent poetry. Hamid Al-Saadi, Iraq's foremost exponent of this centuries-old tradition, is renowned for his powerful voice and highly ornamented style, as well as his comprehensive knowledge of the intricate details of the music and poetry of Iraq. Al-Saadi is the only person from his generation to have memorized and mastered all 56 maqamat from the Baghdad repertoire, and is one of the few vocalists to keep this maqam alive today. He is joined by Safaafir, the only US-based ensemble dedicated to performing the Iraqi maqam in it traditional format. The group is led by the acclaimed Amir ElSaffar (santur-zither) and Dena El Saffar (joza-bowed stringed instrument, violin) of Iraqi descent, and features Tim Moore on percussion.

Returning for its third season is the Meeting Points Series, a contemporary concert series for the curious running from 22 September 2019 a?' 31 May 2020 in The Pavilion at Arts Centre Melbourne.

Robert Browning, called a?oethe entrepreneur who almost single-handedly created and filled New Yorkers' passion for world musica?? in the New York Times, has presented world music since April 1976. From his years at the Alternative Center for International Arts / Alternative Museum to his 26-year tenure at World Music Institute (which he co-founded and directed from 1985 a?" 2011) and his past six seasons as the director of Robert Browning Associates, he has presented over 2,300 concerts of world music and dance from internationally renowned figures and emerging artists from more than 100 countries and regions.

Single tickets are now available for the Harris Theater's 2019-20 presenting season, featuring exclusive projects, Chicago debuts, and emerging artists from around the world.

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) announces the Fall 2019 season of dance, music, and multimedia presentations, running September 27 through December 6. Tickets from $15-$25 for all BAC Presents performances are on sale now at bacnyc.org or 866 811 4111. BAC also announces BAC Space Fall 2019, providing creative residencies to artists across disciplines to develop new works of dance, theater, music, and multimedia.

Supersense: Festival of the Ecstatic returns with a hypnotic collision of music, performance, dance and theatre in an ecstasy-inducing 2019 program from 23 - 25 August, 2019. Created by Arts Centre Melbourne with Australian New York-based performer and curator Sophia Brous, the third iteration of the intoxicating exploration of ecstatic performance is the most bold, distinctive and cross-disciplinary yet. Featuring icons of music, theatre, dance and performance ritual from five continents, Supersense is presented over three days in the underground labyrinth of Arts Centre Melbourne.

The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance announces its season lineup for 2019-20, continuing the presenting organization's push to bring exclusive projects, Chicago debuts, and global voices to its stage in Millennium Park.

The John F. Kennedy Center announces the full lineup for DIRECT CURRENT, its two-week celebration of contemporary culture, which returns for a second season this spring (March 24-April 7).

Seven-time GRAMMY nominee Bobby Sanabria and his Quarteto Ache open the 2019 Hudson Jazz Festival "I'm proud to support The Hudson Jazz Festival because it enriches our community and makes it a better place to live." - Sonny Rollins Hudson, NY - Hudson Hall presents the second annual HUDSON JAZZ FESTIVAL (HJF), FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16 and SUNDAY FEBRUARY 17 (President's Day Weekend) at Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House's historic 1855 theater. Curated by Hudson-based jazz pianist Armen Donelian, the 2019 festival treats jazz aficionados and world music fans to a banquet of masterful artists playing music from around the globe.

Just because a work is new doesn't mean that it isn't able to honor the classic sources that paved the way for its creation. This idea is underscored in the Ragamala Dance Company's elegant and well-executed performance of Written in Water, which relies on the ancient Indian board game Paramapadam (a precursor to Snakes and Ladders) and Hindu mythology to craft the performance's three movements. Even though the performance could benefit from more dynamic shifts in tonality, the overall effect is gorgeous and precise.

Acclaimed classical Indian dance artists Ragamala Dance Company and preeminent dancer choreographer Malavika Sarukkai return to the Kennedy Center over two weekends in November with premieres of vibrant collaborative works.  While deeply rooted in the South Indian dance style Bharatanatyam, from which the artists are committed to preserve, each company uses unique contemporary approaches in their work to bridge the boundaries between ancient and modern cultures.

DIRECT CURRENT, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts's two-week celebration of contemporary culture, returns for a second season. Training its focus on new works, interdisciplinary creations in which artistic worlds collide, and creative responses to topical concerns, the 2019 spring immersion showcases some of the most provocative, original, and pioneering voices in the arts today. DIRECT CURRENT takes place on March 25-April 7 at the Kennedy Center and beyond, extending throughout the District of Columbia through collaborations with a number of alternative venues, to expand the growing audience for contemporary culture in the nation's capital.