The trailblazing program by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, Next Jazz Legacy, has extended the 2023 application deadline through October 31. Next Jazz Legacy crowns awardees with personalized apprenticeships with jazz legends and financial support to combat gender and racial injustice in terms of access and opportunity in the music industry.
The awardees are chosen through a meticulous process of review by esteemed jazz musicians. On the 2023 board is tenor saxophonist and composer JD Allen, Berklee College of Music Brazz Department chair Tanya Derby, saxophonist, flutist and composer Caroline Davis and more to be announced. Those awarded will receive $10,000, performance opportunities, mentorship programs, a cohort of progressive jazz students and professional promotional support.
Next Jazz Legacy is only in its second year supporting female and non-binary jazz musicians; but even in 2022, its inaugural year, participants saw apprenticeships with icons such as Esperanza Spalding, Lizz Wright, Marcus Muller, Tia Fuller and Chris Potter. Awardees have performed at such prestigious events as the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival and Brooklyn’s JazzFest.
The deadline to enter the empowering program is now October 31, the application can be found here, the program FAQ page here, an overview of the program with application tips here.
All in-person activities have resumed for the Celebrate Mexico Now festival in New York City for the first time in three years. The inclusive and groundbreaking festival features Mexican and Mexican American innovators and will happen from Nov. 14-22.
Celebrate Mexico Now was founded in 2004 by award-winning curator and producer Claudia Norman of CN Management. It is NYC’s first and only independent arts festival spotlighting contemporary Mexican culture. Norman has brought hundreds of native Mexican artists – sculptors, musicians, poets, chefs, filmmakers, actors, dancers, painters, and directors – to perform and show at venues across the city.
The festival will start on Nov. 14, with a book presentation by American-Mexican writer Jennifer Clement on her book Prayers for the Stolen. She writes about some of the most dangerous states in Mexico, where adolescent girls and young women are abducted from bus stops and schoolyards. This is the horrific truth, and her books talk about these things through the lens of fiction. The event will be on Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. at the Center for Fiction.
On Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. there will be an art gallery showcase of Contemporary Mexican Photography with Mexican photographer and visual artist Martha Naranjo Sandova. She will talk about Mexican photography and its impact of it on the art circuit of New York City and the world.
The Celebrate Mexico Now festival will have performance art on Nov. 19 at 9:30 p.m. for $20 a ticket. NYC-based artist Carlos A. Cruz Velazquez will be performing with the group Psychedelic Spectacular. The performance invites the audience into a journey of self-acceptance through music, dance, costume reveals, and dramatic stupidity.
There will be storytelling and musical performances as well. Storyteller Valentina Ortiz will share stories of Quetzalcoatl and the essence of life and wisdom. Storytelling will be followed by Mariachi Angeles de New York, music from the hearts of young people, who from childhood gathered in the community to learn the musical traditions of their ancestors and preserve the art form for future generations. These will happen on Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 3 p.m.
To celebrate Mexican Revolution Day on Nov. 20 at 8 p.m., there will be a special event at Sobre Masa Tortilleria & Restaurant. Mexican chef Zack Wangeman and his wife Diana Wangerman created a special three-course menu for the occasion.
Celebrate Mexico Now presents a special musical performance by the chamber group Mexamorphosis. Led by Guadalupe Peraza, the group performs cross-cultural concerts with different musical elements with traditional African, Turkish, and Mexican instrumentation. They will perform on Nov. 21 from 7-8 p.m.
On the final day of the festival, there will be a closing cocktail reception and screening of Los Guardianes del Maíz (The Keepers of Corn), directed by Gustavo Vazquez and produced by Jonathan Barbieri. The film tells the story of native corn by the indigenous farmers, artisans, and cooks in Mexico whose ancestors brought life to the seeds since the agricultural revolution. This will take place on Nov. 22 at 6 p.m.
For more information about the Celebrate Mexico Now 2022 festival in NYC, and to buy tickets to select events, go here.
Over November 1-6, Birdland will be alive with “Hot Gypsy Jazz,” featuring the Django Festival Allstars. True virtuosos of Django’s style, The Allstars swing like crazy and will break your heart with a ballad, while carrying on Django’s legacy.
Called the “Hardest swinging band at The Newport Jazz Festival” by Downbeat Magazine, the lineup for the upcoming tour is a true family affair. Samson Schmitt (lead guitar) and part of the famous Schmitt French ‘gypsy’ Manouche musical family brings his 2 daughters Stefi (vocals), and Stenli (guitar/vocals). They’ll be joind by Ludovic Beier (accordion), Pierre Blanchard (violin), Antonio Licusati (bass), and Michael Harris (guitar).
The Django Reinhardt Festival carries on the legacy of gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt with top players from Europe combined with America’s great jazz stars to bring joy to the public with its swinging sound, virtuosity, romantic melodies, and camaraderie amongst the musicians.
The Django Reinhardt NY Festival was launched in 2000 and was the first-ever festival of its kind in America and established a home at the legendary club, Birdland, in New York City. 2022 will mark its 22nd anniversary, and it’s still going strong. The Festival is produced by Pat Philips, and founded by Pat Philips & Ettore Stratta.
Django Festival Allstars shows at Birdland will be held on November 1-3 at 7 pm and 9:30 pm, while on November 4- 6, shows will start at 8:30pm and 10:30pm. More info on the Birdland shows can be found here.
Django Festival AllstarsTour Dates
October 30: Rosen Performing Arts Center, Wayne, NJ
November 1-6: Birdland, NYC
November 8: Boca Black Box, Boca Raton, Florida
November 9: Faena Theatre, Miami, Florida
November 12: Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild , Pittsburgh, PA
November 13: Bach Dynamite & Dancing, Half Moon Bay, CA
Andrea Bocelli, the Italian pop and opera singer is coming to the US to share his talented and moving 2020 album, Believe. On December 13 and 14, Bocelli will be on tour in New York for the first time ever at the UBS Arena and at Madison Square Garden, respectively.
His performances for the Andrea Bocelli In Concert Tour will feature his last uplifting and powerful album that highlighted the power music has on the masses to enrich our souls. Additionally, this album is full of crossover hits, love songs, as well as music for the Holiday Season.
UBS Arena located at Belmont Park, is New York’s newest venue for entertainment and sports. Although it has just opened in November of 2021, prominent artists have already begun to perform there, including Harry Styles, Sebastian Maniscalco, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Genesis and TWICE.
Bocelli is a not only an artist, but has been an inspiration to fans internationally for over 20 years. Bocelli has performanced at the Olympic Games, the World Cup and the Global Citizen and has nearly 90 million records sold worldwide, sold out concerts, record-breaking live-streams, a Golden Globe, seven Classical BRITs, seven World Music Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Stifel, the global investment firm sponsoring Bocelli’s tour, has a pre-sale that begins on Monday, April 4 at 10 a.m. local time. Additionally, Citi cardholders will have access to pre-sale tickets at the same time. Andrea Bocelli Fan Club members will be able to acquire tickets on Wednesday, April 6 at 10 a.m. local time, while access to general sale tickets will begin on April 11. For more information visit Andrea Bocelli’s website.
The Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO), a prominent NY youth ensemble, has announced its 2022-23 concert season.
The first event of their upcoming run is a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, October 30 which features the orchestra in full at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall performing Beethoven’s “7th Symphony.” Other pieces on display include Gabriella Smith’s “Field Guide,” which is described as “a musical safari into the natural world,” and an original student-led “instant” composition.
Also including a three-event holiday concert series from December 10 to the 20th, the season will feature performances in the capital district up until June 4, when the ESYO will close out with a concert at Carnegie Hall.
ESYO Music Director Etienne Abelin.
This marks the first season as Empire State Youth Orchestra Music Director for Etienne Abelin, a Swiss violinist and conductor. “The season builds upon what makes the ESYO experience so unique,” said Abelin. “It challenges the most passionate young musicians in the region to see music-making as a joyful pursuit of musical excellence. This new season will carry this hallmark with a sprinkling of something new.”
As director, he’s sporting a philosophy called MusicNOW which “allows for more curiosity and risk-taking, which are at the heart of creativity and our sense of well-being,” said Abelin. As part of MusicNOW, the ESYO’s 2022-23 season will include workshops for Soundpainting, a musical sign language which uses more than 1500 gestures to compose music live, something available as early as opening day on the 30th.
The orchestra rehearses.
Information regarding tickets and more can be found on the ESYO website.
2022-2023 FALL CONCERT SCHEDULE:
Opening Day Matinee
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Sunday, October 30, 2022, 3:00pm
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
ESYO PERCUSSION ENSEMBLES
Monday, November 7, 2022, 7:30pm
Brown School, Schenectady
Three Orchestras! One Incredible Afternoon of Music
Spoiler NYC frontman, Life of Agony bassist, and graphic artist Alan Robert was recently caught on video being arrested with his bandmates from Spoiler at Brooklyn’s Lucky 13 Saloon.
Well, not really. The group’s music video for “Banned in 38 States,” released this past Thursday, October 18, showed the band being carried out of the heavy metal-themed bar in handcuffs and performing from behind bars in a skit-like approach.
Produced by Ken Lewis, a producer whose repertoire includes work with the Wu-Tang Clan, Eminem, and countless other hip-hop icons, it’s a quick, pounding punk rock track which just crosses the two minute mark. Robert proclaims the band’s infamy as inciters of punk-infused chaos, yelling on the first verse, “no where left to play, lots of hell to raise, pour me another bourbon, whiskey or wine.”
“Banned in 38 States” is one of two new tracks from their August-released album of the same name. It’s a 15th anniversary edition of their debut album Grease Fire in Hell’s Kitchen, featuring remastered versions of the record’s original 12 songs.
Spoiler NYC band members from left to right: Chris “Junkyard” Silletti (guitar), Alan Robert (lead vocals/bass), Tommy “The Kid” Clayton (drums).
The other new addition is the slower, more melodic “Damaged Goods,” an ode to Robert’s tumultuous upbringing with an abusive father. “People say I will never amount to nothing, and then they’ll wait ’till I kill myself or something, then they’ll say ‘oh what a shame, he was damaged goods,” he sings on the chorus.
The song received a Taxi Driver-themed music video back in August when the remastered album dropped.
Spoiler NYC is also promoting Banned in 38 States with three upcoming shows: one in November in a return to the Lucky 13 Saloon, and two in December, with appearances at Coney Island USA and Bowery Electric.
Information regarding tickets, Banned in 38 States’ limited vinyl release on Halloween, and more can be found on the Spoiler NYC website.
Kansas City progressive metal trio Hammerhedd is playing at The Chance in Poughkeepsie as the opener for Swedish juggernauts, In Flames, on Thursday, October 27th. The heavy metal band from Brighton, Michigan, has also just released their first full-length LP, Grand Currents, in July of 2020.
The band, which first started playing together about a decade ago, is comprised of 19-year-old Henry (vocals, guitar), 16-year-old Eli (drums), and 14-year-old Abe (bass). The boys were 4, 7, and 9 years old when the band was formed.
Together, the Ismert brothers have amazed fans with their high-level, technical playing, which has drawn comparisons to modern metal icons similar to artists Gojira, Meshuggah, and Mastodon. Especially for their age, the band is much more than the sum of their influences, They rock the house every time they have played.
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. In Flames tickets for the upcoming concert tour are on sale at StubHub. Likewise, for Hammerhedd’s tour information can be accessed by clicking the link here.
You can check these fantastic metal bands at The Chance Theater, which is an old concert and theater complex located in downtown Poughkeepsie. The venue has featured big-name and up-and-coming rock acts throughout it’s lifetime since being built in 1912. The vibes at this venue are unforgettable, and it has a long history of now-famous musicians that have played there.
To watch Hammerhedd’s song “Tunnel,” click here. For more information on the event at The Chance Theater and to purchase tickets for this upcoming event, click here.
On Saturday, November 5, Town Hall will present the New York premiere of Laura Kaminsky and Kimberly Reed’s new chamber opera, “Hometown to the World.”
Conducted by Tania León, directed by Kristine McIntyre, and presented in association with Santa Fe Opera, the opera focuses on the impact of the largest workplace ICE raid in U.S. history that took place in Postville, IA in 2008.
Postville greeting sign with the slogan Kaminsky/Reed’s opera was named after.
It highlights the multiculturalism of the small Iowa city before the raid of the town’s world-largest kosher meatpacking plant, and looks at the raid’s impact on Postville and families living in the town after the plant’s subsequent closure.
“Hometown to the World” brings together three characters from different communities affected by the raid: Linda Morales, a Guatemalan woman whose undocumented husband and son were deported but who remained to care for her U.S.-born baby; Abraham Fleischman, a gay Hasidic Jew, who, banished from his family, seeks refuge in Morales’ home; and County Commissioner Larsen, an American of Scandinavian descent, who despairs at the town’s downfall.
Performers include Cecilia Duarte, Blythe Gaissert, and Michael Kelly, the ensemble Sybarite5, and a chorus comprised of 100+ public high school students from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts.
Pop-violinist and dancer Lindsey Stirling has announced tour dates in promotion of her new Christmas album Snow Waltz.
Starting November 17 in Grand Prairie, TX, her 26-show North American Snow Waltz Tour includes stops at Albany’s Palace Theatre on December 6 and Waterloo’s Del Lago Resort & Casino on the 10th.
Promotional poster for the Snow Waltz Tour.
Released on October 7, the 14-song album is Stirling’s sixth record to date, and follows up 2019’s Artemis.
Cover art for ‘Snow Waltz’ by Lindsey Stirling.
Based in Los Angeles, Stirling’s first widespread recognition came in 2010 as a contestant on America’s Got Talent.
Her career has been marked by two Billboard Music Awards including Top Dance/Electronic Album for her third studio record Brave Enough, and a #1 placing on the Billboard, Amazon and iTunes Holiday Charts for her 2017 holiday album, Warmer in Winter.
English rock band Arctic Monkeys have announced their North American tour for Summer 2023 with support from acclaimed Irish band Fontaines D.C. The tour includes two nights you won’t want to miss at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium and a quick stop at The KIA Forum in Los Angeles.
The Arctic Monkeys announced a UK stadium tour for Summer 2023. Along with this, they have just released “Body Paint” – the second song to be released from their forthcoming 7th album The Car (October 21st on Domino). They returned to the stage of 30 Rock’s Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon for their first TV performance since 2019’s Austin City Limits.
The last time the Arctic Monkeys made stops in New York was back in 2018 when they played at Forest Hills Stadium and in Canandaigua. In honor of being in their inspiration’s hometown, The Strokes, the band covered one of their most popular songs “Is This It” exclusively for their New York fans.
Fans can register by clicking the link HERE for Ticketmaster Verified Fan Presale now through October 4th at 10am EST. Presale will begin October 6th at 10am local and general on sale starts Friday, October 7th at 10 am local. Purchase tickets by clicking the link HERE.
ARCTIC MONKEYS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:
Friday, August 25, 2023 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
Sunday, August 27, 2023 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Tuesday, August 29, 2023 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
Wednesday, August 30, 2023 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Saturday, September 2, 2023 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
Sunday, September 3, 2023 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Tuesday, September 5, 2023 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann
Thursday, September 7, 2023 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Friday, September 8, 2023 – Forest Hills, NY – Forest Hills Stadium
Saturday, September 9, 2023 – Forest Hills, NY – Forest Hills Stadium
Monday, September 11, 2023 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
Friday, September 15, 2023 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
Saturday, September 16, 2023 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena
Monday, September 18, 2023 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Arena
Friday, September 22, 2023 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Saturday, September 23, 2023 – Vancouver, BC – Pacific Coliseum
Sunday, September 24, 2023 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
Tuesday, September 26, 2023 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
Friday, September 29, 2023 – Inglewood, CA – The KIA Forum
