Brooklyn's Home for Music Discovery National Sawdust Announces New Programming Partnership With Chelsea Factory

By Jessel Thomas First Posted: May 08, 2022 08:03 PM EDT

National Sawdust and Paola Prestini (composer, National Sawdust Co-Founder and Artistic Director) and Chelsea Factory are pleased to announce the first companies to take the stage in the organizations' programmatic partnership.

Grammy-winning composer and pianist Arturo O'Farrill and his Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra with special guest Emeline Michel take over the landmarked site from June 16 to 17, and New York's unconventional and experimental Bare Opera offers two performances of Thomas Cabaniss's Firesongs on June 18.

(Photo : JP Cutler Media)

National Sawdust Sets the Lineup for Its Week of Programming in Partnership With Chelsea Factory

Kicking off a dynamic music collaboration, National Sawdust has set the lineup for its week of programming in partnership with Chelsea Factory. Leading the charge for the first two performances is the distinguished non-profit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, presenting Jazz Across the Americas - An Afro Caribbean Experience, a celebration of the storied music genre as interpreted across the many cultures and rhythms of these island nations on June 16 and 17.

Multi-Grammy Award-winning composer Arturo O'Farrill hosts with his 18-piece Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra performing both beloved jazz masterpieces and contemporary works from emerging Caribbean composers. Legendary Haitian singer and composer Emeline Michel lends her powerful voice and mastery of multiple music genres to the evening that moves the ever-evolving art form effortlessly into the future.

Based on the poetic works of writers from celebrated novelist Robert Louis Stevenson to United States Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, Firesongs, a song recital celebrating change that spans lifetimes, follows Afro Latin Jazz Alliance with two performances on June 18.

From composer Thomas Cabaniss and presented by Bare Opera, the song cycle is not merely a work of music but a multi-layered experience of film, light, and images that surround and support the singers to create moments of conflict, respite, and reckoning.

Firesongs is directed by Malena Dayen, with music direction by David Rosenmeyer and choreography by Troy Ogilvie. Projection design is by Sangmin Chae and lighting design by Devin Cameron.

Lending their voices to the shared embodiment of poetry and song are Anicet Castel, Inna Dukach, Eugenia Forteza, Marcelo Guzzo, David Charles Tay, Chanan Ben Simon, and Shanelle Woods accompanied by a small chamber ensemble.

All performances will be held at Chelsea Factory (547 West 26th St., between 10th and 11th Avenues). For more information and to purchase tickets, which begin at $35, please visit www.ChelseaFactory.org.