Composer, vocalist, and performing and recording artist Tamar-kali presents concert performance excerpts from The Swann — an opera she is developing featuring a libretto by Harlem Stage Associate Artistic Director and Curator-in-Residence, Carl Hancock Rux, about the life and times of William Dorsey Swann, the first known person to identify as a “queen of drag.” A formerly enslaved denizen of our nation’s capital, Swann was the first American on record to pursue legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ+ community’s right to gather. Set during his detention and conviction in 1896 for “keeping a disorderly house,” a criminal charge often levied against those who ran brothels, the opera explores the interior of Swann’s mind as inquest, analysis, and detainment begin to take their toll. The program concludes with a discussion featuring Tamar-kali and her collaborators, including Rux and stage director James Blaszko.
Tamar-kali
Composer
Carl Hancock Rux Libretto
James Blaszko Director
John Shafto Director of Photography
Delaney Green Production Designer
Matt Elias Editor (at Big Sky Edit)
Rebecca Bailey Costume Designer
Brian McQueen
William Dorsey Swann, BASS
Daniel Moody Police Officer, COUNTERTENOR
Tesia Kwarteng Oshun, MEZZO SOPRANO
Marcella Murray Mother Mary, SPOKEN ROLE
James Busterud Judge Kimball, BARITONE
Tyler Grayman Daniel
Ethical Court of Law / Queer Ball Attendants: Ken Alston Jr. COUNTERTENOR
Brian Golub TENOR
Hans Tashjian BASS
Adam Rothenberg
Music Direction, Piano
Ina Paris Viola
Jason DiMatteo Contrabass
Composed and orchestrated by Tamar-kali
Worldwide Representation for Tamar-Kali: Sozo Impact, Inc. info@sozomedia.com | +1 (917) 791-3680 | sozoartists.com
Commissioned by Harlem Stage through its WaterWorks Established Artists Program and supported by the Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Thompson Family Foundation, and the Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Fund. Supported by New Music USA’s Organization Fund in 2023-24.
Special thanks to Mabou Mines for their production support of Tamar-kali as an Associate Artist. Onstage garments were designed and constructed by students of the Fashion Institution of Technology: Wajeeha Hassan, Elisa Nguyen, and Cynthia Hung.
In 2021 when conceiving and composing the work for my LA Opera commission We Hold These Truths, I wanted to uplift the rich legacy upon which I stand.
The first wave of the Civil Rights Movement in America emerged in the late 1800s and it is in this same world of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”, Langston Hughes’ “I too” and Claude Mc Kay’s “If We Must Die” that WiIlliam Dorsey Swann exists.
I began to draw a line of connection and understand their experiences as part of a continuum.
It was a natural progression and an irresistible opportunity to represent the spectrum of humanity present in Black life in America during this period.
Shining a light on our forebears is essential to honoring their resilience and continuing the traditions of innovation and bold expression they so fearlessly exemplified.
I hope that audiences take away an appreciation for the varied and eclectic realities and experiences of African Americans throughout history in this nation.
Our long standing presence and contributions have been an integral part of the American story.
It is also my hope that the uncanny parallels between the late 1800’s and our present day political climate would provide a wider frame of context for the generations of LGBTQ+ Americans who have continually fought for their rights as citizens.
Brooklyn born and bred artist Tamar-kali (she/her) is a secondgeneration musician with roots in the coastal Sea Islands of South Carolina. As a composer and performer, Tamar-kali defies boundaries to craft her own unique sound and speak her lyrical truth with a supreme passion, voice and soulful intensity that will shake your foundation and shatter your expectations. In 2017, her debut film score for Dee Rees’ Oscarnominated Mudbound garnered her the World Soundtrack Academy’s 2018 Discovery of the Year Award. Her “expressive and varied score” (Variety) has been classified by Indiewire as one of the 25 Best Film Scores of the 21st Century. Tamar-kali has been commissioned and presented by LA Opera, MOMA, Beth Morrison Projects, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Primavera Project, Catapult Opera, and more. She is the creator of Freedom Is a Constant Struggle, a multi-day residency and orchestral concert event tracing the African American fight for freedom, supported by Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City Festival in July 2023, featuring Sea Island Symphony: Red Rice, Cotton and Indigo, an orchestral love letter to her Gullah Geechee roots. Watch Night, conceived and directed by Bill T. Jones with score by Tamar-kali and libretto by co-conceiver Marc Bamuthi Joseph, premiered as part of Perelman Performing Arts Center’s inaugural season in 2023. Upcoming projects include Demon Fruit Blues, a dance and music concert exploring the origin of misogyny and ‘curse of womanhood’ through rock, gospel, blues and African rhythms. tamar-kali.com
Carl Hancock Rux is an Alpert Award-winning multidisciplinary artist, historian, and social activist. His published works include the Village Voice Literary Prize-winning collection of poetry, Pagan Operetta (Semiotext), the novel Asphalt (Simon & Schuster), and the OBIE award-winning play Talk (TCG). He is also a musician, having recorded several albums, singles, and mixed tapes since the release of his debut album Rux Revue. (Sony Music). Additionally, he is the librettist for several operas, including The Blackamoor Angel, composed by Deidre Murray, Mycenean, composed by Yosvaney Terry, Why Don’t Girls Wear Pearls Anymore? composed by Tamar Muskal, as well as Steel Hammer, composed by Julia Wolfe (2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist). Rux is Co-Artistic Director of Mabou Mines, Associate Artistic Director/Artist in Residence at Harlem Stage The Gate House, Resident Artist at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Multidisciplinary Editor at The Massachusetts Review, and the former Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at CalArts, where he continues to teach.
James Blaszko is a first-generation American director and creative producer who has lived in Central Harlem for the past 12 years. This year, he staged and translated Sapphira Cristál’s maxi challenge-winning performance of “O mio babbino caro’’ for RuPaul’s Drag Race on MTV, as well as directed her music video of the same aria which has over 150,000 views on YouTube. James has been commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to open their 2024 Summer for the City on June 12th with Soundcake, a classical music concert starring Sapphira Cristál and Monét X Change. Last season he staged Handel’s Xerxes at Detroit Opera (conducted by Dame Jane Glover), a revival of Yuval Sharon’s reverse-order La bohème at Boston Lyric Opera, and Tamar-kali’s Freedom is a Constant Struggle at Lincoln Center. He also produced the first stop of Liza Jessie Peterson’s solo play The Peculiar Patriot since its notorious shutdown at Angola State Penitentiary in 2020, and subsequent Oscar-shortlisted documentary Angola Do You Hear Us? now streaming on Paramount Plus. James is the CEO of Apotheculture Club, a national audience cultivation initiative that promotes an inclusive approach to the experience of attending performing arts and positive culture around the legal consumption of cannabis. IG: @apothecultureclub + @jamesblaszko
Renowned for his exceptional vocal range, Ken Alston Jr. is a globally recognized performer. His remarkable vocal range has opened doors for him to collaborate with prestigious organizations such as Three Mo’ Tenors, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Philadelphia, and various orchestras including the Czech, Charleston, Baltimore, and Soulful Symphony Orchestras. Ken Alston Jr. has captivated audiences as a member of Three Mo’ Tenors and recently impressed viewers with his debut performance at PACNYC in WATCHNIGHT as Supernatural. A proud graduate of Morgan State University, Ken Alston Jr. continues to inspire and entertain with his extraordinary musical prowess. Follow @KenAlstonJr for the latest updates on his musical journey.
Tyler Grayman is a Sophomore at the Fashion Institute of Technology in the Fashion Design BFA Program, and is incredibly honored to participate in this production. Tyler spent much of his youth performing in theatrical productions and assisting in costume shops, and is very excited to expand his horizons to the opera world. He would like to thank his friends and family for their unwavering support in his continued efforts in the arts, and would like to extend his gratitude towards James Blaszko in providing this incredible opportunity.
James Busterud received his master’s degree in music in 1981 and a performer’s certificate in opera from Eastman in 1982. Highlights of his 16year operatic career included debuts with the Metropolitan, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and New York City operas; performing a duet for the Queen of England and President Reagan; and singing the role of Schaunard on a recording of La bohème with Leonard Bernstein. Prior to arriving at Eastman, Jim received his BA in Music from Pomona College in California. While at Pomona, Jim was awarded the Kappa Delta Award as the school’s most outstanding scholar-athlete, was twice named All-American in baseball, and is in the school’s Athletic Hall-of-Fame. In 1998, he began his financial career in wealth management with Merrill Lynch, later becoming Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at UBS Wealth Management. In 2017, he became Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Jack Point Advisors. Jim is a George Eastman Circle sustaining member at the benefactor level.
Brian Golub’s most notable film credit is his supporting role as Kristen Bell’s secretary in Touchstone Pictures When In Rome. His national tour credits include the 50th Anniversary Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar (Priest/Annas u/s), School of Rock (Gabe, Ned u/s), and Joseph…Dreamcoat (Reuben - “One more angel in heaven”) directed by Andy Blankenbuehler. He also toured South Korea for 7 months in Jekyll & Hyde (Proops). In NY he was in the Actor’s Fund Broadway Benefit Concerts of Hair where he can be heard riffing it up on the Grammy Nominated cast album & Chess starring Josh Groban. He was seen Off-Broadway & around NYC in: Watch Night at PAC NYC also composed by Tamar-Kali, Standard Time, Caligula (NYMF), Floyd Collins, and more! Brian has been awarded and nominated around the country for his work in Memphis (Huey: Broward Center - Carbonell Award Winner Best Actor), Secret Garden (Archie: ACT of Connecticut - CT. Critics Circle Award Nominee, Best Actor), Full Monty (Malcolm: Actors Playhouse - Carbonell Award Nomination Best Featured Actor), Altar Boyz (Abe: Phoenix TheatreZoni Award Nomination Best Featured Actor), Fiddler On The Roof (Motel: Actor’s Playhouse - Carbonell Award Nomination Best Featured Actor). See more much at www.briangolub.com. Brian is the owner of Uncle Brian Wellness where he does body work, reiki healing, yoga teaching and is a death doula offering holistic support to the dying as they transition. Learn more at www.unclebrianwellness.com. Thank you Tamar-Kali for trusting me with your work yet again. NAMASTE Y’ALL!
Tesia Kwarteng is a versatile and multi-faceted Ghanaian-American artist who is equally at home on the operatic stage, on screen and in the studio. Ms. Kwarteng recently led and sang with the vocal ensemble Vox Noire on the recording of the original film score for The Woman King by Terence Blanchard, directed by Gina PrinceBythewood and starring Viola Davis. Tesia’s first libretto commission (titled A Sable Jubilee) also premiered this year at the Aspen Music Festival, with music composed by Jasmine Barnes and sung by Will Liverman. Highlights of the 2022-2023 season included Lady Catherine in Lincoln Center Theater’s new production of Lerner & Lowe’s Camelot, featuring a book by Academy and Emmy Award-winning writer Aaron Sorkin and directed by Bartlett Sher. Season highlights for the 2023-2024 season include a house and role debut in the title role of Carmen with Opera Columbus and Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro for another house debut with Portland Opera. During the 2021-2022 season, Ms. Kwarteng made her principal debut at The Metropolitan Opera as a Pit Singer in Brett Dean’s Hamlet and also made her Off-Broadway debut at Lincoln Center Theater in Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s new opera Intimate Apparel, where she was seen as Mayme and in the ensemble. That season, Tesia also covered the role of Ruby/Sinner Woman in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones at The Metropolitan Opera.
Brian McQueen is a bass and voice instructor residing in New York City. As a recitalist, Brian was Artist in Residence with the Tono International Arts Association, ChaShaMa, Manchester Literary Festival, and Poetry International in London. They recently made their Canadian operatic debut in Ian Cusson’s Of the Sea with Tapestry Opera and have also appeared with On Site Opera, Janiec Opera, Trilogy Opera, Ardea Arts, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, and The New York Opera Festival. In Theatre, Brian has been seen in Xandro Segade’s Future St. at the We’re Watching series (Bard College) and the Tip of Her Tongue series (Broad Museum). They also played the role of Cleopatra in Here, Serpent (Dixon Place, NYC), a trans-gender liminal experimental piece devised by both Brian and performance artist, C. Bain. The Swann marks Brian’s debut with Harlem Stage. As an educator, Brian maintains a vibrant private voice studio in NYC, serves on faculty at The Harlem School for the Arts, and is a Teaching Artist through both Lincoln Center Education and The Bronx Arts Ensemble. Brian currently serves as Senior Ambassador for Hearts of Gold, a charity supporting unhoused mothers and their children to transition into permanent housing in New York City. They also have the privilege of serving as an instructor with Culture For One, an organization transforming the lives of children within the New York City foster care system by providing them access to arts education.
Praised for the ability to “pierce hearts” and “utterly silence a room” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer) countertenor Daniel Moody dazzles audiences and makes “a profoundly startling impression” (The New York Times) in concert and operatic repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary premieres. Moody has sung the title roles in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo, and Orlando, and has sung the leading roles in contemporary works by George Benjamin, Peter Knell, Hannah Lash, Aribert Reimann, Elena Ruehr and Jorge Sosa. Career highlights include a debut with The Metropolitan Opera, appearances with Cincinnati Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Mark Morris Dance Group, concerts with Minnesota Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Moody is featured on Apollo’s Fire’s recent recording of Handel’s masterwork, Israel in Egypt. He plans to release a recording of him with Parthenia Viol Consort, performing a delicious program of music for countertenor and viols. Moody holds a BM from Peabody Conservatory, a MM from Yale School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music and has won several awards and recognition from organizations including Metropolitan National Council Auditions, George London Competition, Handel Aria Competition, and New York Oratorio Society Competition. Moody keeps an active voice studio in New York City, taught secondary voice lessons at Yale University, served on the voice faculty at Molloy University and is on the voice faculty at Vancouver Academy of Music. www.danielmoodycountertenor.com
Marcella Murray is a New Yorkbased theater artist from Augusta, Georgia. She is a playwright, performer, collaborator, and puppeteer. Murray’s work is heavily inspired by the observed ways in which people tend to segregate and reconnect. Her work tends to focus on themes of identity within a community and (hopefully) forward momentum in the face of trauma. Performances include The Slow Room, directed by Annie Dorsen at Performance Space New York; a workshop of Ocean Filibuster, co-created by the team Pearl D’Amour (Lisa D’Amour and Katie Pearl) with composer Sxip Shirey at Abrons Arts Center; and Shoot Don’t Talk at St. Ann’s Warehouse/Puppet Lab created by Andrew Murdock; Our Bodies Like Dams by Sarah Finn at Mabou Mines; workshop reading of Loom Troll by Karinne Keithley Syers at New Dramatists; SmithSchmidtSmith by Leonie Bell at The Brick; Fire in the Head by Christopher Myers with FIAF; and Other Atlantas created and performed by Marcella Murray at La MaMa. Along with David Neumann, Murray recently co-created Distances Smaller Than This Are Not Confirmed (Obie Special Citation for Creation and Performance) which opened at Abrons Arts Center in January of 2020, and Primer for an Impossible Conversation, a digital theater piece which premiered in 2021 at MCA Chicago. Murray is a co-curator of the Object Movement Puppetry Residency. In 2022, she was an Artist in Residence at LaMaMa ETC as well as a participant in the Experiments in Opera Writer’s Room. Murray is a guest professor of Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College.
Hans Tashjian, a bass-baritone whose voice has been described as “rumbling and sumptuously lush,” and “hauntingly striking,” recently made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera singing Count Ceprano in Rigoletto. He also recently appeared with Saltmarsh Opera as Le Fateuil and L’arbre in L’enfant et les sortilège, Opera Baltimore as Méphistophélès in Faust, Teatro Nuovo as Callistene in Poliuto and the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, Houston Grand Opera as Billy in the world premiere of The Snowy Day, and Opera Essentia as the title role in Imeneo and Zoroastro in Orlando. Equally at home on the concert/artsong stage, Hans recently sang with the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival where he was praised for his “luminous,” and “otherworldly,” performance, appeared with Connecticut Choral Society as a bass soloist in Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, presented the world premier of the formidable song cycle Paradoxides for composer John Sichel, and will present Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death next fall with pianist Anna Keiserman. Other upcoming performances include Hercules in Handel’s Admeto with Opera Essentia and American Opera Projects’ First Glimpse concert, the culmination of the year-long Composers & the Voice program of which Hans is a singer-in-residence. Mr. Tashjian is an alumnus of the Yale School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Adam Rothenberg is a pianist, conductor, and music director based in New York City. He has conducted the Broadway revivals of Sweeney Todd and Company, as well as the national tour of Miss Saigon at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. He recently music directed the world premiere of Watch Night at the newly built Perelman Performing Arts Center, and served as music director to Patti LuPone for her concert, Songs from a Hat, at Lincoln Center Theater. Hailed by Opera News as a pianist of “jaw-dropping virtuosity,” Adam is passionate about pushing the boundaries of classical music and bridging the gap with other genres and art forms. He has performed in orchestral concerts with the New York Philharmonic and the Juilliard Orchestra, as well as art song recitals at Caramoor with the New York Festival of Song and at Tanglewood, where he was a two-time Vocal Piano Fellow. A native of Syracuse, NY, Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and Mathematics from Northwestern University, and a master’s degree in Collaborative Piano from the Juilliard School, where he was the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.
Jason DiMatteo is a bass player and composer. He has been recording and producing music since 1990 and has performed in more than 2500 live shows across the US, Canada, and Europe. He studied bass at NYU (BA ’92) and Queens College (MA ’97). Jason is grateful to his amazing teachers and for his long-standing relationships with artists like Tamar-kali, Carl Hancock Rux, Valerie June, Greg Tate, and Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber. “We all need support and nourishment to persevere with a life in the arts, and I am grateful to so many.” A mainstay of the off-Broadway and cabaret scenes, Jason has especially enjoyed his work
with the NYC Gay Men’s Chorus, Rosie’s Theater Kids, Petula Clark, Bridget Everett, and currently with RHONY Countess Luann de Lesseps. Jason grew up in Eugene, OR and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two daughters.
At the center of Ina Paris’ music are the rhythms and sounds of Latin and Jazz. She performs with Glamor Tango, Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Quartette Indigo, Astoria Tango Orchestra, New York Tango Sextet, Abaddon, Charanga Broadway, and Leading Ladies of Tango. Ina appears in recordings with Jazz greats Wynton Marsalis, Regina Carter and John Blake. She has collaborated with Harry Connick Jr., Alice Cooper, Mark Anthony, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nicole King Cole, Bettye LaVette, Regina Carter, Omara Portuondo, Chucho Valdes, La Orquesta Aragon, Pablo Milanes, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Daniel Phillips, Marcy Rosen, Gerard Schwarz, Michael Stern, Thalia, Luis Miguel, Ray Chew, Willy Colon, Billy Porter, Christina Aguilera, Luis Miguel, Edina Menzel, and Steven Van Zandt in the Netflix series Lillyhammer. Her classical collaborations include the New York Camerata, Candelight Series, Brandenburg Ensemble, Brooklyn Metro Chamber Orchestra, Washington Heights Camerata, Soulful Symphony, Queens Baroque Orchestra and the Queens College Orchestra. On Broadway, Ina performs in Dear Evan Hansen, Pretty Woman, and holds the viola chair on & Juliet. Ina has toured Europe, North and South America, Africa and recently China with Glamor Tango. She has appeared on television with Soundtrack ’63 at the Apollo Theater, Jesus Christ Superstar live concert on NBC with John Legend, Elton John’s Grammy Tribute with Chris Martin on CBS, Annie Live! on NBC, Dear Evan Hansen movie, and Netflix movie Maestro. An awardwinning musician, Ina recorded La Bella Cubana as part of La Camerata Romeu, which received Cuba’s equivalent to a Grammy (Premio de la Critica Especializada).
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council.
Harlem Stage’s Programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABDULLAH IBRAHIM · ADAM W. SADBERRY
ALEXANDER DAVIS · AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE
BERTHA HOPE · BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE COMPANY
BOBBY MORGAN · BORA YOON · CAMILLE A. BROWN
CARL HANCOCK RUX · CHLOE DAVIS · CRAIG HARRIS
DAFNIS PRIETO · DANIEL FETECUA · DAVID VALBUENA
DJ SABINE BLAIZIN (OYASOUND) · FEI-FEI
FLOR DE TOLOACHE · GEORGE EMILIO SANCHEZ
HANNAH LEMMONS AKA LEMMONS · IAN ISIAH
JAMES BLASZKO · JASON MORAN · JOANNE BRACKEEN
JOSÉ JAMES · JOYA POWELL · JUEL D. LANE
KALÍ RODRÍGUEZ-PEÑA · KIMBERLY NICHOLE
LUCIANA SOUZA · MALEEK WASHINGTON
MARY PRESCOTT · MATTHEW WHITAKER
MAYTE NATALIO · MICAH THOMAS · NORA CHIPAUMIRE
PABLO MAYOR’S FOLKLORE URBANO ORCHESTRA
PATTY ORTIZ · RICKEY TRIPP
RONALD K. BROWN/EVIDENCE
SHANTELLE COURVOISIER JACKSON · STEW
SUN HAN GUILD · TAMAR-KALI · URBAN BUSH WOMEN
VIJAY IYER · YASSER TEJEDA · YUNIYA EDI KWON
SEPTEMBER 14, 2023
ON & ON: JOSÉ JAMES
SINGS BADU
SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
UPTOWN NIGHTS
LATIN MUSIC SERIES
PABLO MAYOR’S FOLKLORE
URBANO ORCHESTRA
OCTOBER 13 – 14, 2023
E-MOVES
RONALD K. BROWN/ EVIDENCE
OCTOBER 20 – 21, 2023
CRAIG HARRIS
TONGUES OF FIRE
(in a harlem state of mind)
OCTOBER 27, 2023
UPTOWN NIGHTS
LATIN MUSIC SERIES
DAFNIS PRIETO
FEATURING LUCIANA SOUZA
CANTAR
NOVEMBER 3, 2023
IN THE COURT OF THE CONQUEROR
BY GEORGE EMILIO
SANCHEZ IN COLLABORATION WITH VISUAL ARTIST PATTY ORTIZ
NOVEMBER 10, 2023
UPTOWN NIGHTS
LATIN MUSIC SERIES + CARNEGIE HALL CITYWIDE
FLOR DE TOLOACHE
DECEMBER 1, 2023
UPTOWN NIGHTS
LATIN MUSIC SERIES
YASSER TEJEDA & DJ SABINE BLAIZIN (OYASOUND)
DECEMBER 9, 2023
WATERWORKS EMERGING ARTISTS SHOWCASE
FEATURING SHANTELLE
COURVOISIER JACKSON, HANNAH LEMMONS AKA
LEMMONS, BOBBY MORGAN, MARY PRESCOTT & KALÍ RODRÍGUEZ-PEÑA
JANUARY 11–13, 2024
E-MOVES
URBAN BUSH WOMEN’S HAINT BLU
JANUARY 26, 2024
UPTOWN NIGHTS
IAN ISIAH + KIMBERLY NICHOLE
FEBRUARY 16, 2024
UPTOWN NIGHTS:
CONVENT TO WYTHE yuniya edi kwon + SUN HAN GUILD
*Note: All presentations subject to change as COVID-19 conditions evolve.
MARCH 1 – 2, 2024
ETERNAL SPIRIT: VIJAY IYER & FRIENDS
CELEBRATE THE MUSIC OF ANDREW HILL
MARCH 8, 2024
UPTOWN NIGHTS
AN EVENING OF CHAMBER
MUSIC PRESENTED WITH SUGAR HILL SALON & CONCERT ARTISTS GUILD
MARCH 9, 2024
UPTOWN NIGHTS:
CONVENT TO WYTHE
BORA YOON &
R. LUKE DUBOIS AT NATIONAL SAWDUST
MARCH 22 – 23, 2024
STEW
HIGH SUBSTITUTE FOR THE DREAD LECTURER: BARAKA JONES IN DUB
MARCH 29 – 30, 2024
WATERWORKS ESTABLISHED
ARTIST COMMISSION
AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE
banyan seed
APRIL 19 – 20, 2024
E-MOVES
BILL T. JONES/ ARNIE ZANE COMPANY
APRIL 26, 2024
PIANOS FOR DUKE
REIMAGINED: FEATURING
JASON MORAN, ABDULLAH
IBRAHIM & FRIENDS
APRIL 27, 2024
PIANOS FOR DUKE
REIMAGINED: FEATURING
JASON MORAN, ABDULLAH
IBRAHIM & FRIENDS
BENEFIT CONCERT
MAY 3 – 4, 2024
WATERWORKS ESTABLISHED
ARTIST COMMISSION
TAMAR-KALI THE SWANN
MAY 17 – 18, 2024
E-MOVES
nora chipaumire
ShebeenDUB
JUNE 3, 2024
HARLEM STAGE 40TH ANNIVERSARY GALA
JUNE 14 – 15, 2024
E-MOVES
CAMILLE A. BROWN & GUESTS: BLACK JOY
FEATURING WORKS BY CAMILLE A. BROWN, CHLOE DAVIS, JUEL D. LANE, MAYTE NATALIO, RICKEY TRIPP & MALEEK WASHINGTON
Lead support for Harlem Stage’s 40th Anniversary Season is provided by the Mellon Foundation.
Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas.
For 40 years our singular mission has been to perpetuate and celebrate the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color, make performances easily accessible to all audiences, and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts.
We fulfill our mission through commissioning, incubating, and presenting innovative and vital work that responds to the historical and contemporary conditions that shape our lives and the communities we serve.
Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President
Jamie Cannon, Vice President
Michael Young, Secretary
Mark Thomas, Treasurer
Angela Glover Blackwell
Jenna Bond
Jamila Ponton Bragg
JoAnn K. Chase
Patricia Cruz, Artistic Director & CEO
Eric Oberstein, Managing Director
Shamar Hill, Director of Development
Shanté Skyers, Associate Director of Development
Julianna Friedman, Development Manager
Carl Hancock Rux, Associate Artistic Director/ Curator-in-Residence
Sarah McCaffery, Programming Manager and Associate Curator
Maurice Ivy, Programming Associate
Deirdre May, Senior Director of Digital Content and Marketing
Andre Padayhag, Marketing Manager and Graphic Designer
Adrienne Gomez, Box Office Manager
EDUCATION
Jordan Carter, Education & Community Engagement Manager
Bethany Cintron, Education & Community Engagement Associate
Amanda K. Ringger, Director of Production
Anna Adams Stark, Stage Manage
Clarence Taylor, Lighting Operator
Orlando Alvarado, Audio Engineer
Saul Ulerio, Video Operator
Julio Collado, Audio / Deck Crew, David Barrett, Deck Crew
LaChanze
Patricia Cruz
Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes
Jenette Kahn
Channing Martin
Rebecca Robertson
Tamara Tunie
Blair Washington
Rodney Bissessar, Director of Operations
Lamont Askins, Operations Associate
Acey Anderson Sr., Maintenance
NCheng LLC, Accountants/Advisors
Jake Lee, Partner
Aaron Lam, Supervising Senior Accountant
Aon/Albert G. Ruben Company (NY)/ Claudia Kaufman, Insurance
Arts Education Consultants: Sobha Kavanakudiyil, Sierra Ray & Wendy Rojas
Blake Zidell & Associates, Public Relations
Briguel, Digital Video Services
DAS, IT Consultant
Derrick Saint Pierre/Snugg Studios, Digital Video Services
Intrepid Digital, SEO Services
JCA, Inc.: Database Consulting
Jess Medenbach, Digital Video Services
LCM/247, Digital Video Services
Lutz & Carr/Chris Bellando, Accountants
Madison Consulting Group, Matthew Laurence
Manchester Benefits, Greg Martin
Marc Millman, Photography
Robyn L. Stein, Rl Stein Group, Development Consultant
Charles Whelan, The Whelan Group Incorporated
Toma Carthens, Andy Garcia, Marlon Moncrieffe, Nobar De Leon, Miriam Hernandez, Julian Norales