Headline Concerts
Elan Trotman with Rohn Lawrence
and Special Guest The Rahsaan Langley Project
Barbados-born, Berklee-educated saxophonist Elan Trotman and Elm City's own Rohn Lawrence are joined by The Rahsaan Langley Project to kick-off our headline series on the New Haven Green.
Flor de Toloache & Las Cafeteras
Flor de ToloacheNYC's Flor de Toloache brings the fireworks every time they perform, combining influences from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, Germany, Italy, and the U.S. to create an edgy, versatile, and fresh take on traditional mariachi music. This all-woman band has won hearts around the world, captivating crowds at The Grand Ole Opry, Coachella, and more. Bring your...
Ruth B
JUNO-award winning singer-songwriter Ruth B stunned the world with the success of “Lost Boys”—reaching the top 100 on iTunes and eventually rising to become the only piano ballad on the Billboard Top 40 when she was still in her teens. Inspired by The Beatles, Carole King, Lauryn Hill, and Taylor Swift, Ruth B combines a soulful voice with powerful lyrics that are both universal and unmistakably...
Amir ElSaffar
with members of the Rivers of Sound Orchestra and New Haven Symphony Orchestra
Iraqi-American trumpeter, santur player, vocalist, and composer Amir ElSaffar's Rivers of Sound Orchestra brings together musicians from a broad spectrum of musical worlds, creating a musical language that combines Middle Eastern "maqams" (modes) and instruments such as oud (lute), santur (hammered dulcimer), and hand percussion, with the rhythm, aesthetics, and instrumentation of contemporary...
Ticketed Performances
Radicals in Miniature
Obie Award-winning playwright Ain Gordon and percussionist Josh Quillen team up to tell stories of people who left an indelible impression on the world, even if their names have been long-forgotten by Google and other modern measures of success. From the tax man who visited Ain Gordon’s childhood household every year to downtown cabaret legend John Sex, each person’s story is told with tenderness...
ensemble cantissimo
Founded in 1994, ensemble cantissimo is one of the most sought-after vocal ensembles in the German-speaking world.
A Billion Nights on Earth
Late nights are never as magical as they were when we were young. Celebrated director Thaddeus Phillips and visual artist Steven Dufala take audiences on a remarkable adventure in which a parent and child travel the world through a portal in their kitchen. Astonishing puppetry and Kabuki stagecraft animates larger-than-life penguins, milk cartons, astronauts, and squirrel before our eyes in this...
The Muslim Choral Ensemble, Sri Lanka
The Muslim Choral Ensemble is the first Muslim ensemble in South Asia devoted exclusively to music of the Muslim world.
Young People’s Chorus of New York City and Yale Choral Artists
The Young People’s Chorus of New York City® and Yale Choral Artists will premiere The Glass Box a new work by Paola Prestini, composed for both ensembles.
The Merchant of Venice
New England Premiere
In a utterly unique theatrical event, the Festival brings one of Shakespeare’s most well-known and controversial plays, The Merchant of Venice, to the Yale Law School Courtyard. First staged in Venice to commemorate the establishment of the Jewish Ghetto 500 years ago, the Compagnia de' Colombari’s new production, directed by Karin Coonrod, features a cast of five multi-ethnic actors to explore...
Kaki King
The Neck Is A Bridge To The Body
Recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the greatest guitar players of her generation, over the past thirty years Kaki King has evolved from a prodigious finger-style player to a true visionary. Combining her insatiable imagination with virtuoso technique, The Neck is A Bridge to the Body is Kaki King at her storytelling best as she explores the creation myth and celebrates the guitar...
Pepperland
Mark Morris Dance Group
The Beatles’ groundbreaking album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” has turned 50. To salute this milestone in musical history, we’ve partnered with arts organizations from around the world to commission the Mark Morris Dance Group’s creation of Pepperland. A huge hit at its debut in Liverpool, Morris’ choreography combines with fresh arrangements of Beatles songs and new Pepper-inspired...
Requiem for an Electric Chair
Toto Kisaku
With a gun to his head, Toto Kisaku was moments away from being killed by his government when his executioner showed him a moment of mercy. His only crime? Creating art that questioned the practice of child exploitation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Toto Kisaku found political asylum in the United States, but many people from his country have not been so fortunate. Be a part of the...
Ideas Talks
Exploring Citizenship - Arts as a Gate Opener: A Town Hall
Last June, our high school Festival Fellows hosted a standing-room-only Town Hall meeting on gun violence. Join them this year as they explore the themes of Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric, opening up a public discussion about the continuing epidemic of racial inequity in America.
The Chasm and The Prism: Deploying Magic Strategies in the Sorted-Out City
Look at our city. What do you see? Who do you see? Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, psychiatrist and founder of the University of Orange, with University of Orange colleagues Molly Rose Kaufman and Aubrey Murdock examine urban divides caused by serial forced displacement and offer new ways of seeing that help to restore the urban ecosystem. Moderated by Kyle Pedersen.
The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America
with Timothy Snyder
In these uncertain times, what can Americans learn and how can we move forward to protect our most precious values? Timothy Snyder discusses his new book, exploring the lessons learned from the rise of the Russian oligarchy which crushed their burgeoning democracy at the end of the Cold War.
I'll Be Your Qubit!
The entanglement of quantum physics and art
How do you envisage something that would be altered simply by your own observation of it? Join Quantum Physicist Michel Devoret and Visual Artist Martha W. Lewis to investigate the relationships between art and science, to discuss their collaboration, and the benefits of engaging in multidisciplinary activities. Conversation moderated by Florian Carle.
The New England News Collaborative Presents NEXT
Is Immigration Good For The Economy?
Executive Editor, New England News Collaborative's John Dankosky leads a lively discussion about the changing demographics of New England and the impact of immigration on our economy. Recorded for broadcast on WNPR, this lecture is part of our close partnership with the New England News Collaborative.
Panelists:
Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Professor of Economics at Yale
Shannon Dooling,...
Germany and the European Union
How was Germany able to transition from the “sick man” of Europe in the 1990s into the political and economic predominance within the European Union it is today? Director of the Yale Program in European Union Studies, David Cameron, looks at what the future holds for Europe.
Chorus Across Conflict
Micah Hendler, Founding Director of the Israeli-Palestinian YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus, discusses how choral music can be used as a bridge between communities in conflict and open up a space for genuine dialogue to take place
Designing for the 5 Senses
Storytelling in an Oversaturated World
A world oversaturated with noise and light and interruption takes an enormous toll on our sensory systems, impoverishing our experience, attention span and empathy for each other. Itamar Kubovy, executive producer of Pilobolus, and Bruce Mau, chief creative of Massive Change Network and winner of the 2017 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, talk about the new medium of “live” and unmediated five...
Islam & Music: The Case of Iran
How did the newly established Islamic Republic regulate music following the 1979 revolution, and what have been the effects of those policies on music in contemporary Iran? Journalist and author, Nahid Siamdoust shares from her book, Soundtrack of the Revolution: The Politics of Music in Iran, an alternative history of postrevolutionary Iran viewed through the field of music.
Refugee Resettlement - A Noble American Tradition Under Attack
Chris George, Executive Director of IRIS with a panel of guests lead a lively discussion of refugee resettlement in Connecticut. Where do refugees come from? How are they selected? How can we be sure they are not terrorists? How does the community get involved? How do refugees enrich our country? Why and how is the Trump Administration destroying the refugee program?
Young People's Chorus of New York City: Music as a Unifying Force
MacArthur Fellow and Musical America’s 2018 Educator of the Year, Francisco J. Núñez, is a composer, conductor, visionary, leading figure in music education, and the artistic director/founder of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC), renowned worldwide for its diversity and artistic excellence. Francisco's talk will explore his visionary work with YPC, offering a bold new model for...
Mexico Beyond the Headlines
The relationship between Mexico and the United States has never been so fraught. Diego Gómez Pickering discusses changes he’s seen since first appointed Consul General of Mexico to New York City in June of 2016 and the implications of President Trump’s campaign promise of a border wall coming to pass.
The Racial Imaginary
When Claudia Rankine was recognized by the MacArthur Foundation in 2016, she used her $625,000 award to build an extraordinary Interdisciplinary Cultural Library to provide a platform for artists and scholars to explore the idea of race. Two curators for The Racial Imaginary Institute—essayist and painter, LeRonn P. Brooks, Ph.D. and renowned poet and lawyer Monica Youn—will lead a discussion of...
How to Make Your Town Somewhere Everyone Wants to Live
After more than 30 years touring the country, singer-songwriter Dar Williams has learned a lot about what makes a town great. She talks about her new book What I Found in a Thousand Towns and what small cities like New Haven can do to capitalize on resources and draw people together.
Risk, Anxiety, and Generosity
Defining the Culture of Money from Shakespeare to Today
What does a venture capitalist have in common with a Venetian man brought to life by Shakespeare more than 400 years ago? Our panel features experts in both economics and the Bard drawing parallels between the characters of The Merchant of Venice and the behavior of modern consumers and investors. Participants: Steve Mentz (moderator), Erik Blachford, Tara Bradway, Judith Chevalier, and Holly...
The Act You’ve Known For All These Years
Deconstructing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Four boys from Liverpool re-shaped popular music. The Beatles are so ingrained in our culture that we rarely take the opportunity to critically explore the value and nuances of their work as artists. Expert Beatlesologist Scott Freiman explores the cultural impact of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Curation and the Democracy of Arts
Curators play a significant role in shaping the visual dialogue of our times, in ways that are often mysterious or obscure in the minds of the museum-going public. Keely Orgeman and Justin Brown will have a conversation delving into the curatorial process, addressing a range of considerations—from logistical to political—involved in the implementation of exhibitions and the interpretation of...
New Haven 2040: Looking Toward the Next Twenty Years of Art and Culture
with Jock Reynolds, Pamela Franks, and Titus Kaphar
In June, Jock Reynolds ends his 20-year tenure as Henry J. Heinz II Director of the Yale University Art Gallery. Join us as he draws from his lifetime of experience to look forward, exploring what the next 20 years might look like for the artistic and cultural life of New Haven. Participants: Jock Reynolds, Pamela Franks, and Titus Kaphar.
The Art of Crossing Cultures
Women in the Arts from Hong Kong
Join us for a discussion exploring the issues of artists working outside of their home cultures, as both stimulation and challenge. How do residencies, encounters, and collaborations with artists and audiences from across the globe change an artist and her work? How and why does some art successfully cross borders to connect with foreign audiences, while other works do not? For this dialogue, we...
Altar'd Spaces
The Coastal Reeds
The Coastal Reeds performs for schools and communities throughout Connecticut, showcasing the unusual and beautiful sounds of the double reed instruments. Take a journey through the history these instruments, experiencing music from the Renaissance to the present, learning how double reeds work, the interesting sound they make, and what makes them unique and fun to play. This program is fun and...
Elegant Primates
Elegant Primates make original pop music for the 21st century. Playing original world beat pop music with Latin, African and Caribbean influences, they have performed for audiences of all ages at outdoor festivals, libraries, theaters and nightclubs. They blend rich four-part vocal harmonies with exciting, unusual percussion.
The Word
Weekly Word Warriors are passionate poets and rappers from New Haven high schools who have met weekly week to write, workshop, and perform poetry with teaching artists and special guests. They organize Citywide Youth Poetry Jams and satellite events at their sending schools. This performance focuses on poetry they've written influenced by the NEA Big Read book, Citizen: An American Lyric by...
The Joe Carter Samba Rio Trio
Think: “Jobim meets Coltrane”. This international trio is well versed in the various Brazilian styles of music—Samba, Bossa Nova, Baiao, Choro. By combining this music with straight-ahead Hard Bop Jazz the trio creates a style known as Brazilian Jazz.
Zikina
The Zikina experience starts with curiosity. If you’re like most audience members, you’ll immediately ask, “What is that he’s playing?” Uganda native Gideon Ampeire draws you in with a variety of traditional East African instruments rarely found in the US, including enanga (zither), adungu (harp), and kalimba (thumb piano)—all of which he builds himself.
The Recess Bureau
Created in 2015 by bassist/bandleader Jeff Moro, The Recess Bureau has played venues and events such as New Haven Jazz Festival, The Bitter End NYC, Branford Jazz Series, The Acoustic, BRYAC, and many more.
Carte Noire
Carte Noire musicians perform music as a language, combining diverse musical backgrounds to perform innovative, improvised programs. Drawing from jazz, contemporary and traditional classical music, world music, rock, and electronic music, the musicians invite audiences to share in their process of creation and discovery.
The Meadows Brothers
The Meadows Brothers' distinct brand of roots music combines folk, blues, country and rock 'n' roll into what the Boston Globe calls “An engagingly twangy sibling sound all their own.” Their 2017 release, “TRUTH”, demonstrates the brothers' keen ability to get to the heart of the matter with down to the bone melodies, blood harmonies, unsweetened songwriting, expressive guitars and blues tinged...
The Kenn Morr Band
The Kenn Morr Band performs Original Folk/Rock music featuring catchy melodies, thoughtful lyrics and unique instrumentation (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, violin, bass, drums, accordion and three-part harmony.) Concerts are highlighted by the stories behind the songs.