Baryshnikov Arts to Present Inaugural Bloodlines Interwoven Festival
Baryshnikov Arts (Sonja Kostich, President and Executive Director) today announces this summer, from June 10–16, 2024, it will present its first annual Bloodlines Interwoven Festival, to take place at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli, NY, supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. The week-long festival will feature artist talks, workshops in traditional and contemporary music, evening-length concerts featuring world premieres by acclaimed composers, intimate sunrise performances, late-evening fireside music-making, and curated storytelling and discussion sessions. All will be led by Festival Artistic Director Kaoru Watanabe, a renowned instrumentalist and composer, and feature a multicultural collective of world-class musicians.
Through Bloodlines Interwoven, Watanabe and Baryshnikov Arts are pioneering a new collaborative process of creating new works, emphasizing history and heritage as a bridge across cultures. As part of this initiative, the fifteen featured artists—whose work is informed by their diverse creative, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds—are currently deep in a 5-month-long residency at Baryshnikov Arts in Manhattan, where they are sharing the stories of their ancestors, artistic process, and artistic vision in multiple “Gatherings,” to collectively create new musical compositions that draw from the interweaving of each other's narratives. This unique artistic process will culminate in the June festival.
Monday–Thursday daylong festival tickets will be available for $25. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday tickets, which will include concert access, will be $40. Full-week tickets will be $100. A 50% student discount is available for all passes. Passes will go on presale for members later this spring at baryshnikovarts.org. Ticket prices do not include fees.
The Bloodlines Interwoven Festival will be a durational dialogue of diaspora musicians and other artists and a sharing of all that makes up culture—language, food, religions, customs, and philosophies. Presenting a broad range of traditions as they speak to one another—the “bloodlines” of the festival’s title—and a full plate of approaches in music and other artistic disciplines, Bloodlines Interwoven will seek out and embrace original and distinct perspectives and concepts. Conceived as a celebration of many cultural and personal stories, human differences, the Festival celebrates how we can come together to create new vocabularies and new means of dialogue in an ever-fracturing world. Celebrating diasporas and looking at how and why people end up where they do, Bloodlines Interwoven will be a true cross-cultural exploration via art, focusing on the multi-generational life journeys of each artist and attendee.
Watanabe said, “Artists confront, embrace, and propel forward the rituals, traditions and songs, passed on through generations and carried in our bodies. I’ve dedicated myself to blending my heritage and musical experiences into a unique aesthetic for decades. This opportunity will allow me and my fellow artists to delve even deeper into our stories unapologetically, explore profound new ways of seeing the world through the eyes of others, and share these discoveries with a broader audience.”
“The Bloodlines Interwoven Festival, with curation by Kaoru Watanabe, represents a new and exciting direction for Baryshnikov Arts and builds on our 18-year history of presenting and producing the work of artists across myriad diasporas,” says Kostich. “We understand the need for uplifting and empowering the narratives of the various diasporas. Through this festival, Baryshnikov Arts is deepening its dedication to artistic sharing from the more profound and personal places that individual artists explore.”
About Kaoru Watanabe:
Acclaimed composer and instrumentalist Kaoru Watanabe’s work is grounded in traditional Japanese music while imbued with contemporary jazz, improvisation, and experimental music elements. His signature skill of infusing Japanese culture with disparate styles has made him a much-in-demand collaborator working with such iconic artists as Wes Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran, Yo-Yo Ma, Japanese National Living Treasure Bando Tamasaburo, Eva Yerbabuena, Silkroad Ensemble, and Rhiannon Giddens. A trained jazz musician, he lived in Japan for a decade, where he became the first American to become a performer and Artistic Director of the iconic taiko drumming ensemble Kodo.
Featured Artists:
Adam O’Farrill has been heralded as “among the leading trumpeters in jazz—and perhaps the music’s next major improviser.” (The New York Times). Born into a musical legacy that includes composer Chico O’Farrill and pianist Arturo O’Farrill, his album, Visions of Your Other (Biophilia Records), was listed as one of the best albums of 2021 by The New York Times.
Alicia Hall Moran is an operatic mezzo-soprano and conceptual vocal artist. Critically-praised performances include Met Museum, 45th Kennedy Center Honors, Porgy & Bess (nominated for NAACP Theater Award), San Francisco Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Pops, Spoleto Festival, Venice Biennale, ICA Boston, Whitney Biennial, Walker Art Center, and Carnegie Hall among others.
Amir ElSaffar is an Iraqi-American trumpeter, santur player, vocalist, and composer, described in The New York Times as “the celebrated trumpeter and composer who explores vital connections between jazz and Arabic music.” ElSaffar is one of the only musicians alive who has mastered the Iraqi Maqam tradition and has had work commissioned and premiered globally, including the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. ElSaffar is the recipient of a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award (2013), US Artist Fellowship (2018), and Hodder Fellowship (2020).
Du Yun works at the intersection of opera, orchestral, theatre, cabaret, musical, oral tradition, public performances, electronics, visual arts, and noise. Described by The New York Times as “an indie pop diva with an avant-garde edge,” and “relentless originality and unflinching social conscience” (The New Yorker). Du Yun won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Music, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Classical Composition category, awarded Best New Opera (2021) by the North America Critics Association, four albums named The New Yorker’s Notable Recordings of the Year, named one of 38 Great Immigrants by the Carnegie Foundation (2018), “Artist of the Year” by the Beijing Music Festival (2019), among others. In 2023 Harvard University honored her as centennial medalist, the highest recognition for its alumni.
Jeffrey Zeigler has been described as “fiery,” and a player who performs “with unforced simplicity and beauty of tone” by The New York Times. As the cellist of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet, he was the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Polar Music Prize, the President’s Merit Award from the National Academy of Recorded Arts (Grammy’s), the Chamber Music America National Service Award and The Asia Society's Cultural Achievement Award. He has collaborated with Philip Glass, Tanya Tagaq, Yo-Yo Ma, Foday Musa Suso, Laurie Anderson, Pulitzer Prize winning scientist Siddhartha Mukherjee, Norah Jones, among others, and on film soundtracks including Academy Award winning film, La Grande Bellezza, and Darren Aronofsky film, The Fountain.
Jen Shyu is a vocalist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, Guggenheim Fellow, USA Fellow, and Doris Duke Artist. Hailing from Taiwanese and East Timorese immigrants, she has performed her music at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Theater of Korea, and is a Stanford graduate and Fulbright scholar speaking 10 languages. Her current instruments include piano, violin, Taiwanese moon lute, Chinese er hu, Japanese biwa, and Korean gayageum. She has produced eight albums and a single as leader, making many bestof lists (New York Times, Nation, and NPR). Shyu is Co-Founder/President/CEO of Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³) and is a Steinway Artist.
Layale Chaker, composer and violinist, was raised speaking multiple languages in her native Lebanon, both linguistically and musically. Described by NPR as “beguiling” with “bright and beautiful strands… gorgeous, wine-dark swirls,” lies at the intersection of classical contemporary music, jazz, Arabic music, and improvisation. Recipient of the 2022 Opera America Discovery 2022 Award, among many other accolades. Chaker’s 2023–2024 season includes premieres with the New York Philharmonic and a debut opera at the 2024 Spoleto Festival, among others.
Maeve Gilchrist, the Edinburgh-born harpist and composer, has been credited as an innovator on her native instrument and taken the Celtic (lever) harp to new levels of performance and visibility. Currently based in Kingston, NY, Maeve tours internationally as a solo artist, bandleader, and composer and as a member of the Grammy-nominated Silkroad ensemble and Arooj Aftab’s Grammy-winning Vulture Prince Ensemble. Her most recent solo album, The Harpweaver, was described by The Irish Times in a five-star review as, “buoyant, sprightly and utterly beguiling.” In 2022 Pitchfork described Maeve as being one of ten global artists helping to redefine the harp. Maeve is a featured artist in DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon.
Martha Redbone is a vocalist, songwriter, composer, and 2021 United States Artist fellow, whose music embodies the folk and mountain blues sounds of her childhood in the Appalachian hills of Black Mountain, Kentucky, infused with the eclectic grit of her teenage years in pregentrified Brooklyn NYC. Redbone broadens the boundaries of American Roots music with songs and storytelling that give voice to issues of social justice, connecting cultures and celebrating the human spirit. Notable works include: 2022 Broadway revival of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuff, 2020 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play For Colored Girls, "Belonging"—2022 Moab Music festival co-curated by Timothy Long, "A Mother’s Love"—2021 Freshgrass Bluegrass Concerto, "Black Mountain Calling”—Dave Eggar/Tasha Warren. For more info www.martharedbone.com.
Matthew Garrison, son of Jimmy Garrison (John Coltrane's bassist), has collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, John McLaughlin, the Saturday Night Live Band, and many others. He co-founded ShapeShifter Lab, a renowned Brooklyn venue. Explore more through their websites: shapeshifterlab.com, shapeshifterplus.org, and shapeshifterlabpro.com
Mino Cinélu considered by many as one of the greatest and most innovative percussionists worldwide, has worked with Sting, Miles Davis, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed, Vicente Amigo, Dizzy Gillespie, Pat Metheny, Kate Bush, Branford Marsalis, Pino Daniele, and Salif Keita, among many others. Instruments include percussion, drums, guitar, keyboards, and singing, with decades of intense study in a wide variety of styles from around the world. Cinélu has scored the music for several films, documentaries, and TV commercials. Mino was nominated as one of the 10 best film composers at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Nasheet Waits, interest in playing the drums was encouraged by his father, legendary percussionist, Frederick Waits, who played with such legendary artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, McCoy Tyner, and countless others.
Max Roach, hired him as a member of the famed percussion ensemble M’BOOM. Most recently Nasheet has been a member of Jason Moran’s Bandwagon, deemed, “the most exciting rhythm section in jazz” by Jazz Times, with “Black Stars” named the “Best CD of 2001” in Jazz Times and The New York Times.
Rajna Swaminathan is an acclaimed mrudangam artist, composer, and scholar and leads the ensemble RAJAS, which has been described as “unlike any other on the scene” (The New York Times). As a composer, she has been commissioned by the LA Phil, Chamber Music America, and Bang On A Can Marathon. Swaminathan holds a PhD in music (Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry) from Harvard University, and is currently an assistant professor of music in UC Irvine's Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology program.
Susie Ibarra is a Filipinx composer, percussionist, and sound artist, working to support Indigenous and traditional music cultures, stewardship of glaciers and freshwaters, addressing water and desert climate, and women and girls education. Ibarra leads several ensembles, recorded over 40 albums, performed at Carnegie Hall; the Olympics; and the Sharjah Biennial. Her book, Rhythm in Nature, is forthcoming, and recent honors include a 2024 DAAD Artists-inBerlin Program fellowship, 2024 Charles Ives Fellowship with the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2022 Music Fellow, United States Artists 2019 Music Fellow, and a TED Senior Fellow 2014. Susie Ibarra is a Yamaha, Zildjian, and Vic Firth Drum Artist.