2017 Conversation SeriesFebruary 19 - December 15, 2017





Details

Held in our historic period rooms, these insightful conversations throughout the year feature artists, scholars, cultural leaders, and social trailblazers who gather to offer new points of view and unique perspectives on Armory productions, explore a range of themes and relevant topics, and encourage audiences to think beyond conventional interpretations and perspectives of art.

Carrie Mae Weems: The Shape of Things
Sunday, December 17
12:00pm–10:00pm

BUY TICKETS

Armory artist-in-residence Carrie Mae Weems curates this day-long convening that critiques the history of violence and questions the shape of things to come in the context of our current political state. As she concludes her year-long residency, Weems continues to grapple with the history of violence in our country—personally and within her body of work. She has assembled like-minded contemporary artists, writers, poets, musicians, and social theorists to join her to critique our tumultuous political and social climate through a series of readings, performances, conversations, and other artistic responses.

More Information    View the Schedule

Previously This Season

Interrogations of Form: Culture in a Changing America
In Collaboration with The Aspen Institute Arts Program
Sunday, February 19, 1:00pm–8:00pm

Artists, activists, academics, and community leaders gather for a day-long series of conversations, performances, and open studios that explore the role of art, creativity, and imagination in addressing or challenging the social and political issues bound up in what it means to be an American today.

Visitors can attend the full Symposium or individual sessions, and are free to visit the Artist Salons throughout the day. Salon tours with the artists commence at the times indicated below. Session one sets the stage for discussion, focusing on culture’s impact on an ever-evolving society, and session two focuses on the future of a variety of art forms including music, film, spoken word, and comedy. The day concludes with a special session of Person Place Thing which features surprising viewpoints from an intergenerational perspective.

Participants and schedule subject to change. Availability is limited, but tickets may also be available at the door. Tickets can be purchased for individual sessions or for the entire day at a discounted rate.

Symposium Pass: $40
Includes Sessions 1, 2, and 3.

Session 1: $15

1:00pm–2:00pm: What Makes an American?: The Culture of Citizenship
Nisha Agarwal (Commissioner, Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs), Tania Bruguera (artist, Armory Artist-in-Residence), Sarah Lewis (author, curator and Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture and African American Studies, Harvard University), and Jose Antonio Vargas (activist and journalist) join moderator Eric Liu (Founder, Citizen University) in a debate over the role of culture and the nature of citizenship in a changing America. Tom Finkelpearl, Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City, responds.

1:00pm–4:00pm: Artist Salons
Artist Salon featuring works by Carrie Mae Weems and guest artists; Nyame O. Brown, Jennifer Hsu, Kambui Olijuimi, and Lava Thomas
Salon tour with guest artists at 2:15pm
Artist Salon featuring artworks by Elizabeth Colomba
Curated by Deborah Willis and Kalia Brooks
Salon tour with Deborah Willis and Kalia Brooks at 2:45pm
Artist Salon featuring works on film by Paola Mendoza

2:00pm–2:45pm: Staying Visible: The Power of Storytelling
Introductory performance by Yosimar Reyes
Cristela Alonzo (creator, Cristela, ABC network), Christopher Myers (illustrator, author, and artist), and Erika Wurth (Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee writer and Professor of Creative Writing, Western Illinois University) join moderator Elizabeth Hutchinson (Associate Professor of Feminist and Cultural Theory, Barnard College) in a discussion about the essential role of the arts in preserving forgotten stories, collective memories, and fragile histories.

3:00pm–3:45pm: The Movement in Movement
Jookin’ innovator Lil Buck and flex pioneer Reggie (Regg Roc) Gray discuss and showcase their dance styles and how they are working for social progress through movement. Hosted by former Principal Dancer of the New York City Ballet and Director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program, Vail Dance Festival, and DEMO at the Kennedy Center, Damian Woetzel.

Session 2 : $15

4:00pm–4:45pm: Sounding Off
Jason Moran (jazz pianist, composer, curator), Toshi Reagon (singer, musician, composer), Davóne Tines (opera singer), and Camille Zamora (co-founder, Sing for Hope) join Ric Leichtung (Webster Hall Talent Buyer and Adhoc founder) to discuss how music can lead, accompany, and inspire America now.

The session opens with a dedication of a Sing for Hope Piano, designed by French artist Lady JDay, for the Lenox Hill Neighborhood Women’s Shelter, located on the Armory’s fourth floor. Special performance by Jason Moran and Davóne Tines.

4:00pm–7:00pm: Artist Salons
Artist Salon featuring works by Carrie Mae Weems and guest artists; Nyame O. Brown, Jennifer Hsu, Kambui Olijuimi, and Lava Thomas
Salon tour with guest artists at 5:15pm
Artist Salon featuring artworks by Elizabeth Colomba
Curated by Deborah Willis and Kalia Brooks
Salon tour with Deborah Willis and Kalia Brooks at 5:45pm
Artist Salon featuring works on film by Paola Mendoza

5:00pm–5:45pm: Where in the World is America?
Award-winning filmmaker Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe, Amelia, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala) and Warrington Hudlin (President of the Black Filmmaker Foundation) discuss the future of American cinema and America’s current place in the world.

6:00pm–6:45pm: Open Mic with Yosimar Reyes, Negin Farsad, and special guests
Yosimar Reyes hosts an open-mic session featuring spoken-word poetry that challenges myths about identity in America. Reyes is joined at the mic by youth poets Karlyn Boens, Madeleine LeCesne, Ashley Gong, and N’kosi Nkululeko. Negin Farsad (comedian, actress, writer, and filmmaker) concludes the session with her pioneering brand of social justice comedy.

Session 3: $15

7:00pm–8:00pm: Person Place Thing
Person Place Thing is an interview show based on the idea that people are particularly engaging when they speak not directly about themselves but about something they care about. Guests talk about one person, one place, and one thing that are important to them to reveal surprising stories from great talkers. Ta-Nehisi Coates (journalist and author) and Sonia Sanchez (scholar, poet, playwright, and activist) debate these topics with host Randy Cohen (formerly “The Ethicist”); members of The Ebony Hillbillies are musical guests.

A Hairy Ape for the 21st Century: Artist Talk
Friday, March 31 at 6:00pm

The Hairy Ape director Richard Jones, Bobby Cannavale, and Robert M. Dowling (Eugene O’Neill scholar and Professor of English, Central Connecticut State University) discuss the challenges of presenting Eugene O’Neill’s play nearly 100 years after its first production by the Provincetown Players in 1922.

READ PANELIST BIOS
Richard Jones

Richard Jones has directed theater at the Young Vic, the Old Vic, National Theatre, and RSC; On the West End: Royal Court Theatre and in New York at the Public Theatre and three times on Broadway. Jones has directed Opera at The Royal Opera House, The E.N.O., Aix en Provence, Paris, Amsterdam, Glyndebourne, La Scala Milan, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich. In theater, he has been awarded the Olivier Award for Too Clever by Half (Old Vic) and Into the Woods (West End), the Evening Standard Award for Best Direction for The Illusion (Old Vic). He was nominated for a Tony Award for La Bête (Broadway). He was awarded 3 Olivier Awards in Opera for Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (ROH), Hansel and Gretel (WNO), and The Mastersingers of Nurnberg (ENO). This also won the South Bank Show Award. In the 2015 New Years Honours, Jones was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE).

Bobby Cannavale

New York Theater: The Big Knife (Roundabout), Glengarry Glen Ross (Broadway), The Motherfucker With The Hat (Broadway, Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award), Mauritius (Broadway, Tony nomination), Hurlyburly (Acorn Theater), Fucking A (Public Theatre), The Gingerbread House (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), and others, and is a member of the Labyrinth Theater Company. Film: Antman, Spy, Danny Collins, Adult Beginners, Annie, Chef, Blue Jasmine, Win Win, The Station Agent, Fast Food Nation, Romance And Cigarettes, and others. Upcoming Film: Going Places, Jumanji, and Boundaries. TV: Vinyl, Boardwalk Empire (Emmy Award, SAG nomination), Nurse Jackie (2-time Emmy nomination, SAG nomination), Will And Grace (Emmy Award), and others. Upcoming TV: Master Of None and Mr. Robot.

Robert M Dowling

Robert M. Dowling is professor of English at Central Connecticut State University. His acclaimed biography Eugene O’Neill: A Life in Four Acts was named a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for biography in 2015. Dowling has written and edited several other books on O’Neill, as well as numerous articles on the playwright for such publications as The Irish Times, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, The Dramatist, and Irish America, among others. He serves on the editorial board of The Eugene O’Neill Review and the board of directors of the Eugene O’Neill Society. Nanjing University Press will be releasing a Chinese translation of his biography Eugene O’Neill in 2018.

The Hairy Ape & New York City: Class and Identity
Friday, April 14 at 6:00pm

Catherine Combs (“Mildred”), Valerie Paley (Chief Historian at the New-York Historical Society), and Erika Rundle (Associate Professor in Theater Arts and Gender Studies at Mount Holyoke College) discuss The Hairy Ape’s intersecting forces of class, gender, and identity—issues that continue to entangle the social fabric of New York City today.

READ PANELIST BIOS
Catherine Combs

Catherine Combs most recently starred in the Tony-winning revival of A View From the Bridge directed by Ivo Van Hove (Ahmanson/Kennedy Center) Off-Broadway: Gloria (Vineyard Theatre) The Sensuality Party (The New Group). Regional: Gloria (Goodman Theatre) Smokefall (Goodman Theatre) The Delling Shore (ATL Humana Festival 2013) The Edge of Our Bodies (ATL Humana Festival 2011)  Other: Hamlet (Santa Susana Repertory Company) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Santa Susana Rep) The Merry Wives of Windsor (Kingsmen Shakespeare Company) Film: The Blind Side, Touched with Fire, 13 Going on 30 Television: The Mentalist and The Mysteries of Laura.

Valerie Paley

Valerie Paley joined the New-York Historical Society in 2001 and currently serves as vice president, chief historian, and director of the Center for Women’s History. A graduate of Vassar College, Paley holds an M.A. in American Studies and a Ph.D. in History from Columbia University, where she teaches an undergraduate seminar in museums and public culture at the Columbia Center for American Studies. Her responsibilities at the New-York Historical Society encompass a critical range of administrative and curatorial activities, which have included developing the new Center for Women’s History; curating permanent and temporary exhibitions, including the Smith Gallery “New York and the Nation” installation and the recent The Battle of Brooklyn; supervising pre- and postdoctoral fellows as dean of scholarly programs; and editing publications. She is an elected member of the Council (governing board) of the American Historical Association

Erika Rundle

Erika Rundle (moderator) is an associate professor of theatre arts and gender studies at Mount Holyoke College, where she teaches courses in theatre history, dramatic literature, and performance studies. She is also a dramaturg, translator, and scholar, whose articles and reviews have been published in numerous journals and anthologies. Her translation of Marie Ndiaye’s play Hilda has been performed off-Broadway and regionally. Drama after Darwin, her study of twentieth-century “primate drag,” is forthcoming in 2017. Rundle holds a B.A. from Brown University, an M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an M.F.A. and D.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama.

FLEXN Conversations: “A New Vision for Justice in America”
Thursday, May 18–Sunday, May 21

More Information

In the wake of the first one hundred days of the new Administration, the Park Avenue Armory, in collaboration with Common Justice, has gathered visionary public figures, social justice advocates, community leaders, and youth from across the country to participate in a series of urgent, pointed, and creative conversations entitled “A New Vision for Justice in America”. Each performance of FLEXN Evolution begins with an onstage conversation, moderated by Reggie (Regg Roc) Gray and Peter Sellars, in which participants debate imaginative and implementable solutions to some of the most critical societal issues explored in FLEXN: the criminal justice system, mass incarceration, gun violence, police brutality, racial inequity, school to prison pipeline, and youth disenfranchisement.

“Envisioning the Future from the Past”—Thursday, May 18
“Imagining, Organizing, & Reforming for a More Just Future”
(Student Matinee)—Friday, May 19
“A New Era of Prosecutors”—Friday, May 19
“Justice Beyond Prisons”—Saturday, May 20
“Envisioning Just Cities”—Sunday, May 21

Confrontational Comedy
Monday, May 22 at 7:00pm

Following a sold-out event in 2016, Confrontational Comedy returns to the Armory featuring an evening of comedy sets headlined by the ever-challenging and ever-funny social justice comedian Negin Farsad and featuring Jordan Carlos and Leah Bonnema. The evening concludes with a conversation, moderated by film producer Warrington Hudlin, highlighting the power of humor to confront stereotypes and engage audiences around uncomfortable topics.

This performance is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

READ PARTICIPANT BIOS
Negin Farsad

Negin Farsad was named one of the Funniest Women of 2015 by Huffington Post, named one of the 10 Best Feminist Comedians by Paper Magazine, and was selected as a TED Fellow for her work in social justice comedy. She is the author of the recently released How to Make White People Laugh, a memoir-meets-social-justice-comedy manifesto (published by Grand Central/Hachette). Farsad is host of Fake the Nation, a political comedy round-table podcast on the Earwolf network. She is also the director/writer/star of the romantic comedy 3rd Street Blackout, starring Janeane Garofalo, Ed Weeks, and John Hodgman, released summer 2016. She has written for/appeared on Comedy Central, MTV, PBS, IFC, Nickelodeon, and others. She is director/producer of the feature films The Muslims Are Coming! starring Jon Stewart, David Cross and Lewis Black and Nerdcore Rising starring Weird Al Yankovic (both available wherever movies are streamed/downloaded). She has written good-old fashioned articles for The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Indiewire and others. She has sued New York State’s MTA over the right to put up funny posters about Muslims and WON. She started her comedy career as a Cornell and Columbia-educated policy advisor for the City of New York.

Jordan Carlos

Jordan Carlos, a Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore alum, has TV credits that include Broad City, Girls, The Affair, The Colbert Report and many more. He will also appear in three new films coming out this year—The Meyerwitz Stories by Noah Baumbach, Landline by Gillian Robespierre, and finally Three Generations by Gaby Dellal and starring Naomi Watts, Elle Fanning, and Susan Sarandon. Jordan also travels around the country doing stand-up at the clubs and colleges that will have him.

Leah Bonnema

Leah Bonnema has been featured on VH1, AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live, IFC’s Comedy Crib, Vproud’s You’re Not Crazy, Above Average, Elite Daily, HuffPo, Lady Parts Justice and is a regular on SiriusXM. Leah performed for the troops in the Middle East, had a show featured in the New York Comedy Festival and was on ‘America Stands Up’ at Magner’s Glasgow Comedy Fest where The Scotsman News called her “A force of nature.” She hails from Maine and received her degree with Honors from McGill University. Leah loves animals, mystery novels and Gandalf.

Warrington Hudlin

Warrington Hudlin is a veteran producer of motion pictures, television, and online media. His work challenges the dichotomy between social concerns and popular entertainment. Best known as the producer of the landmark African American films, House Party, Boomerang, and Bebe Kids, and television specials, Cosmic Slop and Unstoppable, Hudlin is now developing a genre busting, episodic drama, The Siege of Detroit. Hudlin is the Vice-Chairman of the Museum of the Moving Image and is the founding President of the Black Filmmaker Foundation (BFF) where he has been a pioneering organizer of the black film movement for over three decades.

Hansel & Gretel: Artist Talk
Wednesday, June 7 at 6:00pm

Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, and Ai Weiwei discuss the inspirations, ideas, and creative process behind their latest collaboration in a conversation moderated by Damian Woetzel.

READ MODERATOR BIO
DAMIAN WOETZEL

Damian Woetzel has taken on multiple roles in arts leadership following a 20-year career as Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet. Woetzel is the Director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program, Artistic Director of the Vail Dance Festival, Director of the DEMO series at the Kennedy Center, and is active as an independent director and producer. Woetzel served for eight years on President Obama’s Committee on Arts and Humanities (PCAH) where he worked to create the national Turnaround Arts education program. He holds a Master in Public Administration Degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and has been a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. Woetzel was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal in 2015.

Blank Out: Artist Talk
Friday, September 22 at 6:00pm

Composer and director Michel van der Aa and soprano Miah Persson discuss the creation of his chamber opera with composer Alexandra Gardner.

READ PARTICIPANT BIOS
MICHEL VAN DER AA

Michel van der Aa is one of today’s most sought-after composers and stage directors. A pioneer in the realms of new music and technology, his staged works—incorporating film and sampled soundtrack—are a seamless hybrid of musical theater and multimedia. Winner of the 2015 Johannes Vermeer Award and 2013 Grawemeyer Award, Van der Aa’s imaginative music theater works have received critical and public acclaim internationally. His repertoire also includes concert works and chamber music for small ensemble, soloists, and soundtrack. Van der Aa’s music has been featured at many leading international festivals and is performed regularly by orchestras and ensembles worldwide. Since 2011 Van der Aa has been a ‘house composer’ with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. This position led to the creation of several major works, including a new violin concerto written for Janine Jansen. He served as composer-in-residence at the 2017 Lucerne Summer Festival, and was featured composer at the 2017 Musica nova Helsinki Festival.

MIAH PERSSON

Miah Persson is an internationally renowned Swedish soprano who has worked all over the world as recitalist and concert artist, as well as on the operatic stage. Throughout her distinguished career, Persson has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Theatre Champs Elysees, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Hamburgische Staatsoper, New National Theatre Tokyo, Bayerische Staatsoper, Dutch National Opera, and at Opera di Roma. In concert Miah has appeared with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bayerischer Rundfunk Munich, the Accademia Santa Cecilia, Simon Bolivar Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel in Salzburg and for the Proms in London (televised and broadcast by the BBC), Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, the MDR Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Philharmonia, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonicthe Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony, thhe BBC Symphony Orchestra, as well as recitals at Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Schubertiade, and at the Tonhalle Zurich.

ALEXANDRA GARDNER

Alexandra Gardner is a composer who creates music for varied instrumentations, often mixing acoustic instruments with electronics. Praised as “highly lyrical and provocative of thought” (San Francisco Classical Voice), and “mesmerizing” (The New York Times), her music has been featured at venues worldwide, including the Aspen Music Festival, Centro de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona, Beijing Modern Festival, Warsaw Autumn Festival, and The Kennedy Center. Alexandra’s music has been commissioned by acclaimed ensembles and musicians such as Percussions de Barcelona, pianist Jenny Lin, Seattle Chamber Players, SOLI Chamber Ensemble, and cellist Joshua Roman. During spring 2018 she will serve as Composer-in-Residence for the Seattle Symphony.

Répons: Artist Talk
Saturday, October 7 at 6:00pm

Conductor Matthias Pintscher and Ara Guzelimian (Provost & Dean, The Juilliard School) discuss the legacy of composer Pierre Boulez and the realization of his spatial work in a live performance setting.

READ PARTICIPANT BIOS
MATTHIAS PINTSCHER

Matthias Pintscher is the Music Director of the Ensemble intercontemporain. Beginning in the 2016–17 season he also took up post as Principal Conductor of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra. He continues his partnerships with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as its artist-in-association, and with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra as artist-in-residence. Pintscher was also named as the first composer-in-residence and artist-in-focus at Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie concert hall, which opened in autumn 2016, and will be featured in a series of portrait concerts in its inaugural season. Equally accomplished as conductor and composer, Pintscher has created significant works for the world’s leading orchestras and regularly conducts throughout Europe, the U.S., and Australia. A prolific and successful composer, Pintscher’s music is championed by some of today’s finest performing artists, orchestras, and conductors. His works have been performed by such orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris. His works are published exclusively by Bärenreiter, and recordings of his compositions can be found on Kairos, EMI, Teldec, Wergo, and Winter & Winter. Pintscher works regularly with leading contemporary music ensembles such as the Scharoun Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, and Avanti! Chamber Orchestra (Helsinki). He has curated the music segment of the Impuls Romantik Festival in Frankfurt since 2011. In September 2014, he joined the composition faculty at the Juilliard School.

ARA GUZELIMIAN

Ara Guzelimian has served as Provost and Dean of the Juilliard School since August 2006, where he works closely with the President in overseeing the faculty, curriculum and artistic planning of the distinguished performing arts conservatory in all three of its divisions—dance, drama and music. Previously, he was Senior Director and Artistic Advisor of Carnegie Hall, and has held the positions of Artistic Administrator of the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado, Artistic Director of the Ojai Festival in California, and Artistic Administrator of the LA Philharmonic. He currently serves on the Music Visiting Committee of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City and is an Artistic Consultant for the Marlboro Music Festival and School in Vermont.

Person Place Thing
Sunday, November 19 at 3:00pm

Person Place Thing is an interview show based on the idea that people are particularly engaging when they speak not directly about themselves but about something they care about. Guests talk about one person, one place, and one thing that are important to them to reveal surprising stories from great talkers. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel (Indecent, How I Learned to Drive) and playwright and performance artist Daniel Alexander Jones discuss these topics with host Randy Cohen. Musical guest is composer and pianist Samora Pinderhughes.

READ PARTICIPANT BIOS
DANIEL ALEXANDER JONES

Daniel Alexander Jones makes live performance. His wildflower body of work continues to grow in dialogue with a wide range of collaborators and audiences. Duat premiered at Soho Rep in 2016 to critical acclaim. His other performances and plays include Radiate, Phoenix Fabrik, Blood:Shock:Boogie, and Bel Canto; the musical, Bright Now Beyond, written with composer Bobby Halvorson; and a multi-chapter series of solo autobiographical performances, The Book of Daniel, made with musician Walter Kitundu, and director Tea Alagic. His alter-ego Jomama Jones has released four albums; her show Black Light will be at the Public Theater in early 2018. Daniel was named a 2015 Doris Duke Artist, in recognition of his risk-taking practice.

PAULA VOGEL

Paula Vogel teaches playwriting workshops throughout the United States and abroad. Her play, How I Learned to Drive, received the Pulitzer Prize, Lortel Prize, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play, and her second OBIE. Other plays include The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, The Oldest Profession, A Civil War Christmas, and Don Juan Comes Home From Iraq. Her play Indecent, opened at The Cort Theatre in NYC in April 2017 and is available on Broadway HD. TCG has published four books of her work.

RANDY COHEN

Randy Cohen is a five time Emmy Award-winning writer and humorist for newspapers and magazines (The New Yorker, Harpers, The Atlantic, Young Love Comics). His first television work was writing for Late Night with David Letterman for which he won three Emmy Awards. His fourth Emmy was for his work on Michael Moore’s TV Nation. For twelve years he wrote “The Ethicist,” a weekly column for the The New York Times Magazine. His most recent book is Be Good: How to Navigate the Ethics of Everything. Cohen is the host of the public radio program and podcast, Person Place Thing.

SAMORA ABAYOMI PINDERHUGHES

Samora Abayomi Pinderhughes is a 25-year-old composer and pianist, known for large multidisciplinary projects and for his use of music to examine sociopolitical issues. He has performed in venues including Carnegie Hall, the White House, MoMA, the Sundance Film Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and he has toured internationally with artists including Branford Marsalis, Christian Scott, and Emily King. Samora is the creator and composer of The Transformations Suite. He has written music for artists including Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Lalah Hathaway, and Common; and is the composer for the film Whose Streets?. He is also a member of Blackout for Human Rights, and was musical director for their 2016 #MLKNow and #JusticeForFlint events.

A Room in India: Artist Talk
Friday, December 8 at 6:00pm

Director Ariane Mnouchkine is joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner and editor of The New Yorker David Remnick to discuss the creative process behind the development of this epic new work.

Return to Arts at the Armory Listing  


Visit

Other ways to buy:
Tickets can be purchased by calling the Box Office at (212) 933-5812 Monday–Friday, 10:00 AM–6:00 PM. The Box Office is open for walk-up sales only on days of performances and during the open hours of visual art installations. On performance days, Will Call opens one hour prior to the performance.

Be the first to know about ticket sales and Armory events by joining our mailing list.

2017 Season Sponsors: