Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute To Present A TIME LIKE THIS: MUSIC FOR CHANGE

On Sunday, March 11 at 3:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall will showcase original music inspired by the 1960s and rooted in the issues and challenges of today as part of A Time Like This: Music for Change, a special concert that marks the culmination of a citywide creative learning project that has engaged people across New York City. Hosted by Def Jam Poetry veteran Lemon Andersen, the concert will feature Broadway's Carrie Compere (The Color Purple), jazz vocalist Sarah Elizabeth Charles, singer/songwriter Emily Eagen, Haitian songstress Emeline Michel, and a nineteen-piece band led by Kenny Seymour, a composer and music director for film and theater (Amazing Grace, Memphis). Youth and adults will also take the stage to share their own music, including the Wadleigh High School Choir, directed by Kim Walton, and the Future Music Project Ensemble, a collective of young musicians from across New York City. Additional special guests will be announced.

A Time Like This: Music for Change builds off nine years of Carnegie Hall's partnership with city and state agencies to offer songwriting workshops in schools, hospitals, homeless shelters, and justice settings that are designed to celebrate the creativity of every participant, connect people with world-class artists, and showcase wide-ranging perspectives through music. More than 500 songs are written each season, many of which are available for listening at carnegiehall.org/OurSongs. The concert on March 11 will showcase this rich body of music in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage for the very first time.

"This fall, we challenged people across New York City to write new songs inspired by the music and movements of the 1960s," said Sarah Johnson, Chief Education Officer and Director of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. "We have been blown away by the artistry, passion, and creativity from participants, and we can't wait to showcase these incredible new songs on Carnegie Hall's biggest stage. This performance is a year in the making, and will be a celebration of all the participants, teaching artists, and partners across the city and beyond who we work with on a daily basis to share powerful stories through music."

Taking inspiration from the protest songs and musical anthems of the 1960s as part of Carnegie Hall's The '60s: The Years that Changed America festival, songwriters have grappled with the most pressing social issues of our time, creating new music that is a rallying cry for unity and the power of music to change the world. Learn more about the inspiration behind some of the songs here.

The performance will feature iconic songs from the '60s alongside new music created through in-depth creative songwriting workshops with public school students from kindergarten through high school, youth in juvenile justice settings, teens from across New York City in Carnegie Hall's Future Music Project, a Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project participant from the Bronx, and men who have developed composition and instrumental skills through Carnegie Hall's Musical Connections program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. A Time Like This: Music for Change also kicks off the third Create Justice forum, a national initiative led by Carnegie Hall and the Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network that focuses on the intersection of arts and juvenile justice reform.

About Lemon Andersen
Lemon Andersen is a poet, spoken word artist, and actor. He first garnered national attention appearing in Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway in 2002, which won a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event and netted Andersen a Drama Desk nomination for his writing. Andersen also appeared in eight episodes of HBO's ode to spoken word, Def Poetry.

Over the past decade, he has performed in venues across the country, from New York's Nuyorican Poets Café to Hollywood's Kodak Theater. He has appeared in four Spike Lee films and was the subject of the documentary Lemon, a look at his journey from two-time felon to bold-faced name - and how leaving one's past behind just isn't that simple. Anderson is the author of the poetry collection Straightrazor. In 2011 the TED organization invited Lemon to perform at their inaugural TEDYouth event, live streamed to sixteen countries.

Spike Lee produced Andersen's one-man play County of Kings at The Public Theater in New York City. Since its premiere in 2009, the play has been staged on three continents, to rave reviews. The script was awarded the New York Book Festival's Grand Prize. Anderson's newest work, ToasT, was commissioned by The Sundance Institute and was staged at The Public Theater in 2013. Lemon is currently writing on Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It for Netflix. A native New Yorker, Lemon proudly represents Brooklyn.

About The '60s: The Years that Changed America Festival (January 14-March 24, 2018)
Carnegie Hall's citywide '60s festival explores the turbulent spirit of this defining decade through the lens of arts and culture, including music's role as a meaningful vehicle to inspire social change. The '60s was a watershed decade in America's history-a period in which the country was torn apart by the struggle for social justice, the fight for civil rights, and war in which more than half a million Americans were fighting on the other side of the world. As a restive younger generation was finding its voice, the world witnessed a revolution in long-held values and social norms, from culture and fashion to politics and identity.

Half a century later, as many of the hard-won victories of the 1960s are being debated, Carnegie Hall has turned for the first time to a figure outside the music world-Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Robert A. Caro, famed biographer of Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson-for inspiration, presenting a festival examining this pivotal decade.

As part of its festival offerings, Carnegie Hall presents a series of concerts and education projects that draw inspiration from the '60s, and explore the decade's nexus of music, protest, and change. Beyond the Hall, the festival includes an extraordinary array of events presented by more than 35 partner organizations across the city and beyond-including Apollo Theater, Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Film Forum, The Museum of Modern Art, New-York Historical Society, The New York Public Library, The Paley Center for Media, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings-that focus on a decisive moment in our country's history, a decade that changed America in ways that still reverberate today.

For more information, please visit: carnegiehall.org/60s

Program Information
Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 3:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
A TIME LIKE THIS: MUSIC FOR CHANGE
Lemon Andersen, Poet and Emcee
Carrie Compere, Guest Artist
Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Guest Artist
Emily Eagen, Guest Artist
Emeline Michel, Guest Artist
Noga Cabo, Songwriter and Guest Artist
Hannah Coleman, Songwriter and Guest Artist
Rob Pollock, Songwriter and Guest Artist
Emma Thompson-Haye, Songwriter and Guest Artist
Kenny Seymour, Music Supervisor and Director

A Time Like This Band
·· George Farmer, Bass Guitar
·· Clayton Craddock, Drums
·· James Shipp, Percussion
·· Mauricio Herrera, Percussion
·· John Walsh, Trumpet
·· Nick Marchione, Trumpet
·· Chris Washburne, Trombone
·· Jason Marshall, Woodwinds
·· Mazz Swift, Violin
·· Sky Steele, Violin
·· Pala Garcia, Violin
·· Erica Dicker, Violin
·· Jessica Meyer, Viola
·· Jocelin Pan, Viola
·· Hamilton Berry, Cello
·· Marika Hughes, Cello
·· Saskia Lane, Bass
·· DJ Mode, DJ

Dan Scully, Projection Designer
Stacey Boggs, Lighting Designer
Josh Reid, Sound Designer

Leadership support for this concert is provided by an Anonymous donor.

Support for The 60's: The Years that Changed America is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation.

A Time Like This: Music for Change is part of the culminating forum of Create Justice.

Lead funding for Create Justice is provided by an Anonymous donor.

Major funding is provided by Ameriprise Financial, MetLife Foundation, and The Kresge Foundation.

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
Ticket Information
Tickets, priced at $20-$55, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

For Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance or until supply lasts. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.

In addition, for all Carnegie Hall presentations in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage a limited number of partial view (seats with obstructed or limited sight lines or restricted leg room) will be sold for 50% of the full price. For information on discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. Artists, programs, and prices are subject to change.