Flushing Town Hall's Mini-Global Mashup Series to Continue in July with GOSPEL MEETS CÔTE D’IVOIRE Concert

Flushing Town Hall's popular series, Mini-Global Mashups, will present another installment this summer on Sunday, July 24 at 1 PM EST with its Gospel Meets Côte d'Ivoire concert.

Audiences will enjoy two solo musicians with distinct musical and cultural backgrounds performing together in a unique pairing when American gospel singer Joshua Nelson and Ivory Coast traditional dance and drum master Vado Diomande collaborate on stage. They will be joined by accompanist drummer Moussa Drame.

Joshua Nelson is both a Jewish Gospel singer in the tradition of Mahalia Jackson and a full-time Hebrew teacher in the Hebrew school at Sharey Tefilo-Israel, a Reform synagogue in South Orange, NJ, when he is not on the road. He also serves as director of music at Hopewell Baptist Church in Newark, NJ, which is housed in the building of a former synagogue (the former B'nai Jeshurun). Nelson has performed with musical legends including Wynton Marsalis, Aretha Franklin, Stephanie Mills, and Billy Preston, as well as gospel singers Albertina Walker, the Barret Sisters, Hezekiah Walker, Kirk Franklin, Dottie Peoples, Dorothy Norwood, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Reverend Timothy Wright, and Bobby Jones & New Life. Nelson also performs frequently with the Jewish Klezmer band The Klezmatics and performed with the late jazz greats Cab Calloway and Dizzy Gillespie.

Vado Diomande has danced since the age of four, learning the dance and drum traditions of his Mahouka people. Vado learned over 60 ethnic dance and drumming traditions from the Ivory Coast and other West African countries. His repertoire elevated his career to eventually choreographing and touring extensively throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia. In 1989 he established L'Ensemble Kokiegna d'Abidjan, which has resided in New York City as the Kotchegna Dance Company since 1994. In Vado's native language Mahou, 'kotchegna' means messenger. His troupe's goal is to inspire joy and understanding through the power of dance and drum, promoting the exchange of culture worldwide. He continues to strengthen his experience as a choreographer, artistic director, teacher, and performer. Vado is also a teaching artist for Flushing Town Hall.

The Mini-Global Mashups series has been curated by acclaimed trumpeter and composer Frank London of The Klezmatics, who has himself performed in Flushing Town Hall's original, large-scale Global Mashups series.

"Audiences can look forward to enjoying phenomenal, world-class performers whose music is tied to their traditions but simultaneously modernized and fused with other musical elements that expand their borders," says Frank London.

"Our Mini-Global Mashups are always a great experience - and Gospel Meets Côte d'Ivoire will be another ride of discovery for our audience," says Flushing Town Hall Executive & Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek. "Joshua Nelson and Vado Diomande are extraordinary talents and it will truly be an honor for them to grace our stage."

The July 24 performance will be followed by a Q+A conversation between the artists and the audience.

In-person tickets are $12 for Flushing Town Hall members and $15 for non-members. Those who are unable to attend in person can view the livestream for free at https://www.youtube.com/flushingtownhall/live. Donations are encouraged to support the additional costs of live streaming so audiences everywhere can enjoy the concert.