Watch National Sawdust's Digital Discovery Festival Volume One, Complete and Online Now

With more than 65 total events, featuring over 100 artists premiering in a four month span, the success of the newly-completed National Sawdust Digital Discovery Festival: Volume One has been a rare bright spot in NYC's post-COVID live music world.

With a roster that focuses on contemporary composition and spotlights a diverse collection of ground-breaking artists from across the genre spectrum, the Digital Discovery Festival comprises first-time releases of full-length concerts from the venue's rich archives alongside newly recorded virtual events. Each week of the Digital Discovery Festival emphasizes a theme that is dear to the National Sawdust ethos. An exploration of Activism includes a masterclass with a discussion on the me-too movement in modern music with Lara St. John; a week of shows nodding to Innovation features an hour-long performance of John Cage's "Lecture on Nothing" from theater legend Robert Wilson; the prompt of Virtuosity frames a set from guitar wizard Julian Lage; a chapter centered on Renewal features a performance and discussion of the role of race in opera with Lawrence Brownlee.

Every weekly-released chapter of the Festival has included two 30-minute taped-from-the-artist's-home Discovery Performances that showcase emerging artists in concert and a performance Masterclass with an established artist, regularly moderated by vocalist Helga Davis and composer and National Sawdust co-founder Paola Prestini, discussing their pandemic experience and their vision for the future.

Thanks to a grant from a generous funder, all Discovery and Masterclass artists were paid $1000 per person for each 30-minute performance and received gifts of relevant audio-visual equipment and livestream training to better prepare them for the post-COVID world. In keeping with National Sawdust's reputation for the highest-quality A/V experience in our concert hall, the venue's staff has provided strong oversight for sound, lighting and commercial-level post-production finishing. No other American music venue has provided this level of artistic financial support and produced this amount of polished content during the pandemic.

Although this week's new program premieres - including concerts from vocalist/composer Lucy Dhegrae and chamber quartet Brooklyn Rider - will mark the final week of the first installment of National Sawdust's Digital Discovery Festival, the program will return later this year with new works to be announced shortly. The performances, archival concerts, Masterclass conversations, recitations and dance events previously aired over the past four months will remain available for ongoing streaming at National Sawdust's newly-constructed Live@NationalSawdust website, as well as on Facebook Live, entirely free of charge.

The complete lineup for the Digital Discovery Festival: Volume One follows:

National Sawdust's Digital Discovery Festival Events

Available Now to Stream Free

https://live.nationalsawdust.org/digital-discovery-festival

Chapter 1: Spirituality

Samora Pinderhughes (Discovery Concert)

Vijay Gupta and Reena Esmail (Masterclass)

Laraaji (Archival Concert)

Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith (Archival Concert)

Chapter 2: Social Change

Kinan Azmeh (Discovery Concert)

Daniel Bernard Roumain and Marc Bamuthi Joseph (Masterclass)

Felipe Salles: The New Immigrant Experience (Archival Concert)

Chapter 3: Risk-Takers

Emel Mathlouthi (Discovery Concert)

Mariella Haubs (Discovery Concert)

Alicia Hall Moran featuring Jason Moran (Masterclass)

Magos Herrera and Brooklyn Rider (Archival Concert)

Chapter 4: Sonic Landscapes

Emily Wells (Discovery Concert)

Ashley Bathgate (Discovery Concert)

Vijay Iyer (Masterclass)

Ryuichi Sakamoto w/ Taylor Deupree, Joseph Branciforte and Theo Bleckmann (Archival Concert)

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith (Archival Concert)

Sxip Shirey and Coco Karol: The Gauntlet (Archival Concert)

Chapter 5: Rebellion

Shelley Washington's Worker's Dreadnought (Archival Concert)

LATASHÁ: Women's Truth (Archival Concert)

An Evening with Blue and Between the World and Me (Archival Concert)

Chapter 6: Movement & Music

Sxip Shirey and Coco Karol (Discovery Concert)

Dayramir Gonzalez (Discovery Concert)

Theo Bleckmann and Uri Caine: WinterIce (Archival Concert)

Helga Davis with Marc Cary, PUBLIQuartet and The D.R.E.A.M. Ring: Hold Me (Archival Concert)

Chapter 7: Pride Week

Kangmin Justin Kim (Discovery Concert)

Adam Tendler (Discovery Concert)

Jamie Barton (Masterclass)

NationalSawdust+ presents: Beyond Butterfly and the Don (Archival Concert)

Madame Gandhi (Archival Concert)

Sonic x Womyn Amplify: Seasons - An Experiential Voyage Through Sound (Archival Concert)

Chapter 8: A/V

Drum & Lace (Discovery Concert)

Rafiq Bhatia (Discovery Concert)

Ted Hearne (Masterclass)

Ricardo Romaneiro: Liquidverse Apollo 11 (Archival Concert)

Jojo Abot: Power to the God Within (Archival Concert)

Chapter 9: Activism

Andrew Yee (Discovery Concert)

Mireya Ramos (Discovery Concert)

Lara St. John (Masterclass)

In Situ: Miyamoto is Black Enough (Archival Concert)

Chapter 10: Music and Technology

Dan Tepfer (Discovery Concert)

Molly Joyce (Discovery Concert)

Jennifer Walshe (Masterclass)

Angélica Negrón (Archival Concert)

Chapter 11: Patterns

Joel Ross (Discovery Concert)

Tyondai Braxton (Discovery Concert)

Square Peg Round Hole (Archival Concert)

Chapter 12: Virtuosity

Julian Lage (Discovery Concert)

Sae Hashimoto (Discovery Concert)

Tania León (Masterclass)

Alan Braufman presents Valley of Search (Archival Concert)

Chapter 13: Renewal

Michael Mwenso and Vuyo Sotashe (Discovery Concert)

Tesla Quartet (Discovery Concert)

Lawrence Brownlee (Masterclass)

Lara Downes and Rhiannon Giddens - "So Pretty" (Archival Concert)

Chapter 14: Innovation

Matthew Whitaker (Discovery Concert)

Robert Wilson (Masterclass)

Trimpin (Masterclass)

Jenny Hval (Archival Concert)

Chapter 15: Global Bridges

Conrad Tao (Discovery Concert)

Thana Alexa and Antonio Sánchez (Discovery Concert)

Huang Ruo's Sonic Great Wall (Archival Concert)

Chapter 16: Trailblazers

Premiering Tuesday, August 25 at 6pm: Lucy Dhegrae (Discovery Concert)

Premiering Thursday, August 27 at 6pm: Brooklyn Rider (Discovery Concert)

Premiering Monday, August 24 at Noon: Helga Davis: "Perfect Day" (Archival Concert)

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