Nathaniel Gumbs, J'Nai Bridges & More Announced for LA Phil's POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Festival
The Power to the People! festival is about imagining the world as it could be and inspiring people to act.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Apr. 28, 2022
Los Angeles Philharmonic Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and Creative Chair for Jazz Herbie Hancock will bring together distinguished artists and guests for Power to the People!, a multidimensional vision of music and social change, May 29 through June 10, 2022. Celebrating the role artists have played and continue to play in advancing social change, civil rights and humanitarian causes, the Power to the People! festival is about imagining the world as it could be and inspiring people to act.
In March 2020, as the pandemic closed concert halls across the world, the LA Phil was forced to cut short the original run of this festival. In spring 2022, Power to the People! returns, bringing with it many of the most-anticipated artists and thought leaders from the festival's first incarnation, as well as brand-new programs and commissions.
Musical performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall include a recital by organist Nathaniel Gumbs (May 29), J'Nai Bridges with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil (June 2 & 5), Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil with guest vocalists Devendra Banhart, Edna Vazquez, iLe, Mon Laferte, Rodrigo Amarante, Silvana Estrada (June 4); and Ted Hearne's Place, created with poet-librettist Saul Williams and director Patricia McGregor (LA Phil commission) with the LA Phil New Music Group (June 7).
Power to the People! also features talks and participatory events at Walt Disney Concert Hall and venues throughout Los Angeles including the California African American Museum (CAAM) and the Skirball Cultural Center. Dr. Angela Davis will discuss creativity's role in social change (June 5 at Walt Disney Concert Hall), Bryonn Bain's multimedia production Lyrics from Lockdown celebrates the release of his book Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape (June 2 at Skirball Cultural Center) and Saul Williams offers a reading and leads a conversation about the intersection of art and politics in America (June 9 at CAAM).
Free online programs include a new episode of LA Phil's Sound/Stage digital concert series, spotlighting Gustavo Dudamel leading a program curated by Jessie Montgomery highlighting work by Ellen Reid (June 10). A Power to the People! playlist by Alexsandra Mitchell, Manager of Education and Public Programs at CAAM, is available online at laphil.com/power.
"Ever since my experience with El Sistema as a young boy in Venezuela, I have passionately believed in the power of music to unite, heal, and inspire us to build a better world," said Dudamel. "The extraordinary artists in this festival, each with their own unique vision of how art can change society for the better, serve as a powerful reminder that, no matter the challenges that face us, there is always hope for the future."
"I'm so thrilled to be collaborating with Gustavo Dudamel to gather together composers, musicians and activists who are carrying the torch for a wide variety of communities," said Hancock. "These are artists who help us understand one another, who fight for the rights of all people to be treated as equals. It's a celebration not only of great music, but of people who teach us how to find our voice and who use theirs to preserve the dignity and rights of all."
"Power to the People!" has a place in the history of protest as a slogan written on placards and chanted in the streets, but its sentiments of solidarity and humanitarian spirit have been immortalized in music.
Power to the People! is presented in collaboration with the California African American Museum.
The LA Phil's Humanities Programs are generously supported by Linda and David Shaheen.
COMPLETE LISTING OF POWER TO THE PEOPLE! EVENTS:
Sunday, May 29, 7:30PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Hold On, We Shall Overcome! with Nathaniel Gumbs
The Director of Chapel Music at Yale University, organist Nathaniel Gumbs reimagines traditional hymns, spirituals and concert music with a 21st-century perspective, as performed on the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall pipe organ.
Thursday, June 2, 8PM
Sunday, June 5, 2PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Tickets: https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/1470/2022-06-02/still-and-negron-with-dudamel
Still and Negrón with Dudamel
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
J'Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano
Gustavo Dudamel leads William Grant Still's "Afro-American" Symphony, and J'Nai Bridges lends her voice to poetry by Pablo Neruda set to music by Peter Lieberman. The program also boasts the world premiere of Moriviví (LA Phil commission) from the multi-talented Puerto Rico-born composer Angélica Negrón.
Concerts in the Thursday 2 subscription series are generously supported by the Otis Booth Foundation.
Thursday, June 2, 7PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall, BP Hall
Pre-Concert Talk / FREE to all ticketholders
Upbeat Live with Kristi Brown-Montesano
Thursday, June 2, 7:30PM
Skirball Cultural Center
Tickets: https://www.skirball.org/programs/performance/lyrics-lockdown
Lyrics from Lockdown
Celebrating the release of Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape
Lyrics from Lockdown is a groundbreaking multimedia production created by theater innovator and spoken word artist Bryonn Bain. This true story begins with Bain's wrongful imprisonment while studying law at Harvard and weaves together the voices of more than 40 characters, fusing hip-hop, spoken word, R&B, calypso and classical music. See this award-winning theatrical production in a one-night-only event to celebrate the launch of the Center for Justice at UCLA and the release of Bain's book Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape, foreword by Dr. Angela Davis and contributions from Chuck D, Harry Belafonte, Aloe Blacc, Maya Jupiter and Dolores Huerta.
The For Freedoms exhibition Another Justice: By Any Media Necessary, showcasing the art of women incarcerated at Victorville Federal Prison, will be on view throughout the night.
Saturday, June 4, 8PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Tickets: https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/1698/2022-06-04/canto-en-resistencia
Canto en resistencia
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Special guests:
Devendra Banhart
Edna Vazquez
iLe
Mon Laferte
Rodrigo Amarante
Silvana Estrada
Gustavo Dudamel leads the LA Phil in music by Angélica Negrón and a world premiere by Victor Agudelo. Special guest singers Devendra Banhart, Edna Vazquez, iLe, Mon Laferte, Rodrigo Amarante and Silvana Estrada join the orchestra to celebrate iconic protest music from Latin America and the U.S., ranging from the pro-democracy and workers' rights Nueva cancion, tropicalismo and tonada songs made famous by legendary artists like Mercedes Sosa, Violeta Parra, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Simón Díaz to contemporary anthems.
Sunday, June 5, 7:30PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Tickets: https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/1635/2022-06-05/dr-angela-davis
Dr. Angela Davis - Power to the Imagination: The Role of Art and Creativity in Social Change
Acclaimed scholar and activist Dr. Angela Davis offers a cultural perspective on the role art has played in social justice movements and its potential to effect change today.
Tuesday, June 7, 8PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Tickets: https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/1446/2022-06-07/place
Place
LA Phil New Music Group
Ted Hearne, composer and conductor
Saul Williams and Ted Hearne, libretto
Patricia McGregor, director
In a country at a crossroads, where the intersection of manifest destiny meets gentrification and history meets personal experience, Ted Hearne's Place explores the complex and contentious map of the place we call home. Created with poet-librettist Saul Williams and director Patricia McGregor, Place is a modern-day oratorio scored for 18 instrumentalists and six singers.
Co-produced and co-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects.
Thursday, June 9, 7PM
California African American Museum (CAAM)
Saul Williams
Multi-hyphenate, multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams has been breaking ground for more than 20 years. After gaining global fame for his poetry and writings at the turn of the century, Williams has performed in over 30 countries and read in over 300 universities. Williams discusses the intersection of art and politics in America in a combined reading and conversation.
Friday, June 10, 10AM (Online)
Sound/Stage
Information: https://www.soundstage.laphil.com/
Power to the People! with Jessie Montgomery
Gustavo Dudamel leads a program curated by Jessie Montgomery featuring work by Ellen Reid and Montgomery's own Records from a Vanishing City, a tone poem based on her recollections of the music of Manhattan's Lower East Side in the 1980s and '90s and its amalgamation of cultures.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles
California African American Museum (CAAM)
600 State Drive, Exposition Park, Los Angeles
Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles
For additional information about Power to the People!, please visit laphil.com/power.
TICKETS & COVID PROTOCOLS
Tickets can be purchased at the LA Phil's website: laphil.com. Programs, artists, prices and dates subject to change. Ticket limits may apply.
Prior to attending, audiences are encouraged to view the LA Phil's updated COVID protocol guidelines posted on the website: laphil.com/safety.
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