Hoping to eschew Memorial Day weekend debauchery in favor of plans the whole family can enjoy right here in the neighborhood? On May 28 at 2 pm, National Sawdust is hosting a free (with RSVP here) community concert at M.S. 50 (183 S 3rd St.) entirely written, designed, and performed by students.
Student CoLab, National Sawdust’s flagship education program for middle school composers and artists, is a three-month program in music composition, songwriting, spoken word, and visual art for students at El Puente Beacon Leadership Program in Williamsburg. This community event marks the culmination of their hard work and talent and has previously featured themes including ‘Creativity, unity through diversity and peace and justice’ (Kristal ‘19); ‘Self-respect and how to love yourself’ (Genisis ‘19); ‘There are many people in this world that judge other people because of their skin tone or what they don’t have, or what they have’ (Janel ‘19); and ‘Negativity and bullying, you speak up, and stand up for yourself, you’re unique and you’re beautiful and you’re handsome and you’re smart, and you don’t let anybody tell you different’ (Tanya ‘19).
Student CoLab is led by teaching artist Juana Luna, cantora and songwriter. In addition to being a musical freelancer, Juana is a songwriter and teaching artist for the Lullaby Project and Big Note Little Note, both at Carnegie Hall.
This year’s concert includes Juana Luna’s vocals, Federico Díaz on guitar, Pala Garcia on violin, and Sofia Quirno’s visual art projection. See the full list below.
Student Composers 2022:
Joshua Drysdale
Maya Drysdale
Eniah Middleton
Genairis Toribio
Isis Swan
Teaching Artists and Performers:
Juana Luna, lead teaching artist and vocalist
Ayanna Williams, assistant teaching artist
Pala Garcia, violinist
Federico Díaz, guitarist
Sofia Quirno, visual artist