Since January 2020, vocalist Julian Otis and Elastic Arts executive director Adam Zanolini have programmed AfriClassical Futures, a series offering an antidote to the overwhelming whiteness and deadness of the classical canon. Each AfriClassical concert invites a Black artist working in or springboarding from the Western classical tradition for an intimate live performance and conversation, […]
Tag: Adam Zanolini
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Elastic Arts hosts the fourth annual Afrofuturist Weekend
The fourth annual Afrofuturist Weekend comes to Elastic Arts from Friday, October 22, through Sunday, October 24, with evening programs on Friday and Saturday and daytime programs on Saturday and Sunday. The festival’s organizers describe it as a “celebration of Black artists making forward-looking work that envisions radically positive futures for Black people,” and in […]
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Chicago’s September jazz festivals cope with COVID
The city is replacing the Chicago Jazz Festival with a slimmed-down online event, while the smaller, nimbler Hyde Park Jazz Festival plans to try pop-up in-person shows.
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Creative collisions on the gig poster of the week
This week’s featured gig poster was created by artist and performer Cristal Sabbagh with assistance from Natalya Sturlis and Scott Rubin.
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Want live music back? Wear a mask and call Congress.
Staff from 22 Chicago music venues talk about how far they still are from normal—and what it’ll take to keep them around till we all get there.
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Angel Bat Dawid taps into the root of all black music
Chicago singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Angel Bat Dawid talks about the improvisation and inspiration that shaped her new album, The Oracle.