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  • LAPA
  • The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Power to the People! Festival
  • Apr. 28, 2022
  • The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Power to the People! Festival Features Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil, Rodrigo Amarante, Bryonn Bain, Devendra Banhart, J’Nai Bridges, Dr. Angela Davis, Silvana Estrada, Nathaniel Gumbs, Ted Hearne and the LA Phil New Music Group, iLe, Mon Laferte, Jessie Montgomery, Edna Vazquez and Saul Williams

    Co-Curated by Gustavo Dudamel and Herbie Hancock, the Festival Explores the Intersection of Music and Social Justice

    Performances and Humanities Programs at Walt Disney Concert Hall, California African American Museum and
    Skirball Cultural Center May 29 to June 10, 2022

     

    LOS ANGELES (April 28, 2022)Los Angeles Philharmonic Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and Creative Chair for Jazz Herbie Hancock 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
    Tickets: https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/1418/2022-05-29/hold-on-we-shall-overcome-with-nathaniel-gumbs

    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)
    FREE with RSVP

    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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    About the Los Angeles Philharmonic
    Under the leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil offers live performances, media initiatives and learning programs that inspire and strengthen communities in Los Angeles and beyond. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra is the foundation of the LA Phil’s offerings, which also include a multi-genre, multidisciplinary presenting program and such youth development programs as YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles). Performances are offered on three historic stages—Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and The Ford—as well as through a variety of media platforms. In all its endeavors, the LA Phil seeks to enrich the lives of individuals and communities through musical, artistic and learning experiences that resonate in our world today.
  • Contact:

    Sophie Jefferies, sjefferies@laphil.org
    Holly Wallace, hwallace@laphil.org
    Laura Cohen, lcmediapr@gmail.com
    Kassandra Winchester, kwinchester@laphil.org