The National Sawdust concert venue in Brooklyn “announced its second season Monday with an even broader mission,” writes Amanda Angel on Monday (8/15) at New York classical radio station WQXR. “The institution promised to be a leading incubator of new work, including musical theater, opera, a festival celebrating the sounds of Africa and a new online arts journal … run by veteran writer and editor Steve Smith—formerly of The New York Times, Time Out New York and The Boston Globe…. The journal will include long-form articles, interviews with artists, criticism and other coverage of the arts and music community…. The first musical to be showcased in The Beginning Stages project, to help develop Broadway-type productions, will be [TJ Armand’s] Sama: An American Requiem, about the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. The season begins on Oct. 1 with an evening exploring a range of themes, from the Black Lives Matter movement to global examples of lullabies.” Among those in residence in 2016-17 will be the ensembles yMusic and wild Up and contemporary opera presenter Beth Morrison Projects. Composers will include Timo Andres, Louis Andriessen, Martin Bresnick, Philip Glass, Julia Holter, Yuka Hondo, Kelsey Lu, Judith Palmer, Ellen Reid, Robert Sirota, and John Zorn.
Posted August 16, 2016
