There will be lots of singing of socially relevant songs, communal meals, mentoring, socializing, and a wide array of workshops during the People’s Music Network’s 39th annual Winter Gathering that takes place in New York City, January 25-27, 2019.
“We’re coming together at this gathering as a diverse group of politically engaged artists to share our music and to join in a common purpose,” said Ben Grosscup, PMN’s executive director. “A membership-based organization, our work is to facilitate educational and networking experiences in which people develop the craft of music and poetry as tools for social change. This craft involves continual musical, cultural, ad political education – which is what we’ve been doing at our gatherings for over 40 years. We’ve found that this educational process, which can be transformative and powerful, works best in the context of a supportive community where members meet as equals.”
The gathering opens on Friday night, Jan. 25, with a light dinner at 6 p.m. followed by a public concert at the Community Church of New York U.U. (40 East 35th Street, near Park Avenue) starting at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature PMN Artist-in-Residence Francisco Herrera, along with Charlie King, MacDougal Street Rent Party, Brooklyn Women’s Chorus, Raymond Nat Turner, Jeremy Aaron, Lindsey Wilson, Dilson Hernandez, and The Filthy Rotten System. Tickets to the concert are included with registration for the full weekend gathering. They may also be purchased separately at this link: https://peoplesmusic.org/Winter-Concert.
On Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 26 ad 27, the gathering moves to Central Park East II Middle School in East Harlem (entrance on First Avenue @ East 101st Street), where there will be a series of participatory workshops and song swaps, mentoring sessions, and a Saturday night open round-robin concert – all highlighting the role of music in the movements for progressive social change.
Workshop tracks include group singing, music in the movement, making a living, musical traditions of struggle, performance skills, and song and poetry swaps. The Walkabout Clearwater Chorus will lead a community sing in commemoration of the centennial of Pete Seeger’s birth, while NYC-based singer-songwriter Bev Grant leads a workshop on choral singing. PMN Artist-in-Residence Francisco Herrera conducts a workshop entitled “Strength from the Roots.” AcousticMusicScene.com’s Michael Kornfeld, who also is a communications and public relations strategist, presents one entitled “Online and Traditional Promotion: A PRimer.” Maine-based singer-songwriter Martin Swinger leads both “Improvisational Singing Games” and a “Rainbow Song Swap,” while Mike Glick and Lindsey Wilson lead a “Songs of Resistance” song swap and singer-songwriter Terry Kitchen hosts “Grain of Salt: Workshopping Songs in Progress.”
Other workshops will explore topics ranging from “Building Bridges that Connect Networks of Musicians” to “Expanding Your Chord Vocabulary,” “Black Old Time Music,” Nueva Cancion: A Younger Generation’s Take,” and “Raging Grannies in Action.” A special track of workshops tailored for youth and co-sponsored by Central Park East II, called the Youth Creative Convergence, will take place parallel to the adult workshops.
The PMN Winter Gathering concludes on Sunday afternoon after lunch and a closing ceremony.
People’s Music Network is a diverse community of singers, artists, activists and allies that cultivates music and cultural work as catalysts for a just and peaceful world. The organization was founded by Pete Seeger, Luci Murphy, Charlie King, and Joanne Sheehan.
For more information on the People’s Music Network and its winter gathering, including registration fees, visit www.peoplesmusic.org.
Like/Follow Us!