REFUGE – a place or a feeling of safety, comfort, community, and regrowth.
Join us for a celebration of faith and spiritual traditions expressed through the power of music. Featuring soaring Gospel anthems, lively Klezmer melodies, percussive Yoruban religious music and hypnotic Gnawa rhythms, this evening gathers internationally acclaimed artists from across the spectrum of faiths for an uplifting tribute to art and song as a source of refuge, hope, and optimism.
*The Choir of Trinity Wall Street (7pm) and ÌFÉ (following the evening’s concert) will perform on the Vartan and Clare Gregorian Lobby Stage. Priority given to Devotion: Faith as Refuge ticket holders.
Pictured: Innov Gnawa.
Please note: This production includes smoke/haze throughout the performance.
Arun Ramamurthy & Trina Basu ft. Samarth Nagarkar
Violinists Arun Ramamurthy and Trina Basu reimagine the potential of string chamber music with a unique sound both deeply intimate and cinematically expansive.
The Choir of Trinity Wall Street
Peerless interpreters of both early and new music, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street has redefined the realm of 21st-century vocal music, breaking new ground with artistry described as “blazing with vigour…a choir from heaven” (The Times, London). This premier professional ensemble can be heard live, online, on Grammy-nominated recordings, and in performances described as “thrilling” (The New Yorker), “musically top-notch” (The Wall Street Journal), and “simply superb” (The New York Times).
ÌFÉ
Founded by Puerto Rico based African American producer and percussionist Otura Mun, ÌFÉ is a futuristic live electronic music project blending elements of Afro-Cuban folklore and Yoruban religious music with the bass driven sounds of modern day Jamaican Dancehall, trap and Afro-Beat.
Innov Gnawa
Innov Gnawa is a New York City-based, Grammy-nominated music ensemble led by Maalem Hassan Benjaafar. The word maalem, meaning master, denotes BenJaafar’s Gnawa heritage and musical tradition, passed down generationally within his family in Morocco. As spiritual elder, Maalem senses the energy of the audience, chooses appropriate repertoire for healing and directs the group by playing the three-stringed African bass, or guembri, and the resounding tbul drum, traditionally used in Morocco to summon people to a healing ceremony, or lila.
The Klezmatics
Since their emergence more than 30 years ago, the Klezmatics have raised the bar for Eastern European Jewish music, made aesthetically, politically and musically interesting recordings, inspired future generations, created a large body of work that is enduring, and helped to change the face of contemporary Yiddish culture. Often called a “Jewish roots band,” the Klezmatics have led a popular revival of this ages-old, nearly forgotten art form.
Damien Sneed
As a multi-genre recording artist and instrumentalist, Damien LeChateau Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has worked with jazz, classical, pop, and R&B legends, including the late Aretha Franklin and Jessye Norman, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Lawrence Brownlee, Denyce Graves, the Clark Sisters, and many others. Sneed is a 2014 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient and a 2020 Dove Award winner.