The Gathering Events
Resistance and Healing: Engaging The Ring Shout
The ring shout is the oldest known African American performance tradition surviving on the North American continent. A fusion of call-and-response singing, percussion, and expressive...
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The Sound of Social Justice
For centuries, Black artists have used music as a form of protest and to bring people together to fight for freedom. For this Live Wire...
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The Gathering:
A Collective Sonic Ring Shout
First practiced by enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and in the United States, a Shout (or Ring Shout) is an ecstatic, transcendent ritual in which...
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A new evening-length work, co-commissioned by the Apollo, The Gathering brings the ancestral tradition of the Ring Shout into a contemporary context, taking audiences on a sonic quest rooted in the ritual tradition with a diverse array of contemporary multidisciplinary artists. Anchored by an 80-member orchestra and a 50-voice choir composed of both professional and amateur singers from multiple African American churches and choral ensembles in New York, this not-to-be-missed event features new musical works including New York premieres by Carlos Simon and Joel Thompson paired with new commissions from Toshi Reagon, Jason Michael Webb, and Lelund Thompson created to honor our present need for a collective space of remembrance.
The Gathering is more than a concert; it’s the opportunity for its presenters to celebrate, engage with, service, and invigorate our communities with The Gathering-inspired conversations and activities that address social justice issues. These events include Apollo Uptown Hall: MLK, Activism, and the Arts; Deep Rivers: Black Currents in Classical Music; Mendi + Keith Obadike’s RingShout: A Sonic Healing; Healing Joy and Liberation: Mental Health and the Arts; Resistance and Healing: Engaging the Ring Shout, Live Wire: The Sound of Social Justice and The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout.
Here is our list of community partners who have joined us on this journey of discussions and presentations about these important social justice issues.
1199, Bread and Roses
Abyssinian Baptist Church
ACLU
Black Alumni Council of Columbia University
Broadway Inspirational Voices
The Center for Black Literature
Columbia University Spirituality, Mind and Body Institute
Convent Avenue Baptist Church
Cultural Innovation Group
CUNY School of Medicine at the City College of New York
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Experience Harlem
Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce
Experience Harlem
The Greene Space
Harlem Advocates for Seniors
Harlem Arts Alliance
Harlem Fine Arts Show
Manhattan Community Board 10
March on Washington Film Festival
NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene
RhythmAndSoulRadio.com
Sing Harlem
WBAI
WNYC
WQXR
