The Center for the Arts presents the second annual New Songs Fest, for growing the next season of songwriters, with four days of songwriting workshops, and evening concerts for the attendees (Brett Dennen, Ayla Nereo, and Rufus Wainwright) and general public to attend, beginning on April 25. This year the festival will feature workshops from Rita Hosking, Ayla Nereo, Royal Wood, Brian Rivers, Conrad Sisk, & Bryan Dyer and both Rufus Wainwright and Brett Dennen will host Q&As for participants.
Included with your ticket is a robust package that includes a ticket to all three concerts during the festival, two coaching/feedback sessions, lunch provided during the festival, access to various practice rooms, and it all culminates in a performance on a professionally produced stage (encouraged but optional).
New Songs Fest is hosted by Rita Hosking, songwriter, artist, performer, and teacher. Rita earned a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Davis, with coursework focusing on world religions, culture, psychology, and creative writing. She then earned a California Teaching Credential in Social Studies from Sacramento State University and honed her storytelling and organizational skills with over ten years of 8th-grade U.S. History students. While music always remained an interest, Rita gained perspective into the universal human psyche from an intellectual standpoint that would later be integrated with her own story. The music she produces today is an amalgamation of her university studies, teaching experience, motherhood, and the humanity that has moved her since her childhood in the hard-hitting mountains of Northeastern California.
Brett Dennen will treat participants and concertgoers to an evening performance on April 25, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. A songwriter, performer, watercolor artist, environmental conservationist, and outdoorsman, the shows he performs and the events he hosts generate more than good vibes. His impact has been to gather like-minded music fans to consistently try to make the world a better place.
Rufus Wainwright will share his talents with the audience on April 26, 2024, at 8:00 p.m., with opener Royal Wood. Praised by the New York Times for his “genuine originality,” Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists, songwriters, and composers of his generation. The New York-born, Montreal-raised singer-songwriter has released ten studio albums to date, three DVDs, and three live albums including the Grammy-nominated “Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall.” He has collaborated with artists such as Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Miley Cyrus, David Byrne, among many others. He has written two operas, numerous songs for movies and TV, and is currently working on his first musical for the West End and a Requiem. His latest GRAMMY® and JUNO nominated album of original songs, ”Unfollow the Rules,”, finds Wainwright at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty, and a new-found fearlessness. His newly-released studio album “Folkocracy” features reinvented folk duets with artists like Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, John Legend and Anohni, and many more.
On April 27, 2024, at 8:00 p.m., Ayla Nereo will take the stage! Ayla Nereo is a creature of forests and rivers, a bridger of the timeless and modern, a musician and poet weaving forth a magical and emotional world of sonic beauty. Lyrical meditations and riddles of language dance into wondrous tapestries of sound and story, from electronic folk ballads to celtic melodies and elvin loop-pedal mantras. With an uncanny ability to crack open the heart, Ayla’s songs are an ode to the wonder of being human, inviting us deeper into the exquisite and innately psychedelic dream of this moment.
Rita Hosking states, “New Songs Fest will be a unique mix of world-class evening concerts and daytime songwriting curriculum, all held at a state-of-the-art sound theater in the picturesque Sierra foothills. In one word—uplifting.”
New Songs Fest is a beautiful opportunity to hone the craft of songwriting with leading experts in the field. Attendees will elevate their talent to profound heights and have their hearts and minds filled with new techniques and abilities, leaving them confident to share their songs on the stage at The Center for the Arts on April 28, 2024. Get tickets and find out more by visiting thecenterforthearts.org/new-songs-fest-2024 or by calling 530-274-8384.
