El Puente and National Sawdust Present FROM HOPE TO JOY A CELEBRATION OF TOGETHERNESS

National Sawdust has announced the upcoming performance with musicians Shayna Dunkelman (percussion), Julie "Jewls" Acosta (trumpet), and Mario Castro (saxophone) at Domino Park, Brooklyn, on June 15 at 6pm, in partnership with Williamsburg community group El Puente and Two Trees Management. The musicians will be playing music composed as final projects from El Puente students Genairis Toribio and Emma Rivera Diaz under the guidance of Student CoLab Teaching Artists JL Marlor and Stephanie Leon. At the event, Marlor and Leon will introduce the student composers and allow them to discuss their inspiration and influences. The marching band will perform each composition as they follow a path along the Domino Park waterfront.

Student CoLab, National Sawdust's flagship educational program for middle school performing artists and composers, seeks to engage young creatives through artistic expression to lead students into creating works of their very own. Through this program, we aim to uplift and encourage our young creators to engage in their ideal creative pursuits, liberated from boundaries of genre or access, and create freely in their ideal vision. During this program, the student artists have created multidisciplinary works centering on themes collaboratively chosen by the teaching artists and the students. This year, the theme of our concert is from hope into joy, a celebration of togetherness and joy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the course's four months, each student wrote a short piece for saxophone, trumpet, and percussion. With a holistic and inclusive approach to composition, we explore music outside of the classical genre and encourage our students to create in a space unburdened by genre.

Finally, the performance will culminate with one collaborative piece created by the students, teaching artists, and musicians all together, celebrating the life and activism of Marsha P. Johnson, a justice-seeker for the gay rights movement, and icon of the struggle for LGBTQIA+ liberation. The piece will commemorate both her life and celebrate the park that has been constructed and debuted in 2021 in her honor on the Williamsburg waterfront.

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Following the performance, please join us for a post-show gathering at Disco Tacos (next door to National Sawdust) at 6:45pm.

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