SEPTEMBER 12-SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

SEPTEMBER 12-SEPTEMBER 29, 2021 ONLINE, ACROSS THE GLOBE

Layale Chaker Inner Rhyme • Live from Alphabet City In-person + Virtual • Sunday, September 12, 6:00 PM EDT

Norihide Nakajima Quintet • Pre-recorded in Japan Streamed virtually • Tuesday, September 14, 7:00 PM EDT

Vlatko Stefanovski Trio • Pre-recorded in North Macedonia Streamed virtually • Sunday, September 19, 6:00 PM EDT

Mai Khoi Bad Activist • Live from Alphabet City In-person + Virtual • Monday, September 20, 7:00 PM EDT

Slow Motion Orchestra • Pre-recorded in Estonia Streamed virtually • 7:00 PM EDT

Thumbscrew • Pre-recorded @ Alphabet City Streamed virtually • Wednesday, September 22, 7:00 PM EDT

Jure Pukl Quartet • Live from Slovenia In-person + Virtual • Sunday, September 26, 3:00 PM EDT

Red Lily Quintet Jesup Wagon • Live from Alphabet City In-person + Virtual • Tuesday, September 28, 7:00 PM EDT

James Brandon Lewis • Live from Alphabet City In-person + Virtual • Wednesday, September 29, 7:00 PM EDT

Ways to Watch

All programs on the Jazz Poetry Month channel are streamed on Crowdcast. Scan the QR code belowt for access and registration.

Missed a program? Don’t worry—all programs will remain archived and accessible on the City of Asylum Crowdcast page.

All poetry programs will be captioned and made available in accessible format 7 days after their original air date. These accessible videos can be found on “past events” on the City of Asylum Crowdcast page.

Since 2005 September in Pittsburgh means it’s time to celebrate Jazz Poetry at City of Asylum. This year, Jazz Poetry 2021 melds all the opportunities of virtual programming with the thrilling return to in-person concerts, all while speaking to the very core of City of Asylum’s mission to protect and celebrate creative free expression.

There will be 9 completely different concerts including 4 international commissions created specially for Jazz Poetry 2021. Some will be virtual, some will be live-streamed from Europe directly to Pittsburgh, and some concerts will be live at City of Asylum @ Alphabet City. All concerts will continue to be streamed on our virtual programming channel. There are plenty of options to tune-in and participate and we’re welcome to welcome back this community in whatever way suits you best.

Jazz Poetry Month is made possible by the generous support from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Allegheny Health Network and UPMC. Media sponsorship courtesy of WZUM and The incline.

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LAYALE CHAKER: VIOLIN Born in Lebanon, trained in Paris and London, Chaker was winner of the Silkroad Seeds inaugural 2020 award and a Nadia et Lili Boulanger 2019 laureate, Chaker was also a finalist of the Rolex Mentor & Protege 2018 Prize, the recipient of the Diaphonique Franco-British Commission Prize 2019, the 2018 Arab Fund for Arts and Culture Grant, the Royal Academy of Music 2018 Guinness Award, and the winner of the Ruth Anderson

2017 Competition.

NUR TURKMANI: POET Nur Turkmani is a Syrian-Lebanese researcher based in Beirut, working on economic development, gender, and secularism in the Middle East. She was previously Rusted Radishes’ Managing Editor and is currently an editor at large. Nur’s writing and poetry have been published in Eclectica, Sukoon, Juxtaprose, London Poetry, the New Arab, and others.

SUNDAY, September 12, 6:00 PM

Jazz Poetry Month: Layale Chaker & Sarafand “Inner Rhyme”

Run time: 90 minutes

Layale Chaker is a violinist and composer whose work weaves together classical music, Jazz, Arabic Music, and improvisation. Born in Lebanon and trained musically in Beirut, London, and Paris, Layale’s music fuses sounds of the world and musical genres. Inner Rhyme, Layale’s debut album, is a suite of music that explores the sounds, rhythms, rhymes, shapes, and forms of Arabic poetry.

Layale and her band join us live from the Alphabet City stage to perform Inner Rhyme and collaborate with poets from across the Arabic speaking world, including City of Asylum writers-in-residence and Beiruti poet Nur Turkmani.

JAKE CHARKEY: CELLO Charkey is an acclaimed cellist in both Western classical music and Hindustani music and an equally eclectic improviser, playing with Vinny Golia, Wadada Leo Smith, Charlie Haden, and in Bollywood. He is a sought-after studio recording artist in the film, television and music industry in both India and the USA.

PHILLIP GOLUB: PIANO Golub has received a number of awards as both a jazz and classical musician--most notably a grand prize winner of both the ASCAP Jazz and Classical Young Composers Awards. Since February 2019, he has also been intimately involved with the development of a new opera, Iphigenia (premiere 2022), with a new score by Wayne Shorter and libretto by Esperanza Spalding.

NICK DUNSTON: BASS Dunston is an acoustic and electroacoustic composer, improviser, and bassist. An “indispensable player on the New York avant-garde” (New York Times), he plays with an eclectic jazz who’s who, from Marc Ribot, to Tyshawn Sorey and Pittsburgh favorite Jeff “Tain” Watts. He has received canon-changing commissions with the same range, from Bang on a Can to Ex-Aequo. He also leads several bands.

ADAM MAALOUF: PERCUSSION Maalouf is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. His cross-genre style of music forms a common thread between the cultures of the East and West, His playing is unusually diverse, from symphony halls to the Stone jazz club, from the Brooklyn Raga Massive to the Gil Evans Centennial Project, from the Atlanta Symphony to the National Arabic Orchestra.

In celebration of the program, 40 North will feature a special Lebanese tasting menu and wine pairing.

Proof of vaccination is now required (photo or actual card) upon entry. Masks are required and available if you do not have one.

Presented in partnership with Rusted Radishes: Beirut Literary and Art Journal, a preeminent literary journal founded at the American University of Beirut.

RAMA: POET RaMa is a Sudanese activist and writer of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and is a writer-in-residence at City of Asylum. RaMa has published two novels and a short story collection to great critical acclaim. Her writing has appeared in English, Korean, French, and Spanish translation.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORSBOARD OF DIRECTORS

Feyisola Akintola

Anne Billiet Lackner, Vice Chairman

Michael McLean

Gwendolyn Moorer*

Charles F. O’Hanlon III, Secretary/Treasurer

Henry Reese, Chairman and co-founder*

Audrey Russo

Diane Samuels, Co-founder*

Ken Segel

Akhil Sharma

Eric Shiner

Lea Simonds

Barbara Talerico

*Resident Central Northside

ADVISORY BOARD Founding North American Board:

Russell Banks

Dionne Brand

Carolyn Forche

Michael Ondaatje

Caryl Phillips

Salman Rushdie

Wole Soyinka

Derek Walcott

ADVISORY BOARD Pheeroan akLaffMia Alvar

Jill Bialosky

Angie Cruz

Craig Dunham

Amy Finnerty

Michael Formanek

John Freeman

Tomas Fujiwara

Mary Halvorson

Oliver Lake

Claire Messud

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Marc Nieson

George Packer

Richard Powers

Laura Secor

Kamila Shamsie

James Wood

As of September 12,2021CITY OF ASYLUM STAFFAndrés FrancoExecutive Director

R. Henry ReeseCo-Founder and President

Diane SamuelsCo-Founder

PROGRAMMINGAbby LemberskyDirector of Programs

Alexis JabourProduction Manager

Mahtab NadalianProduction Coordinator

Erin RousselManager of Special Projects

ADMINISTRATIONTommy NelsonDirector of External Relations

Allison M. RuppertMarketing Manager

Amy GilliganDirector of Finance and Operations

Tuhin DasAccountant

Alexandra Colegado Dobell Administrative and Development Assistant

BOOKSTORELesley RainsBookstore Manager

Jennifer KraarChildren’s Bookseller

DONATE TODAYOur mission at City of Asylum is to build a just community by protecting and celebrating creative free expression.

We provide sanctuary to persecuted international writers so that their voices are not silenced and they can continue to write. We are the largest writer sanctuary program in the world, with three writers-in-residence currently living in Pittsburgh.

Our program of literary and music events is how we celebrate freedom of expression. We provide a platform for artists not often heard in other venues, and partner with organizations to create a platform for under-represented voices from Pittsburgh and beyond.

We believe that everyone should have access to culture and the arts, regardless of means. This is why all of our programs are free to access - both in person at our Northside home, Alphabet City, or online on our streaming channel.

Please join our community and help advance our mission by making a donation today.

City of Asylum is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All donations are tax-deductible. No goods or services are provided in exchange for your contribution. Our EIN is 20-2810099.

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City of Asylum® Exiled Writer ResidenciesThe City of Asylum® Exiled Writer Residency Program is a long-term residency for literary writers who are in exile from their home countries and under threat of persecution because of their writing. The goal of this sanctuary program is to enable each writer-in-residence to continue to write while transitioning to a stable, independent life in exile.

City of Asylum® House PublicationsCity of Asylum® rehabilitates houses on Pittsburgh’s Northside for use by writers-in-residence, and commissions a public artwork that incorporates a literary text for the façade of each house. City of Asylum calls this process house-publishing.

CITY OF ASYLUM BOOKSTORE @ ALPHABET CITYABOUT US

Works by Exiled Writers in Residence

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City of Asylum® Bookstore is committed to showcasing marginalized voices from around the world. Our store is notable for its considered commitment to diverse

voices for readers of all ages.Open Daily 12-6:00 PM

OUR MISSIONCity of Asylum builds a just community by protecting and celebrating creative free expression. We provide sanctuary to endangered literary writers, so that the writers can continue to write, and their voices are not silenced. We offer a broad range of free literary, arts, and humanities programs in a community setting to build social equity through cultural exchange. And by transforming blighted properties into homes for our programs, we anchor neighborhood economic development.