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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Kids’ books recommendations
Topical picks
Translated new releases
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.