July 4, 2023 @ 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at WCCMA @ Union Church
UPDATE FOR RAIN CONTINGENCY: Bassel and the Supernaturals will appear at the rain location: West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts at Union Church, 133 Old Church Rd. The July 4th festivities will be held at Monadnock Park on JULY 5TH. It is very helpful if you register in advance just in case we have a big audience (we can’t seat 2500 now!)
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Echoing Stevie Wonder’s rhythm and blues, Jamiroquai’s social justice centered lyricism over jazz-infused funk, and Steely Dan’s seamless amalgam of American music, Bassel & The Supernaturals evoke joy and thoughtfulness in diverse audiences throughout hundreds of cities across North America. In addition to performing in major festivals, performance halls, concert series, and clubs, the group works closely with organizations on events and residencies that build awareness and empathy for Syrian refugees and immigrants. Deeply inspired by Otis Redding, Bassel uses the stage as a vehicle to unite his listeners and share the story of his cultural duality. Bassel & The Supernaturals tells the story of Bassel Almadani’s experience as a first generation Syrian-American using soulful melodies, funk inspired rhythms, and captivating lyrics.
Garifuna Collective
July 11, 2023 @ 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at Broad Street Park
Join us at Broad Street Park for the acclaimed Afro-Carribean band. Rain location: Union Episcopal Church.
Tickets are by donation, students are free.
Join us at Broad Street Park for the acclaimed Afro-Carribean band. This event will be live-streamed, but due to the nature of the outdoor venue conditions the concert video could be delayed. Rain location: Union Episcopal Church. Bring your own chair or blanket. This event is a collaboration with Claremont Parks and Recreation. This program is supported in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
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“The meeting point where ancient meets modern, this music stretches forward defying the listener to pin it down. Whatever people mean about music being universal, surely that is the perfect demonstration of their argument.” – The Observer (UK). Based in Belize, The Garifuna Collective are one of the most unique Afro-Caribbean bands on the planet. As representatives of the Garifuna people – a separate language and culture group spread across several countries in Central America – they harness the indomitable energy of their African and Indigenous ancestors, generating an irrepressible, positive energy every time they perform. They have created feverish dance floors in over 30 countries across 5 continents and have been part of the most celebrated world music releases of all time, including the critically acclaimed Wátina – recipient of the Womex and BBC World Music Award and voted by Amazon as the Number One World Music Album of All Time.
Art of the Duo: Kinan Azmeh and Dinuk Wijeratne
August 21, 2023 @ 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts @ Union Church
Tickets are by donation, students free.
Returning as a duo for the first time since 2019, WCCMA Artistic Advisory Board Members and Award-winning composers and performers Dinuk Wijeratne & Kinan Azmeh fuse elements of Arabic and South-Asian vocabulary with classical and jazz music idioms to create a new sonic world. In person and live-streamed.
About Kinan Azmeh
Hailed by critics and audiences alike, winner of Opus Klassik award in 2019 clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh has gained international recognition for his distinctive voice across diverse musical genres.
Originally from Damascus, Syria, Kinan Azmeh brings his music to all corners of the world as a soloist, composer and improviser. In addition to his own Arab-Jazz Quartet CityBand and his Hewar trio, he has also been playing with the Silkroad Ensemble since 2012, whose 2017 Grammy Award-winning album “Sing Me Home” features Kinan as a clarinetist and composer.
Kinan Azmeh is a graduate of New York’s Juilliard School as a student of Charles Neidich, and of both the Damascus High institute of Music where he studied with Shukry Sahwki, Nicolay Viovanof and Anatoly Moratof, and Damascus University’s School of Electrical Engineering. Kinan earned his doctorate degree in music from the City University of New York in 2013.
His first opera “Songs for Days to Come” which is fully sung in Arabic, was recently premiered in Osnabruck, Germany in June 2022 to a great acclaim. He has recently been appointed to the National Council for the Arts on a nomination by President Joe Biden.
About Dinuk Wijeratne
Sri Lankan-born Canadian Dinuk Wijeratne is a JUNO and multi-award-winning composer, conductor, and pianist who has been described by the New York Times as ‘exuberantly creative’, by the Toronto Star as ‘an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future’, and by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra as ‘a modern polymath’. His boundary-crossing work sees him equally at home in collaborations with symphony orchestras and string quartets, tabla players and DJs, and takes him to international venues as poles apart as the Berlin Philharmonie and the North Sea Jazz Festival.
Dinuk made his Carnegie Hall debut while still a student in 2004 as a composer, conductor, and pianist performing with Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. A second Carnegie appearance followed in 2009, alongside tabla legend Zakir Hussain.
A passionate educator, Dinuk is committed to helping emerging and mid-career classical artists navigate the classical music industry in today’s increasingly complex, diverse, and globalized world. As a Creativity Consultant he serves private clients as well as students of the Banff Centre (Evolution Classical) and Toronto’s Glenn Gould School. His educational guide ‘Define Your Artistic Voice’ was downloaded 150 times from his blog within the first two days of its release. Dinuk also served as Music Director of the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra for thirteen seasons. He is also the recipient of the Canada Council Jean-Marie Beaudet award for orchestral conducting; the NS Established Artist Award; NS Masterworks nominations for his Tabla Concerto and piano trio Love Triangle; double Merritt Award nominations; Juilliard, Mannes, & Countess of Munster scholarships; the Sema Jazz Improvisation Prize; the Soroptimist International Award for Composer-Conductors; and the Sir John Manduell Prize – the RNCM’s highest student honour. His music and collaborative work embrace the great diversity of his international background and influences.
