Garifuna Collective

July 11, 2023 @ 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at WCCMA @ Union Church

DUE TO THE ANTICIPATED RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENT HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE RAIN LOCATION.

Join us  for the acclaimed Afro-Carribean band. Rain location: Union Episcopal Church. Bring your own chair or blanket. This event is a collaboration with Claremont Parks and Recreation.

There will be a post-concert chat with the artists to learn more about Garifuna Culture.

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. The Garifuna Collective from Belize has begun a New England tour, running June 30th through June 20th including 12 concerts, all in New England, aside from a stop in London Ontario for the prestigious Sunfest. The band, renowned for their captivating performances and powerful celebration of Garifuna culture, has performed on major festival stages around the world, and their upcoming tour includes stops in notably smaller communities across New England including with the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts in Claremont, NH. Audiences can expect an enchanting journey through Garifuna traditions as the Collective presents their unique sound that spans traditional songs, modern compositions, and vibrant reinterpretations of classic Garifuna melodies. Hailing from the Caribbean coast of Central America, the Garifuna people are descendants of West African, Indigenous Arawak, and Carib peoples, with a rich history of resilience, cultural preservation, and musical expression.The Garifuna language was designated by UNESCO as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” in 2001. In addition to the inspiring performances, the Garifuna Collective’s tour will offer educational workshops and various opportunities for cultural exchange, fostering a deeper understanding of the Garifuna people, their heritage, and their ongoing contributions to the world of music. The tour was funded in a large 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. The NEST Grant has allowed a diverse array of community organizations to host the artists for a tour of free or sliding scale accessible concerts through Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Of the 12 stops on their tour, 7 nonprofit organizations have received support from NEFA to support the tour. _______ “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.

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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

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.

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Coming up:

Layale Chaker and Sarafand
Sept 2nd, 6:30pm

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.

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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.

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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.

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Burlington Taiko Group Performance

June 9, 2023 @ 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM at Outdoors at Union Episcopal Church

Join us for a performance of Japanese Taiko Drumming by Burlington Taiko Group. A popular annual Claremont community tradition, this will be WCCMA’s first ensemble public performance since before the pandemic. 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.

This performance will take place outdoors at Union Episcopal Church, the rain location will be inside the church. Please bring a chair or blanket.

This event is by free will sliding scale donation, suggested at $5-45. Students are free. Your donations help to support keeping live music and arts education live and local! This concert will be available in person and streamed. An HD version of the concert will be uploaded after the performance in the event in the event of streaming issues or imperfections.

About Burlington Taiko Group Since 1987, Burlington Taiko has been mesmerizing audiences with the powerful, spellbinding and propulsive sounds of the taiko.Burlington Taiko Group estimates it has introduced over half a million people to the power of taiko via public performances including feature performances at the 100th running of the Boston Marathon, annual performances at Burlington’s First Night, the Joseph Campbell – Keepers of the Lore festival, the Black Ships Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, and over 200 corporate, collegiate and public performances.In 2001, Burlington Taiko received First Night International’s Prism Award, first place recognition for Most Creative Programming.In 2002 Burlington Taiko participated in its first tour of Japan, performing a series of concerts in the prefecture of Tottori at the Gaina Matsuri in Yonago.The group has been honored 3 times by the International Taiko community having been selected as a feature performer at the 2008 40th International Taiko Festival in San Francisco, the 1999 North American Taiko Conference in Los Angeles, and the 1998 30th International Taiko Festival in San Francisco.Burlington Taikois the performance arm of our non-profit entity, Taiko AikoKai New England (TANE). Our mission: to promote the performance and practice of Taiko and provide education about Taiko and Japanese culture.

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Missed a concert? Catch up on YouTube

Click the below link to access the YouTube playlist of 2023 live concerts.