Garifuna Collective

The award-winning Garfiuna Collective from Belize spark the history and soul of Garifuna culture into vivid life.

Please join us for an evening concert, presented by West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts.

Tickets by Donation. Students FREE.

In case of inclement weather, the event location will be at the Claremont Creative Center, 56 Opera House Square, right across the street from Broad Street Park.

The Garifuna Collective has performed in over 30 countries in 5 continents and have been part of the most celebrated Garifuna albums 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.

They are a seasoned collective of musicians from across different generations, with a dynamic that comes from of playing and traveling the world together, sharing their music and stories with global audiences. Their performances spark the history and soul of Garifuna culture into vivid life. While their recordings dip into the massive well of Garifuna songs to create new compositions — some of the singers in the band know hundreds of songs!

The group has maintained its strength despite incredible adversity but the history of the Garifuna people is one of struggle. The Collective take their place in a long line of ancestors, maintaining and growing the Garifuna cultural identity, in a conversation between generations and traditions.

Khumariyaan

Transfixing, hyper-folk jams with rich and deep Pushtoon roots.

Join us for a very special presentation of Khumariyaan, at the Claremont Creative Center, presented by the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts.

Khumariyaan is on tour in the USA as part of Center Stage, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with funding provided by the U.S. Government. It is administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts in cooperation with the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations. www.centerstageUS.org

Khumariyaan’s extended tunes spill across the border between Pashtoon folk and jam-band rock. It’s a cool vibe with the extra merit of puncturing stereotypes.” – Boston Globe

Formed in 2009 in Peshawar, Pakistan, Khumariyaan emerged during a tumultuous period marked by Talibanization, sectarian violence, military operations, and neo-imperialist expansions. In such a climate, art, including music, served as a form of resistance. The band’s mission is to use native music, infused with elements from other world music traditions, to enlighten and inspire the educated youth of Pakistan.

Focused on elevating music as a medium of peace and breaking away from the South Asian tradition of vocal-based music, Khumariyaan composes with minimal vocal fragments to enhance the overall harmony. The group of musicians shares a vision of experiencing the trance of live, acoustic music, believing it is the highest form of art, leaving its interpretation to the audience. Their journey aims to evoke musical ‘goose bumps’ and provide a moving philosophical experience.

https://khumariyaan.com

Myra Flynn

Please join us for an evening concert, presented by West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts.

Tickets by Donation. Students FREE.

In case of inclement weather, the event location will be at the Claremont Creative Center, 56 Opera House Square, right across the street from Broad Street Park.

Singer/songwriter Myra Flynn spends her career embracing dichotomy. Half Irish and half African American, her original indie/soul songs blend soulful vocals with a lyrical delivery that doesn’t let one get too comfortable. As the New England Deli Magazine puts it, “Her vocal influences have as much in common with Ani Difranco and Shawn Colvin as they do with Rihanna and Jill Scott.”

Myra’s latest album, Shadow Work, was released in the summer of 2023. Margaret Grayson of 7days describes Shadow Work as “… five songs deeply concerned with relationships of all kinds. Flynn, who splits her time between Vermont and Los Angeles, sings of mothers and daughters, romantic relationships gone wrong, and the people who get us through the hardest times. She considers big questions about how a person ought to be in the world, but she conducts her case studies on the most intimate of stages. In certain moments, she questions herself, wondering if she’s doing enough for the people she loves; other times, she offers full-throated declarations of her own worth in the world. The same song can hold both sentiments, and Flynn’s ability to capture complicated, conflicting emotions in her lyrics swept me away.”

Myra is a lyrical storyteller, who uses her voice to empower, inspire, and even educate. She fearlessly tackles topics that others shy away from in both her music and in her journalism career. She says that motherhood has left her no more time to be self conscious and there is no room for shyness. She finds a new strength, independence and inspiration in her daughter, Avalon, and her husband Phil. Myra is a singer, songwriter, journalist, advocate, ally, mother, wife – and always, unapologetically, human.

Her podcast with Vermont Public Radio, titled Homegoings, is a “righteous space for art and race.” It’s a show that invites listeners to be a fly on the wall, privy to candid and genuine conversations about race. We explore themes that fearlessly straddle the line between necessary and uncomfortable, as I speak with artists, experts and regular folks all over the country about their literal skin in the game – of everyday life. Homegoings is storytelling – with a heartbeat. No topic is off the table, and there’s no such thing as going “too deep.” These are the conversations that are our birthright to have, and the stories we are lucky to hear.Currently, Myra Flynn lives a bi-costal life, still holding onto her roots in Vermont part of her year while also working and living in Los Angeles under the guidance of Swift Street Management Team. She has created a jewelry line made from recycled piano parts and recently partnered with Vermont Vineyard, Shelburne Vineyard to create a namesake wine: FLYNN. She has toured the United States countless times as well as: Whales, London, Ireland and most frequently, Australia. Her motto regarding next steps and fame tends to be: “If you’re doing it, you’ve already made it.”