Postcards Of Our Barrios – Friday, December 11th @ Media Bureau Studios
Semilla Arts Initiative and AfroTaino Productions
Present
“POSTCARDS OF OUR BARRIOS” and “DIGNITY TRANSFORMS”
Visual, Lyrical and Rhythmic Images of Our Communities
Please join us for an evening of music and poetry celebrating the opening exhibit of Philadelphia-based group Semilla Arts Initiative.
“Dignity Transforms” shows how artists Pedro Ospina and Betsy Casañas transformed their life’s work into a grassroots art’s initiative and continued on with their work as individual artists. This exhibit will reconstructs their most recent project “Recuperando el Barrio”. A cultural manifestation intended to revitalize a community that for too long had been neglected and deprived of the basic essential needs. By uniting and celebrating the diverse talents found in the community they began to create and rebuild what for a long time many have learned to live with. This multi-media installation will give viewers insight on how a society plays an impact on the work of an artist and how an artist can impact and transform a community.
“Postcard of our Barrios” strives to create a space where artists of all communities and cultural backgrounds can share a space and tell their stories through, music, spoken word, dance and Visual Art.
OPEN MIC Sign up early because space is limited.
Featuring Philadelphia Local Musicians:
Angella Irwin
Singer Songwriter
http://www.myspace.com/angellairwin
Venissa Santí
Latin Jazz Vocalist
http://www.myspace.com/venissasanti
Daniel De Jesus
Cellist Singer Songwriter
http://www.myspace.com/dejesusrocks
Location
Media Bureau/MBN Studios
725 north 4th street.
http://www.myspace.com/mbnstudios
Friday December 11, 2009
7:00pm
$5-$10 sliding scale admission
All proceeds to go to Semilla Arts Initiative
SEMILLA (seed) ARTS INITIATIVE is a grassroots initiative that uses art as a catalyst for social change and artistic collaborations as a means of empowering individuals and communities.
AFROTAINO PRODUCTIONS specializes in delivering witnesses to the explosive fusion of Urban, Caribbean and World music and dance entertainment.
ANGELLA IRWIN is a young singer-songwriter who combines a range of influences to create her own smooth, sweet sound with an underlying energy and contagious drive. She started composing at thirteen, and some years later took the first of many trips to Cuba to study Cuban music. Angella has played many Philadelphia venues including the Tin Angel, North by Northwest, Milkboy Coffee, and the Kimmel Center. In 2009 she won The Philadelphia Songwriters Project contest and played in The Philadelphia Folk Festival in the Bethlehem Musik Fest.
VENISSA SANTÍ performs innovative, and genre defying, Cuban American Vocal Jazz that has drawn the attention of Latin music icons Ruben Blades and Danilo Pérez. Her combinations of classic songs and mixture of Cuban and jazz rhythms are documented on her 2008 solo Debut CD “Bienvenida.” Vocally she stretches from Afro-Cuban folklore to balladry – even attempting Cuban singing styles that are traditionally only done by men, namely in her aggressive Latin jazz track “Columbia Pa’ Miguel Angel”. After much study in jazz, Cuban music and improvisation in Philadelphia, Havana and Matanzas, Venissa Santí has developed with support of an array of artists, teachers and mentors such as JD Walter, Ron Kerber (University of the Arts) Elizabeth Sayre, Orlando Fiol- (master bata drumers), Michael Spiro (of BataKetu) Gregorio “El Goyo” Hernández (Yoruba Adavo) “Minini” (Afro Cuba De Matanzas), and Arturo Martinez (Clave y Guaguanco). In 2008, she was a recipient of the PEW Fellowship, a prestigious award in the category folk & traditional arts.
DANIEL DE JESUS is a cellist, singer, songwriter, and strings arranger. Since 2005 De Jesus has worked with his own self-titled project and released his debut album “From the Subconscious” under Noisia Records. In 2008 he joined the band Rasputina, an all-cello rock band led and created by Melora Creager based in New York. Dejesus also performs with Eboni Strings Quartet, an all Afro American/Latino ensemble devoted to contemporary popular music and Jazz.
For more information email Betsy Casanas at semilla@semillaarts.org
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