ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:
Uptown Nights is a mecca for bold work, new ideas, and always-exciting cultural mash-ups. Audiences can experience music, spoken word, visual arts, literature, and conversations that spark meaningful connections, intersecting, diverse perspectives, and true artistic freedom.
MUSIC
WED, OCT 9 | 7PM ET
Hear Us
Location: Harlem Stage
Our Uptown Nights Festival kicks off when newly-appointed CEO & Artistic Director, Dr. Indira Etwaroo sits down with Denise Young to share Young’s heartfelt story of one of the first and few women of color to reach the C-suite in Silicon Valley. Young’s acclaimed work “When We Are Seen,” inspired this season’s theme. The evening premieres Hollis King‘s stunning photographic exhibit,”Tajd.” The evening concludes with the World Premiere of “Hear Us” with haunting melodies and driving rhythms, inspired by the work of Sonia Sanchez and created by a performing artist collective of award-winning artists, Arden “Keyz” Altino, Mumu Fresh, Justina Miles, James “Biscuit” Rouse Divinity Roxxand Carl Hancock Rux.
MUSIC
THU, OCT 10 I 7PM ET
An Evening with Sunny Jain
In recasting the immigrant as the modern-day cowboy and cowgirl, musical alchemist Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East sources inspiration from the scores of Bollywood classics and Spaghetti Westerns, Punjabi folk traditions, jazz improvisation, and rollicking psychedelic styles. Twangy, jubilant, and raucous, Wild Wild East’s restlessness celebrates multifaceted identities and global interconnectedness—the new cowboy soul of America. The evening culminates in a DJ Dance Party.
MUSIC
FRI, OCT 11 I 7PM ET
An Evening with James Brandon Lewis
Combining church roots with jazz’s expansive possibilities, James Brandon Lewis is a saxophonist whose music bridges ancient and modern influences. Uptown Nights presents Lewis with his trio, Chad Taylor and Josh Werner, performing songs from his prior release “Eye of I”. The trio will also premiere works from their upcoming album “Apple Cores.” Praised by Sonny Rollins for his deep, spiritual sound, Lewis continues to innovate across various ensembles, including his acclaimed Red Lily Quintet.
THEATER
SAT, OCT 12 I 7PM ET
An Evening with Liza Jessie Peterson + Hannah Lemmons
Liza Jessie Peterson’s multisensory experience, SISTERING: The Ever Present Presence of Angels, is High-Church storytelling featuring unorthodox, speak-truth-to-power/liberation-by-any-means-necessary, unapologetically Black and bold, voice. An evening of poetry, theater, music, and film, Peterson tells of navigating frequent bouts of faltering faith through connection to angels, divine guidance, bursts of miracles, and a lil’ mojo. Representing the angelic realm, singer/songwriter Hannah Lemmons creates a musical landscape evoking the call and response between flesh and spirit.
