Artist Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6–9 Neighborhood Arts

NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS

Neighborhood Arts brings the joy of live performance to people of all ages and abilities, drawing deeply upon partnerships with community organizations to activate neighborhoods with a rich and varied array of opportunities.

ENGAGING LOCAL ARTISTS – Neighborhood Arts artists are a diverse group of 30+ high caliber Boston area performing artists who are experienced in working with young people and committed to community engagement .

CREATING COMMUNITY – 40+ community organizations, including youth arts groups, neighborhood venues, community centers, Boy & Girls Clubs, faith-based organizations, schools, and more, collaborate with Celebrity Series to plan and host events, with activities tailored to the partners’ needs .

ACTIVATING NEIGHBORHOOD SPACES – Catalyzing artistic and economic activity in the neighborhoods is a core value of Neighborhood Arts, with events planned in 27 locations in Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale, Roxbury, and the South End .

WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCES – Partner organizations also receive complimentary tickets to Celebrity Series main stage performances in downtown venues, with approximately 1,000 tickets distributed to partners’ constituents .

“You all are so amazing. I can’t stop gushing about Celebrity Series and the crew (family) you have and what authentic / meaningful work you are at the center of in our city. An absolute joy to be a part of it all!” RYAN EDWARDS, Artist

“Thank you so much for the gift of Saturday’s performance in all its collaborative details. I was thrilled to see so many of our families there, and not just from the Tour Choir. We really appreciate how very well we are looked after in every way. And we just loved the Kroc Center!” JANE MONEY, Artistic Director, Boston City Singers

“In my opinion, Celebrity Series is the most fruitful partnership that the

Mattapan Teen Center Performing Arts

Department has. Celebrity Series brings quality arts based programming at no cost to the organization on a consistent basis. The artists they bring are ALWAYS captivating, interactive, and FUN! They are always willing to provide us with complimentary tickets to local performances, which serves as an exemplary incentive for youth to stay committed to long term programming models. Celebrity Series has featured our youth's music in promotional videos that provide our center with excellent exposure and our members with great experience. We hope to continue this outstanding partnership for many years to come and collaborate in new and innovative ways.”

DEVIN FERREIRA, Director of Performing Arts, Mattapan Teen Center

MAJOR SUPPORT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS IS PROVIDED BY THE

Barr Foundation, the Boston Cultural Council, Amy and Ethan d’Ablemont Burnes, the Royal Little Family Foundation, the Bessie Pappas Charitable Foundation, the Fuller Foundation, the Liberty Mutual Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the National Endowment for the Arts,

the Stifler Family Foundation, and Tufts Health Plan.

NEIGHBORHOOD ARTISTS

JEAN APPOLON (Haitian dance) is a successful choreographer and master teacher based in Boston and Port-au-Prince, Haiti . He is the founder and Artistic Director of Jean Appolon Expressions (JAE), a contemporary Haitian dance company which has performed at major venues in Boston, toured in Washington, DC and Haiti . Since 2006, he has directed a free annual summer dance course in Port-au-Prince that provides young, aspiring dancers with access to training . His dance classroom provides a positive and affirming atmosphere in which every student is regarded as artistic, and is empowered to be passionate about dance and caring for the community .

MIKE BLOCK (world music – cello) is a pioneering multi-style cellist, singer, composer, and educator, hailed by Yo-Yo Ma as the "ideal musician of the 21st-Century," and acclaimed by the NY Times for his "vital rich-hued solo playing" . Mike is a current member of the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo Yo Ma, and the founding Director of the Silkroad Global Musician Workshop . Mike is also the founding Director of the Mike Block String Camp and the online Multi-Style Cello School at ArtistWorks .com . An active recording artist of original material, folk music, and cross-cultural collaborations, Mike lives in Boston and was appointed Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in 2012 .

YO-EL CASSELL (contemporary movement) is currently Head of Movement/Assistant Professor of Movement at Boston University's College of Fine Arts School of Theatre . Using different elements of movement, his teaching and choreographic endeavors stresses the importance of exploring our personal capacity for self-expression and artistry . As someone who is also hearing impaired, he holds movement to be the expressive channel of identity . He is dedicated to engaging his community through theatre/movement programming that break down the boundaries of access .

CASTLE OF OUR SKINS (Black artistry through music) is a concert and educational series dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music . Based in Boston and driven to bringing greater cultural representation to the stage, COOS takes its inventive mix of Black history, culture and Classical music to concert halls and classrooms alike . Through its interactive educational workshops, international call to composers, musical-narrative concert experiences, and online blog, COOS invites exploration into Black heritage and a curiosity for Black culture .

SANDEEP DAS (Indian tabla) is considered one of the leading Indian Tabla virtuosos in the world today . He has performed on 40 cds and his collaboration with the Silk Road Ensemble for “Sing Me Home” won the 2017 Grammy Award for Best World Music album . He has built a diverse international career, collaborating with the Silk Road Ensemble, string quartets, and major symphony orchestras with concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall and the Concertebouw, among others . Das is the founder of HUM (Harmony and Universality through Music), a world class ensemble promoting global understanding through performance and education .

RYAN EDWARDS (composer-percussion) From a beginning in big band jazz, to an extensive study in West African music and dance, Ryan Edwards has been on the path to make people dance since he began in music . He is a Boston-based inter-disciplinary artist with a background in West African drum and dance, jazz and new-music composition . He composes extensively for contemporary dance and produces multimedia performance works and installations with Masary Studios . He co-directs the Boston-based Afrobeat band Federator N° 1 and is most proud to be the father of two beautiful children, Jafiah and Maya .

MARIA FINKELMEIER (composer-percussion) Named a “one-woman dynamo” by The Boston Globe, Maria Finkelmeier is a percussionist, composer, educator, and arts entrepreneur . Maria is an international touring artist, having performed as a soloist, member of numerous chamber ensembles, and percussionist with in the Baltic Sea Philharmonic . As a composer, she's been commissioned by the Boston Center for the Arts and Illuminus Festival with Masary Studios, Outside the Box Festival, Quartet Kalos, and Ensemble Evolution . Founder and director of Kadence Arts, Maria aims to unite the community by providing new experiences to support and encourage an appreciation and understanding of how music impacts and enriches our lives .

SHAW PONG LIU (composer-erhu-violin) Violinist and composer Shaw Pong Liu engages diverse communities through multidisciplinary collaborations, creative music and social dialogue . Her compositions have been commissioned by A Far Cry, Lorelei Ensemble, and New Gallery Concert Series . As a violinist Shaw Pong has performed with groups including Silk Road Ensemble, MIT’s Gamelan GalakTika, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Castle of Our Skins . She is a teaching artist for the Silk Road Project, Young Audiences, Celebrity Series, and New England Conservatory .

GUY MENDILOW ENSEMBLE (Ladino and world music) With musicians hailing from Israel, Palestine, Argentina and the USA, the Guy Mendilow Ensemble operates on the notion that incredible stories and emotionally sweeping experiences can spark resonance and motivation to care beyond our day-to-day . The Guy Mendilow Ensemble combines world-class musicianship with cinematic storytelling in shows that whisk audiences to distant times and picturesque places and, ultimately, inspire fascination with overlooked cultures and histories . Members of this award winning ensemble have toured and recorded with the likes of Bobby McFerrin, Yo Yo Ma, Snarky Puppy, the Assad Brothers and Simon Shaheen .

BRIAN & ROSI AMADOR (pan-Latin) Sol y Canto® (“Sun and Song”) is an exuberant Latin music project created by Rosi and Brian Amador . In ensembles ranging from a duo to a sextet, Sol y Canto’s bilingual, bicultural music features a wide variety of acoustic Afro-Latin songs and rhythms ranging from traditional to contemporary, featuring many of Brian's original compositions . Sol y Canto's mission is to create music and performances that move, delight, excite, and connect the audience to the richness of Latin American culture .

VOCI ANGELICA (global folk music) Straddling the genres of world folk and classical music, the trio creates an ambitious blend of cultures, reinvigorating traditional songs for contemporary audiences . Vocal harmonies elegantly intertwine with lush cello lines and percussion to create a musical fusion that transcends political and geographic borders . Live performances are a celebration of the group's cultural wayfaring, showcasing the differences and similarities of our shared humanity .

NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS PARTNERS - 2017-18

Adams Street Library Big Sister Association of Greater Boston Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club Boston Arts Academy Boston City Singers Boston City-Wide String Orchestra Boston Community Leadership Academy The Boston Home, Dorchester Boston Public Schools Performing Arts Department Boston Renaissance Charter School Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Bridge Boston Charter School Central Boston Elder Services, Roxbury Chittick Elementary School City Connects City Strings United Conservatory Lab Charter School Dimock Community Health Center Epiphany School, Dorchester Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, Mattapan Henderson Inclusion K-12 School Hernandez K-8 School Hibernian Hall Hurley K-8 School Hyde Park Library Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción Lena Park Community Center Madison Park Development Corporation Mattapan Branch Library Mattapan Cultural Arts Development Mattapan Teen Center Mattapan United Pine Street Inn Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, Roxbury Roslindale Community Center Roxbury Innovation Center Salvation Army Kroc Center St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Sumner Boys & Girls Club Sumner Elementary School Tufts Health Plan Timilty Middle School Urban Edge Yawkey Club of Roxbury Villa Victoria Center for the Arts Women’s Lunch Place Young Audiences of Massachusetts