Carnegie Hall

In February and March 2022, young musicians and creators showcased their work in a two-part celebration. In AfroCosmicMelatopia, creators were prompted to imagine a future world of infinite possibilities for liberation, inclusion, and empowerment for all people. Derived from the words “afro,” “cosmic,” “melanin,” and “utopia,” it is a place where music, dance, poetry, and visual and digital arts bring forth a vision for a new world.

In a concert in Zankel Hall on February 27, 2022, sixteen young artists and creators from the WMI community showcased original music and art inspired by Afrofuturism. Anchoring the event was Michael Mwenso and the Shakes, who together with the young songwriters, brought to life new music, movements, and stories with their own unique flair. The concert was a genre-crossing affair that exemplified the openhearted and boundary-defying spirit of Afrofuturism.

On March 25, 2022 audiences were invited to Journey Into AfroCosmicMelatopia, an immersive Afrofuturist experience and party designed and envisioned by artists and creators from WMI. Attendees were transported into a future world, featuring live sets by DJ Reborn and DJ mOma, augmented reality, visual art, and dance experiences curated by Ytasha L. Womack. This cosmic event was designed in collaboration with creative studios Intelligent Mischief and Wakanda Dream Lab.

In Fall 2021, young writers ages of 14–19 were invited to join celebrated author Sheree Renée Thomas in a monthlong poetry workshop, experimenting with voice, vivid imagery, and form to craft their own original works. Afrofuturist speculative poetry centers Black culture, aesthetics, and ideas, creating works that speak from the margins and expand our world. Special guest poets Linda D. Addison, Len Lawson, Gary Jackson, and Akua Lezli Hope, joined Ms. Thomas and 10 young writers as contributors to a chapbook of poems created during the workshop as a lasting testament to this exploratory experience.

Carnegie Hall’s Spring Family Day was a daylong open house inviting children and their adults in the Hall’s Resnick Education Wing. In a fitting nod to the boundless imagination of Afrofuturism, families enjoyed an array of social experiences, arts activities, music making, and concerts. They designed their own comic-book heroes and super-powered instruments for harmony and justice, and participated in a group songwriting session. Families sang and danced to soulful funk music and built their own instruments from recycled materials, and more!

Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber (BSAC), a New York music mainstay, was founded by The Village Voice’s Greg Tate, a recently departed icon eminently felt in this boundary-demolishing music. BSAC brought long-form compositions, unstoppable grooves, and mighty improvisation together as one for a concert in Zankel Hall on April 3, 2022. This performance was the culmination of a one-of-a-kind workshop for six rising young musicians, who were featured alongside the ever-changing band.