National Sawdust Announces the Live@NationalSawdust Digital Discovery Festival

In response to this unprecendented time, National Sawdust will launch the free Digital Discovery Festival, providing a platform for artists to work creatively and be supported financially for their efforts in the virtual world. The Festival will launch with two new live streamed series: Discoveries, with artists in performance, introduced by Helga Davis, and Masterclasses with established artists hosted by Paola Prestini.

The Festival will respond to the need of artists during this time, paying $1000 per person for each 30-minute performance, and gifting relevant audio-visual equipment and technical training on live streaming to each participant.

National Sawdust will commission 20 emerging composers to write short compositions for $3,000 each, to be premiered in concert this Fall.

Live@NationalSawdust will continue their weekly release of past performance videos and professional development sessions from their archive, all free to the general public.

All information and events can be found at:
live.nationalsawdust.org

For Immediate Release —New York, NY — National Sawdust announces the Live@NationalSawdust Digital Discovery Festival, with the launch of two new series of digital performance events, as well as composer commissions in partnership with New Music USA. All information and events can be found at the platform website: www.live.nationalsawdust.org

With special funding received for this initiative, the Festival aims to respond to the need of artists during this time, helping at least 100 artists affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Each performer will be paid $1,000 for a 30-minute performance, and 20 composers will receive a $3,000 commission for a short composition for various new music ensembles, including the National Sawdust Ensemble, to be performed in the Fall. Additionally, National Sawdust will provide performers with guidance and the technological knowledge and equipment to facilitate not just their Live@NationalSawdust performances, but their own future projects, solidifying a potential new revenue stream during this uncertain time for the performing arts industry.

The Festival will launch two new live streamed performance series, beginning in April 2020 and available for free on the National Sawdust social media platforms, as well as the Festival website. Masterclasses, moderated by Paola Prestini will present established artists performing and discussing their experience of this difficult period and a vision for what might lie ahead. Discoveries will showcase artists in performance, with introductory questions from vocalist, Helga Davis. National Sawdust will also continue to release archival performances and professional development sessions from the performance space in Williamsburg.

Artists featured in the Discoveries and Masterclass series are curated from National Sawdust’s community of artists that they have championed throughout their five years since opening, as well as artists whose upcoming performances have been sadly postponed due to COVID-19. There will also be new discoveries of artists that are in need, whom they hope to welcome into the venue next Season. The existing community of artists includes those who have participated in the venue’s Artist-in-Residence program and mentorship initiatives, which serve the non-profit’s mission of music discovery that is open, inclusive and based in active mentorship. Initial participants will include Samora Pinderhughes, Alicia Hall Moran featuring Jason Moran, Brooklyn Rider, Kinan Azmeh, Daniel Bernard Roumain and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Emel Mathlouthi, Conrad Tao, Lucy Dhegrae, and more.  The launch of this initiative in its first week will raise funds for New Music USA and the New Music Solidarity Fund.

On May 15, an initial competition will be launched with 20 commissions for emerging composers. A panel of composers will help select the artists, who will compose for members of the NS Ensemble and other ensembles, and will receive mentorship from the renowned musicians. Their works will be premiered in the Fall at National Sawdust.

Composer, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of National Sawdust Paola Prestini spoke about the new initiative, and why National Sawdust is doubling down on its community: “At National Sawdust, we’re committed more than ever to supporting and expanding our community of artists through these difficult and uncertain times, and we realize that in order to find some way forward in this situation, we need to pay artists as much as we can and as close to what they are worth as we are able to. By offering these digital performances for free, we are excited to build new audiences of music devotees online while also continuing to provide live music experiences for our committed audience while the physical venue is closed. We are fortunate to have received designated funding for this work which will assist artists in bridging this period as we discover the new normal together.”