Make Music New York – Immigrant Dream

Based in Jackson Heights, Queens, Percussia plays music that’s as eclectic as the neighborhood it calls home, performing a mash-up of classical, modern, popular and world music style to local communities in informal settings. In this very special collabataion with Make Music New York, the ensemble — Ingrid Gordon & Frank Cassara, percussion; Susan Jolles, harp; Margaret Lancaster, flute; Lev ‘Ljova’ Zhurbin, viola; and Victoria DeVaney, spoken word — has curated and commissioned a very special lineup of site-specific works for Diversity Plaza that pay homage to the community’s immigrant population and the adjacent #7 subway line:

• “International Express,” by composer Quentin Chiappetta, is a multiphase project that pays homage to the #7 train that runs through Queens, with each movement in the work representing a stop on the line. This concert features the world premiere “Junction Blvd.” in tribute to the extension of the already existing 74th St. and 90th St. stops.
• “Immigrant Dream,” by Mexican-American composer Carlo Nicolau, pays homage to the sounds of the harp and marimba music of Chiapas and Veracruz. The piece tells the story of the journey endured by Mexican and Central American immigrants who leave their torn-apart home countries to live in NYC and achieve a dream — an immigrant dream.
• “From New York with ❤ ,” by Wang Jie, also pays homage to the MTA, by featuring the characteristic startup sounds made by the R-142A subway car, which coincidentally comprise the melodic theme from the song “Maria” in West Side Story.
• Actor-writer Victoria DeVaney will round out the program with her spoken word monologue about the MTA, “View from the Cheap Seats.”

All of this takes place outdoors at Jackson Heights’ newly renovated community hub, Diversity Plaza, which is within earshot of the #7 train. Greeting commuters on their way home from work, this concert is the perfect way to ring in the first day of summer.

Presented with special thanks to Ingrid Gordon of Percussia and in partnership with Friends of Diversity Plaza, a coalition of neighborhood organizers and activists formed with the mission of protecting and promoting Diversity Plaza in its infancy, and to help make it an accessible and welcoming space for the entire community, where “One city block holds the world.”

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. Additional funding is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, by the Music Performance Trust Fund, and by the generous contributions of individual donors.