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| Vision Festival 2025 June 2-7 Announcing the FULL SCHEDULE AND LINEUP OF PERFORMERS for VISION 2025, "heART to RESIST" - with the vibrant creative voices of the AFA community with Sound, Rhythm, Art, Movement, and Poetry to inspire hope. America has always identified itself with the idea of Freedom, yet it has always struggled to apply that to everyone, specifically Black, Brown and Asian peoples and all women. Jazz is America's original music form, born and developed in African American communities across the US. AFA and VISION celebrates the coming together of Freedom and Jazz in FreeJazz, with performances that bring healing and inspiration. In this time of real fear that the freedoms and security that we took for granted are being stolen, All Americans need to have the 'Heart to Resist'. Holding onto the legacy of freedom and its struggle, we the organizers and the artists aim to inspire and empower resistance. Through music, dance, poetry and art, we will bring "The Healing Force of the Universe" and the creative spirit of this incredible lineup of exceptional artists, to lend our strength and stand up to those who would destroy what was good in America. The federal government has rescinded our NEA grant. They think that Art might move people to resist. We plan to prove them right as we push back against this and every illegal act that seeks to disenfranchise We the People and We the Creatives. On June 2, 2025, Arts for Art is proud to open VISION 2025 with a celebration of the creative genius of Roscoe Mitchell for his Lifetime of Achievement that is rooted in an unquenchable thirst for boundary defying creative thought in both music and art. The festival will close June 7th, with William Parker's Healing Message from Time & Space featuring an all star band to send us home with the inspiration and healing knowledge that Power lies with the People and Music and Art is the Message. FULL SCHEDULE Monday June 2 Celebrating Roscoe Mitchell LifeTime of Achievement The Art of Roscoe Mitchell will be projected throughout the night 7:00 PM Opening Invocation 7:30 PM Roscoe Mitchell Quartet Roscoe Mitchell - reeds / Dave Burrell - piano / Tani Tabbal - drums / William Parker - bass 8:30 PM ROSCOE MITCHELL, METROPOLIS TRILOGY A Metropolis Ensemble Production Emi Ferguson - flutes Immanuel Wilkins Quartet : Thomas Morgan - bass /Kweku Sumbry - percussion .. Micah Thomas - piano / Immanuel Wilkins - saxophone Ruckus : Clay Zeller-Townson - baroque bassoon / Doug Balliett - viola da gamba, bass /Paul Holmes Morton - theorbo & banjo Mikael Darmanie - harpsichord & synthesizer Metropolis Trilogy by Roscoe Mitchell is a co-commission by Metropolis Ensemble 10:00 SPACE Ensemble : Roscoe Mitchell - percussion, winds / Thomas Buckner - baritone / Scott Robinson - winds / Robert Dick - flute Tuesday June 3 6:30 PM Miriam Parker - dance, video art / Warren Trae Crudup 7:00 PM gabby fluke-mogul's 'Thread' gabby fluke-mogul, Charles Burnham - violin / Ava Mendoza - guitar / Luke Stewart - bass / Tcheser Holmes - drums 8:00 PM Amirtha Kidambi Elder Ones: Amirtha Kidambi - voice / Alfredo Colon - tenor / Lester St Louis - cello / Matt Nelson - sax, electronics / Jason Nazary - drums 9:00 PM. Ellen Christi's 'Flux in Chaos' Ellen Christi - voice / Cooper-Moore - multi-instrument / William Parker - bass / TA Thompson - drums / Patricia Nicholson text, movement 10:00 PM Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble : 'Portraits of Sonic Freedom' Nicole Mitchell - flute, composition / Jammes Brandon Lewis - tenor / Caroline Davis - alto sax / Christopher Williams - trumpet / Maia vocals - harp / Angelica Sanchez - piano Luke Stewart - bass / Val Jeanty - elec, percussion / JoVia Armstrong - perc. Wednesday June 4 6:30 PM The School of Hard Knocks's Unfinished Symphony, Suite New York, In Four Movements: A Premiere — Never Commissioned Conceived, conducted, and composed by Yoshiko Chuma Dancers : Miriam Parker, Emily Pope, Deniz Erkan Sancak, Wendy Perron, Dennis O'Connor, Angelina Laguna, Timothy Buckley, Yang Sun, and Sarah Cecilia Bukowski Musicians : Jason Kao Hwang -violin/viola, Christopher McIntyre trombone, Frank London - trumpet, Shoko Nagai - accordion, Dane Terry - piano, Aliya Ultan - cello, Devin Brahja Waldman- sax, Marisa Tornello – voice Film: Jacob Burckhardt Film: Jacob Burckhardt" Unsafe for More Than 25 Men" 7:15 PM Mendoza/ McPhee/ Taylor 'Rayos' Ava Mendoza - guitar / Joe McPhee - tenor / Chad Taylor - drums 8:15 PM. Radical Reversal: Devin Brahja Waldman - synthesizer/piano / Randall Horton - poet / Amma Islam - vocals / Melanie Dyer - viola / Brendan Regan - guitar Warren Trae Crudup III - drums 9:00 PM Hamid Drake's 'Indigenous Mind' Hamid Drake - drums/ Daniel Carter - horns / Cooper-Moore - homemade instr / Alfredo Colon - tenor / Melanie Dyer - viola / William Parker - bass, ngoni 10:00 PM Pheeroan akLaff's 'Robeson Rise' Jay Rodriquez – sax / Sumi Tonooka – piano / Lisette Santiago - perc/ Jonathan Toscano – bass / DJ Jahi Sundance Lake / Pheeroan akLaff - drums Thursday Jun 5 6:30 PM Davalois Fearon Dance 'Up/Lift' Davalois Fearon - dance, Artistic Direction Mike McGinnis - clarinet, sax / Adriel Vincent-Brown - drums Peter Applebaum - piano / Patricia Smith – poet Jalisa Wallerson, Marýa Wethers - dance / Myssi Robinson - dance, video art 7:30 PM Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio Ivo Perelman - tenor / Matthew Shipp - piano William Parker - bass / Mat Maneri - viola 8:30 PM Oliver Lake poet & DJ Jahi Sundance Lake 9:00 PM Michael Wimberly 'SpiritWorld ' Michael Wimberly - drums / Oluyemi Thomas - bs clarinet / Joe McPhee - tenor / William Parker - bass / Lisa Sokolov - voice / Film by Robert O'haire 10:00 PM Mary Halvorson's 'Canis Major' Mary Halvorson- guitar / Dave Adewumi- trumpet Henry Fraser- bass / Tomas Fujiwara- drums Friday Jun 6 5:00 PM CONFERENCE on The Heart to Resist : Art & Activism Sula Spirit Janet Evans / Amirtha Kidambi / Marc Ribot /Elijah J. Thomas Devin Waldman | moderater William Parker / intro by Patricia Nicholson 7:00 PM The Fringe: Francisco Mela - drums / George Garzone - sax / John Lockwood – bass 8:00 PM Patricia Nicholson’s ‘Shamanic Principle’ Val Jeanty - percussion / Patricia Nicholson - dance, text / Melanie Dyer - viola / Miriam Parker - video art 9:00 PM DoYeon Kim Quartet DoYeon Kim - gayageum / Mat Maneri - vola / John Hebert- bass / Satoshi Takeishi - drums / Nico Cadena - video art 10:00 PM David Murray ‘Birdley Serenade’ David Murray - sax / Luke Stewart – bass / Marta Sanchez – piano / Russell Carter - drums Saturday Jun 7 6:00 PM Marilyn Crispell Solo Piano 7:00 PM 'How the Dust Falls': Gerry Hemingway - drums, percussion, voice / Earl Howard - synthesizer & saxophone / Surprise Guest - piano Beth Warshafsky - interactive video projection 8:00 PM Fay Victor Tree Trini Collective Fay Victor - voice, words / Lyndon Achee - steelpan / Jessie Cox - drums 9:00 PM Rob Brown Trio ‘Walk About ’ Rob Brown - alto sax / Joe Morris - bass / Juan Pablo Carletti - drums 10:00 PM William Parker’s ‘Healing Message from Time & Space’ William Parker - composition, bass, perc. / Hamid Drake- drums, voice / Selendis - vibes, voice / Aakash Mittal - alto sax, perc. voice / Sula Spirit - voice, perc. / Mixashawn Lee Rozie - tenor, perc. voice / Frank London - trumpet, perc. voice / Amir ElSaffar - trumpet, santor, perc. voice Dance: Patricia Nicholson, Davalois Fearon et al From start to finish this will be a celebration of Hope, Creativity and Community of Multicultural and Black Creative Artists and the beautiful audiences, staff, press and volunteers and donors who participate. On Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell, a creative genius of the Chicago creative music scene, is a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). He is the founder of the Creative Arts Collective, The Roscoe Mitchell Sextet & Quartet, The Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble, The Sound Ensemble and The New Chamber Ensemble among others. Mitchell has, in over 60 years of performing, composing and improvising, continued to push his own creative limits both in music and as a visual artist. He consistently includes younger musicians as he creates music in real time with people who inspire him and seek to expand and embrace all the sounds. Early on he was inspired by Albert Ayler, and then mentored by Muhal Richard Abrams. He has energetically devoted himself to pushing the creative boundaries in music and art. Mitchell is an internationally-renowned musician, composer, and innovator. He has served as a professor at the University of Wisconsin, at CalArts and the Darius Milhaud Chair of Composition at Mills College. His virtuosic resurrection of overlooked woodwind instruments spanning extreme registers, visionary solo performances, and assertion of a hybrid compositional/improvisational paradigm have placed him at the forefront of contemporary music. Mitchell said: “I did have one notion while I was at Mills—when the students would show me their portfolios, and I would see how much work they were getting done, you know, and it dawned on me there that perhaps I should be a student and then that way I could get some work done. In 2018 that happened. And I’ve been having that opportunity to be a student since then and have been totally enjoying it.” Mitchell is a tireless student of music, with a limitless hunger for discovery and growth. About the Vision Festival In 1996 Patricia Nicholson Parker put on the First Annual Vision Festival, presented at The Learning Alliance on Lafayette near Houston. The idea was to bring together luminaries from the different creative music scenes and, for the first time since the Sound Unity Festivals in the mid ‘80s, celebrate the important African American leaders of the music. Featuring artist Milford Graves, that first Vision Festival was unique in its multi-arts focus featuring poets such as Amiri Baraka, dancers such as Rod Rogers, and visual artists such as Jeff Schlanger, in collaboration with the music. Each year the Vision Festival also brought attention to issues of social justice by curating panel discussions, such as “Decolonizing the Music: Reclaiming the Power of Creative Music in Communities of Color” or “How Funding Affects Creative Choices.” In its totality the Vision Festival created and guaranteed a space for improvisation as a leading creative language, heralded as “one of New York’s most essential art events” (New York Times). In the current political and cultural climate, Arts for Art’s credo is felt more strongly than ever – using powerful music and art as expressions of commitment to life and justice. Past festival titles have included A Vision Against Violence, Avant Jazz For Peace, Studies in Freedom, The Revolution Continues, The Creative Option and Take a Stand. The Vision Festival continues to honor and amplify the careers of legendary artists that are too often under-appreciated, such as Milford Graves, Kidd Jordan, Sam Rivers, Amina Claudine Myers, Connie Crothers, and many others. About Arts for Art Founded in 1996, Arts for Art (AFA) is a New York City based tax exempt organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Black Multicultural Improvised Creative Arts -- an African American indigenous art form in which improvisation is principal. This art embodies music, dance, poetry and visual arts. It is recognized for its variety of highly developed and personalized improvisational languages. AFA works to preserve the legacy of FreeJazz, and to ensure a vital future through its re-imagination by new generations of artists. Spearheaded by the internationally renowned Vision Festival, AFA's programming brings together multiple generations of vibrant, diverse and highly skilled artists. To further our goals of diversity and accessibility, we foster education initiatives and produce events that build community amongst artists and audiences. Arts for Art Mission Arts for Art is dedicated to the exceptional creativity that originated in the African American multi-arts jazz culture that utilizes improvisation to express a larger, more positive dream of inclusion and freedom. write your comments about the article :: © 2025 Jazz News :: home page |