MOVEMENT LIVE
In Movement LIVE, Meklit takes audiences through intimate, personal stories from her childhood as a refugee and into the music that blooms from those experiences. We go with her on her trips back home to Ethiopia, from a coffee ceremony at a cousin's house to a chance encounter at an Addis Ababa sim card shop. We join her on her path across the twelve cities she has called home, and to the moment when she finally stopped running, all set to the soundtrack of her powerful original music. As host of Movement LIVE, Meklit deftly makes spaces for other immigrant musicians to share their own songs and stories.
Movement LIVE weaves tales of identity and belonging that shine complexity and empathy. What do global movements of people sound like? Movement LIVE is a 90 minute joyful meditation exploring the answer to that question.
Movement LIVE is co-commissioned by Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington, Lincoln Center, The Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, Stanford Live, Cultural Arts Center at Montgomery College (Takoma Park/Silver Spring, MD) and Arizona State University, Gammage.
MOVEMENT IMMIGRANT ORCHESTRA
13 Musicians from 11 Countries including India, Mexico, Ethiopia, Cuba, Italy, Taiwan, Spain, Iran, Mali, Haiti and Palestine
Join us for the world premier of the Movement Immigrant Orchestra, held at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival on Saturday 8/31. Co-founded by Ethiopian-American singer-composer Meklit Hadero, this vibrant ensemble features 13 wildly talented musicians from 11 different countries ready to take audiences on a one-of-a-kind musical journey across cultures and continents. The ensemble features some of the Bay Area’s most beloved bandleaders, bringing together musical traditions from India, Mexico, Ethiopia, Cuba, Italy, Taiwan, Spain, Iran, Mali, Palestine, and Haiti.
The program includes the powerful vocals of Meklit Hadero, the evocative sounds of Mexican singer/songwriter Diana Gameros, the dynamic rhythms of Italian percussionist Marco Peris Coppola, the masterful melodies of Malian Ngoni player Mamadou Sidibe, the intricate beats of Carnatic percussionist Rohan Krishnamurthy, the soulful strings of Barrio Manouche guitarist Javi Jimenez, the profound harmonies of Iranian-American bassist/composer Safa Shokrai, the virtuosismo of Cuban trombonist Obrayan Calderon, the sublime mastery of Carnatic saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan, the elegant electronic experimentalism of Taiwanese cellist Roziht Edwards, the genius taksim of Palestinian oudist Clarissa Bitar, the rooted vocals of Spanish singer-songwriter Kata Miletich, and the ethereal sounds of Haitian singer singer Lalin St. Juste. Each artist brings their unique background and expertise, contributing to the creation of a truly global and collaborative musical experience.
The Movement Immigrant Orchestra is part of the broader Movement project, a multi-platform storytelling initiative that centers the voices, stories and songs of immigrant, migrant and refugee musicians, claiming public space for these artists to sing and speak their stories with complexity and nuance. Since 2020, Movement’s radio stories have been featured in nationally syndicated public radio broadcast on PRX’s The World, regularly airing to 2.5 million listeners.
Movement’s second podcast season launched on July 16th, and its community building initiatives amongst immigrant musicians have been seeded in the Bay Area, Seattle, New York and Washington DC. Photos below by Fred Aube and Claudia Escobar.
