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New York City
This event was part of New York City

They Live in The Songs: Remembering Lost Ones in Music

Hosted by

WordToRI, Island Kids, Professor Tapan Parikh and his Remaking the City class at Cornell Tech, Open Doors, Coler Hospital Therapeutic Recreation Department

In a time when videos of Black children being executed by the police are going viral, how does popular music from the Black diaspora mourn those we lost and demand joyous celebration that we still here? How does contemporary music remix traditions of libation and carnival connecting us to our ancestors?

We will guide participants through basic technical aspects of digital music and beat production, lyric writing or song production with the goal of having a short piece to take home and/or present that evening during “Living on Roosevelt Island, What Matters In The End?” at Coler Hospital Canteen.

DJ Roger Smith is a Brooklyn native who started his DJ career at 16 years old, He honed his producing and music engineering skills in a single parent household within the Ebbets Field housing complex.

TreZure Empire is a multi-lingual vocalist, music producer and ethnomusicologist, focused on music of the African Diaspora in the Americas. Currently producing, writing and recording for her upcoming album THE SHIVERS, she has over 10 years experience writing curricula and facilitating workshops through her performance and early literacy project Diaspora P.L.A.Y.

Special Guests: Open Doors Reality Poets-a spoken word collective borne from the creativity and leadership potential of men living in a long-term care facility who have been harmed by street violence. We envision safe and just communities for all people.

“They Live In The Songs: Remembering Lost Ones in Music” is made possible with the support of
Island Kids, Cornell Tech Professor Tapan Parikh and his class Remaking the City.

Music & Sound