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National Sawdust Announces New Season Line-Up

National Sawdust Announces New Season Line-Up
A workshop of Handel’s Ariodante at National Sawdust (Via Jill Steinberg/National Sawdust)

WILLIAMSBURG – The music and performance venue National Sawdust, located in Williamsburg, has announced the line-up for its fourth season, which will feature more than 25 new works.

The non-profit venue on Wythe Avenue, near the Williamsburg Music Hall, differs from other nearby performance spaces by retaining an expansive palette and an artist-driven ethos, prioritizing space for new work and exploration over raw ticket sales.

On the night of September 15, the new season will kick off with a concert “pioneering American composer” Terry Riley in performance with LCD Soundsystem’s synth master Gavin Rayna Russom.

The season will run from September 2018 through May 2019.

Other highlights from the upcoming season include punk ballerina Karole Armitage curating two new dance, a concert celebration of Joan Tower’s 80th birthday exclusively featuring works by female composers, and a fundraiser for opera legend Jessye Norman’s new project, Sissieretta Jones, which explores the life of the first African American to sing at Carnegie Hall.

Click here to see all of the performances planned for Season 4

Along with fundraisers and performances, National Sawdust invests nearly half a million dollars into their Residency Program, providing space, money and support for artists each year to develop their work.

The 2018 season will see J. Hoard, Thea Little, PUBLIQuartet, Julian Wachner, Innov Gnawa, L’Rain, and Gavin Rayna Russom as artists-in-residence.

National Sawdust also supports projects in residence, working with artists to actualize ambitious artistic undertakings each season. A number of projects will be supported this year, including Angélica Negrón’s chamber orchestra Chimera, in which drag performers will explore themes of identity and fantasy while portraying variations on the same character. A preview sample of the work can be seen below: