Carnegie Hall

Voices of Hope Festival

The life-affirming power of music and the arts during times of crisis comes under the spotlight in Carnegie Hall’s Voices of Hope. This online festival examines the resilience of artists and explores the works they felt compelled to create despite—and often because of—appalling circumstances and human tragedy.

With streamed performances that range from orchestral and chamber works to folk and jazz, Voices of Hope features music that inspires change and lifts the human spirit. The Hall’s Weill Music Institute also engages its educational program participants, inviting songwriters of all ages from across New York City and beyond to create music exploring this theme.

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Leading cultural and academic organizations extend the scope of the festival through online programming and events, exhibitions, performances, and film screenings, considering humankind’s capacity for hope, courage, and resilience in the face of the unimaginable.

Solidad

Sat, Apr 17, 2021 at 6:00 PM EDT
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Soledad

Playwright: Carolyn Dunn

Synopsis: A socially awkward high school senior high school senior,  Soledad “Sunny” Sixkiller, discovers her father was a prize winning pow-wow singer whose grief over the disappearance of his  wife (his daughter’s mother) has turned him inward. Sunny  finds, by accident, her father’s old pow wow tapes and vows to  learn his songs in order to bring him back to life.

Actors/Creative Team: 

Director - Ryan Opalanietet Pierce

Soledad “Sunny” Sixkiller - Jolie Cloutier

Thomas Sixkiller - Matt Langer

Dora Ramirez Sixkiller - Sarah Denison

Alex Rivera - Matt C. Cross

Stage Manager - Amanda Luke

Sound Designer - Liam Bellman-Sharpe

Costume Designer - Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes

Videographer - Brandon Neubauer with assistant 

Video Editor - Erin Sullivan

Produced by Tanis Parenteau and Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes in collaboration with First Nations Theater Guild and The Eagle Project

Associate Producer: Emily Preis
Short/full play/Reading: Full length play performance -- currently being edited

Dates and times: Saturday, April 17th at 6 pm

An Evening of Short Plays

Thu, Apr 22, 2021 8:00 PM - Sun, Apr 25, 2021 8:00 PM EDT
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This is reading of three short plays by playwrights Jen Oliveras, Ty Defoe, and Montana Adams. This is a short play virtual reading series. The performances have been pre-recorded. A link to the performance will be released on Thursday, April 22 at 8 pm. The link will stay active for 4 days.

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Birthday Brunch written by playwright Jen Oliveras. | BUY TICKETS

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Synopsis: When the events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic flips Tiffany’s life into a wheel of housing instability and confusion, a Saturday morning ceremony with the women of her tribe turns out to be anything but what she expected.

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Director - Kenny Ray Ramos

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Actors:

• Gloria Miguel

• Carolyn Dunn

• Maddie Easley

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​Miss Longhouse written by playwright Ty Defoe. | BUY TICKETS

Synopsis: Three friends compete against each other for the title of the Miss Longhouse Pageant. Everyone involved is stretched to the limit and big life lessons are learned.

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Director - Tara Moses

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Actors:

• Isabel DeRoy-Olson

• Caroline Clark

• Gia Fisher

• Carolyn Dunn

• Allison Hicks

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Husk written by playwright Montana Adams. | BUY TICKETS

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Synopsis: A poetic piece about sisterhood, motherhood, and grandmotherhood written during the pandemic in reflection of the playwright’s own relationships with the women in her life. Written as a healing piece in response to the traumatized Indigenous Woman trope that is seen far too often in the media; a retelling of the haudenosaunee corn husk doll story told alongside a woman who struggles with her own self-image in comparison to today's european-centric ideal of beauty.

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Director - Vickie Ramirez

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Actors:

• Danielle Soames

• Jade Jackson

Ady

Sat, Apr 24, 2021 at 6:00 PM EDT
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Ady
Playwright: Rhiana Yazzie
Synopsis: A young Navajo woman, Adrienne, finds a 1937 photograph of a Black Caribbean dancer, Ady, that is her mirror image. This opens the door to a moment before WWII when the surrealist movement was blooming in France. Characters like Pablo Picasso and his lover, Dora Marr, surrealist photographers Man Ray and Lee Miller guide Adrienne through her mother’s suicide back home on the reservation. As it tells the story of a surrealist muse, the play shows how easy it is to be lost to history, especially if you were a little brown woman.
Actors/Creative Team:
Director - Betsy Theobald Richards
Adrienne - Kaili Y. Turner
Ady - Sade Morris
Stage Manager - Amanda Luke
Sound Designer - Liam Bellman-Sharpe
Costume Designer - Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes
Videographer - Brandon Neubauer with assistant
Video Editor - Erin Sullivan
Produced by Tanis Parenteau and Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes in collaboration with First Nations Theater Guild and The Eagle Project
Associate Producer: Emily Preis
Short/full play/Reading: Full length play performance -- currently being edited
Dates and times: Saturday, April 24 6pm

Please Do Not Touch the Indians

Thu, Apr 29, 2021 at 6:00 PM EDT
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Please Do Not Touch the Indians
Playwright: Joseph A. Dandurand
Synopsis: This is a play about the history of what happened to all Indians. Two wooden Indians sit on a bench in front of a gift shop and have their picture taken by a tourist. Characters appear as images of a child lost and they share their tragic journey of historical wrongs. In the end we see that what we have seen is what the 2 Indians see every day as they come there to remember their lost child. It is a simple tale of lost love for a child, of a lost people, joined by their memories.
Actors/Creative Team:
Director - Ryan Opalanietet Pierce
Wooden Indian Man - Joe Cross
Wooden Indian Woman - Donna Couteau
Mister Wolf - George Stonefish
Sister Coyote - Nancy McDoniel
Brother Raven - Wolfen de Castro
Tourist - Jessica Ranville
Musician - Abby Ybarra
Stage Directions - Sarah Denison
Produced by Tanis Parenteau and Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes in collaboration with First Nations Theater Guild and The Eagle Project
Associate Producer: Emily Preis
Short/full play/Reading: Full length play virtual reading