In its first live and in-person performance since before the pandemic, the New Gallery Concert Series (NewGal) presents an immersive tour of art and music, exploring themes of adoption and adaptation on April 30.
Adopt and Adapt will welcome audiences to take an active journey roaming visual and musical installations at the Longy School of Music. Performances and art installations found throughout the rooms of the historic Zabriskie House are designed to mirror the experience of being adopted-into a family, into a country, into a person's true self-and to evoke resilience, belonging, and empathy.
The program centers on the work of three local creators -- Jamaica Plain-based visual artist Sharon Berke and composers Maria Finkelmeier and Jonathan Bailey Holland --who are creating through the lens of their own adoption experiences. A diverse group of artists-including composers Fred Onovwerosuoke and Sarah Hennies, pianist Sarah Bob, cuatro player Fabiola Méndez and her trio, The Fisher/Lau Project, and percussionists Steph Davis and Aaron Trant -- will broaden the concert's theme by exploring the complexities of discovering and adapting to one's true identity.
Jamaica Plain-based pianist and NewGal founder Sarah Bob, says that the performance first took root during her visit to visual artist Sharon Berke’s studio in JP. As she moved around the space Bob was struck by the assortment of colors and shapes and the strength and fragility inherent in her work. She was also moved by the words that Berke used to describe her art: home, duality, disconnection, reconnection and belonging -- which Sharon also uses to describe her adoption. The JP encounter was the seed that the Adopt and Adapt program germinated from.
The event is on Saturday, April 30 at 8 pm.