Hannah Frances (b. 1997) is a vocalist, guitarist, composer, and poet that NPR’s Ann Powers calls “a stunning vocalist and songwriter, making monumental and mythic freak folk,” and was awarded Pitchfork’s Best New Music for her triumphant new album Keeper of the Shepherd. Through cutting lyricism and astute fingerpicked polyrhythms, Frances’ perennial sound melds avant-folk, progressive rock, and jazz.

November 14, 2025

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Port City explores tango music throughout the genre’s history, and features bandoneon visionary Heyni Solera as soloist and composer. Palaver will perform danceable classics alongside contemporary tango-inspired compositions.

November 16, 2025

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Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. In response, artists are rising together - not in silence, but in music, movement, and creation - to remind us that art makes us free.

November 21, 2025

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On Saturday, November 22nd, National Sawdust hosts the second and final night of Fall of Freedom’s national launch with a double-screening of FREE JOAN LITTLE and STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE!, two films that uplift and empower by centering truth and perserverance. FREE JOAN LITTLE is the story of the landmark 1975 trial of a young Black woman who resisted sexual assault and became a symbol of justice, courage, and collective action. STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! is a portrait of journalist Amy Goodman, whose decades-long reporting amplifies voices routinely silenced by power and media consolidation. The evening will close with a special talkback with Amy Goodman, filmmakers Yoruba Richen, Carl Deal, and Tia Lessin, moderated by Nermeen Shaikh.

November 22, 2025

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Join us for a very special listening party, celebrating the release of Meredith Monk’s newest album, 'Cellular Songs,' on ECM Records. Performed by the women of the acclaimed Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble (Monk, Ellen Fisher, Katie Geissinger, Joanna Lynn-Jacobs and Allison Sniffin) and percussionist, John Hollenbeck, 'Cellular Songs' features some of Monk’s most adventurous and daring writing for the voice, paired with violin, piano, body percussion and keyboard.

December 4, 2025

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BlackBox Ensemble performs the U.S. premiere of PIPA BOY: Three Scenes from the Post-Diaspora by Baldwin Giang, a multimedia work for ensemble and pipa player exploring global identity and the conditions of belonging and non-belonging. The video part features collaborations with three international filmmakers. The program also includes work by Anthony Cheung, Misato Mochizuki, and Giang's song cycle butterfly, posthumously.

December 5, 2025

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After years of anticipation, Mona Miari takes the stage for a spellbinding evening celebrating her comeback with her debut album and the premiere of her newest musical project. Rooted in the sounds of Arabic heritage and carried by a voice that transcends borders, Mona’s music honors the home we carry within us — the questions, the dreams, and the life that shape who we are. This concert unfolds as a journey through memory and imagination, where every note becomes both a remembrance and a revelation. Joined by exceptional artists and dear friends, each bringing their own light to an evening of profound connection and effortless artistry. Together, they create a space where belonging feels both intimate and boundless — where tradition meets innovation, and music becomes a shared breath. An experience years in the making, this performance marks a defining chapter in Mona’s creative evolution — one that promises to linger long after the final note.

December 6, 2025

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On December 7, 1985—exactly 40 years ago—the BRC burst into culture with our first-ever party (“Drop The Bomb” at Linda Goode Bryant’s JAM Gallery). Now, on this monumental anniversary, we’re pulling out even more stops… To celebrate our decades-strong community, we’re inviting some of our favorite musicians, artists, and deep-cut DJs to take to the stage and deliver the genre-expansive performances we’ve been championing since our founding. Doubling as a record release party for the 5th volume of our “Rock ‘n’ Roll Reparations” compilation series, audience members will not only be the first to hear the new record, they’ll be able to see some of the most dynamic bands play those songs live.

December 7, 2025

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Sensory Overload is a one-night showcase where percussion’s future takes center stage. Grammy-nominated innovator Kassa Overall, audiovisual architect Brett Bolton, and New Orleans-rooted trailblazer Brian Richburg Jr. each bend rhythm, electronics, and gesture into living compositions—collisions of jazz, hip-hop, electronica and generative visuals where every strike reshapes the soundworld in real time. This edition debuts groundbreaking new products for the EVANS Hybrid Sensory Percussion system, pushing creative boundaries and fueling artistry. Part performance lab, part jazz club, part dance floor, Sensory Overload is virtuosity, spontaneity, and technology in equal measure.

December 9, 2025

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“No harpist thus far has been more capable of combining all of the modern harp traditions — from Salzedo, through Dorothy Ashby, through Alice Coltrane — with such strength, grace and commitment.” - The New York Times

December 13, 2025

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On December 14, Rebecca Foon takes the stage at National Sawdust for a performance that bridges the worlds of contemporary chamber music and ambient sounds. Known for her work with Saltland, Esmerine, and Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Foon’s music blends cello, voice, and minimalist electronics and beats into evocative soundscapes that radiate both intimacy and strength.

December 14, 2025

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The UK-born and New York-based singer, songwriter, producer, doula, and mother Domino Kirke brings MAMA WAS A ROLLING STONE to National Sawdust. Featuring Domino Kirke and fellow mama musicians—Rachael Price (of Lake Street Dive), Odetta Hartman, Sima Cunningham, Eva Tolkin, and Joan As Police Woman—this evening will fundraise for Carriage House Birth. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to a scholarship fund to support training and birth education for doulas and families.

December 17, 2025

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Join us at National Sawdust on December 18 from 6:30–8:30 PM for an evening of music, conversation, and great company. Enjoy a live DJ set by Twelve45 and a special tasting experience from our friends at Kato Sake Works, featuring their hand-crafted sake selections.

December 18, 2025

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Beth Morrison Projects presents BMP: SONGBOOK, a live performance and multi-faceted celebration marking two decades of trailblazing innovation in American opera. Over two unforgettable evenings, BMP: SONGBOOK brings together extraordinary artists who helped shape BMP’s legacy, performing highlights from some of our most iconic productions.

January 7, 2026

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Beth Morrison Projects presents BMP: SONGBOOK, a two-night live performance event celebrating twenty years of groundbreaking innovation in American opera. This milestone production brings together the extraordinary artists who have defined BMP’s legacy, performing unforgettable selections from some of the company’s most iconic works.

January 8, 2026

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For the fourth year in a row, on January 10, Winter Jazzfest’s signature Marathon heads to Brooklyn for its second night; a night of expansive sounds spread across Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn Bowl, Superior Ingredients, Loove Labs Annex, Baby’s All Right, National Sawdust, and Union Pool. Like our Manhattan Marathon, our Brooklyn Marathon highlights artists who blur genre lines while staying rooted in jazz’s spirit of invention.

January 10, 2026

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What is the sound of our personal histories? What happens when our family stories become melody and rhythm, and when that music fills the air in a room of listeners? Join Kaoru Watanabe and a dynamic ensemble of artists at National Sawdust for Bloodlines Interwoven—an evocative evening of original music and storytelling that honors the beauty of cultural inheritance and collective memory.

January 29, 2026

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“Sometimes you gotta write the songs you need to hear,” musician, actor and author Lola Kirke says of the title track of her new album Trailblazer. “The culture a lot of us are living in is designed to make you feel like you’re failing. That you’re headed in the wrong direction if you’re not consuming and conforming. It’s easy for me to forget that. So I wrote a song to remind me.”Such is the affirmation that begins Kirke’s third full length LP—a singular blend of classic country tropes and ethereal sonic landscapes: “when you feel like a failure, baby you’re a trailblazer.” Released on the heels of her debut book, a memoir-in-essays entitled Wild West Village (Simon and Schuster 2025) chronicling her dysfunctional upbringing in London and New York City, the highs and lows of her career as an actress in Hollywood and her unusual path to Nashville and country music, it’s safe to say: Kirke’s trailblazing ability isn’t so murky. In fact, it’s dazzlingly clear.

February 7, 2026

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KP + Mato is the collaborative project of Mato Wayuhi (Oglala Lakota) and Katherine Paul (Swinomish / Iñupiaq), known as Black Belt Eagle Scout. Together, the two artists merge their worlds—Mato’s boundary-bending hip-hop, soul, and experimental production with KP’s soaring guitar textures and raw, melodic indie rock. The result is a lush, emotionally charged sound that lives somewhere between dream pop, electric storytelling, and ancestral pulse.

February 10, 2026

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What is the sound of our personal histories? What happens when our family stories become melody and rhythm, and when that music fills the air in a room of listeners? Join Kaoru Watanabe and a dynamic ensemble of artists at National Sawdust for Bloodlines Interwoven—an evocative evening of original music and storytelling that honors the beauty of cultural inheritance and collective memory.

February 25, 2026

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“The hyphen-rich vocalist-percussionist-speaker-producer-activist’s vibe isn’t so much “singer-songwriter” as “icon of empowerment.” Her frenetic odes to feminism, fluidity and freedom — carried off with the assistance of an entirely female or nonbinary band — mash together fragments of electro-pop, trap, Afrobeat and R&B, carried off with endless swagger.” – NPR

March 20, 2026

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Pequena Vertigem de Amor — the third full-length in Sergio Sayeg’s expanding catalogue as Sessa — is not just an evolution in the São Paulo artist’s sound; it is a transformation. Like a camera lens slowly zooming out, Sessa’s records reveal a progression from the private, carnal and earth-bound erotic desires probed on 2019’s Grandeza, to an exploration of the limits and possibilities in relationships between people in love on 2022’s Estrela Acesa.

May 9, 2026

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