One of Flushing Town Hall’s most in-demand series, Common Ground: Mini-Global Mashups, will continue through the summer of 2022 with a brand new lineup of musicians. The monthly concert series pairs two performers from different musical disciplines and cultural backgrounds together on stage for a collaboration that yields a wholly unique musical experience.
Acclaimed trumpeter and composer Frank London of The Klezmatics, who has performed in Flushing Town Hall’s original, large-scale Global Mashups series, returns to curate the summer series.
“Audiences can look forward to enjoying phenomenal, world-class performers whose music is tied to their traditions but simultaneously modernized and fused with other musical elements that expand their borders,” says Frank London.
“We are thrilled to continue this beloved, world music series,” says Flushing Town Hall’s Executive & Artistic Director Ellen Kodadek. “This is what Flushing Town Hall does best—we bring diverse communities together on common ground, through the arts.”
Next up in the 2022 Common Ground: Mini-Global Mashups series is Ireland Meets Morocco on Sunday, May 15 at 1 PM ET, featuring Cillian Vallely and Samir Langus, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Matt Mancuso.
Cillian Vallely is the uilleann pipes and low whistle player with the renowned Irish band Lunasa, described as “the hottest Celtic band on the planet” by Irish Voice. In recent years, he has played and recorded with Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Merchant, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Tim O’Brien, and Riverdance, in addition to recording as a guest on over 50 albums. With Lunasa, he has performed at The Hollywood Bowl, Glastonbury Festival, Womad Aledaide, and Edmonton Folk Festival in addition to multiple tours of Asia, Australia, the U.S., and Europe.
Samir Langus is a Grammy-nominated Gnawa master, born and raised in the city of Agadir, Morocco. Langus learned Gnawa, the southern Moroccan trance music with roots in pre-Islamic animist traditions, from the old masters of Morocco. Langus uses traditional instrumentation such as the lute-like Sintir and the large castanet-type Krakebs to accompany its ancient chants, but his approach is resolutely innovative. It is a hypnotic take on this ecstatic, trance-inducing tradition that has enthralled and inspired generations of musicians worldwide.
The series then continues throughout the summer, with a new Mini-Global Mashup each month: The Sunday, June 12 concert, Tibet Meets Colombia, will feature Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo and Colombian artist Martín Vejarano, who also serves as a teaching artist at Flushing Town Hall, accompanied by guitarist Jorge Iván "Tito" Duarte. The Sunday, July 24 concert, Gospel Meets Côte d’Ivoire, will feature Jewish Gospel singer Joshua Nelson and Ivory Coast dancer, drummer, and Flushing Town Hall teaching artist Vado Diomande. The Sunday, August 21 concert, Ukraine Meets Cuba, will feature Ukrainian bandura (Ukrainian lute/harp) master Julian Kytasty and Cuban artists Danae Blanco and Juan Carlos Formal.
Each concert will be followed by a Q+A conversation between the artists and the audience hosted by Frank London or other special guest moderators.
For the series’ full schedule and to purchase tickets, visit: https://www.flushingtownhall.org/mini-global-mashups
