The People’s Music Network Hybrid Fall Convergence, taking place October 21-22, 2022 (Friday and Saturday) at The People’s Forum in New York City, and around the world via Zoom, will create a unique encounter between artists and activists. Workshop offerings will be divided in two tracks:
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The Movement Track relates our music to specific struggles confronting systemic injustice.
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The Traditions And Skills Track explores where People’s Music comes from and how artists make it today.
We’re seeking collaborators to help hold a space for members of our network to be heard and to inspire one another. If you’re interested in helping us to organize, please write to <convergence@peoplesmusic.org>. Your message will be immediately forwarded to the Workshop Committee (Erland Zygmuntowicz, Ben Bath, and Ben Grosscup).
Registration for the Convergence will be open soon. Stay tuned and save the date!
GET INVOLVED WITH THE MOVEMENT TRACK!
The Movement Track of the PMN Fall Convergence will relate the music of PMN-affiliated artists to the urgency of our current political moment. We identified six major peace and justice struggles to highlight:
- Demanding justice and speaking truth in the face of the climate crisis.
- Confronting racism and police violence.
- Defending abortion rights.
- Abolishing nuclear weapons, resisting U.S. military aggression, & ending militarism.
- Organizing workers on the job.
- Defending people’s democracy.
Movement Track workshops will foster artistic and political collaboration among participants, create a space of political common ground through music, and lift up the craft of song as a social movement organizing tool. Our goals are: 1) advance a strategic dialog about the use of music in movement spaces; 2) promote future collaborations between artists and activists outside the convergence; and 3) strengthen community ties and mutual awareness among attending artists.
We have the capacity to create hybrid workshops involving people physically present at the People’s Forum AND participants attending via Zoom.
When reaching out to us, please speak to the following questions:
- Do you have music relevant to one of the six topics above? Which?
- Do you wish to help facilitate a workshop coalescing music on one or more topics?
- Can you tell us about facilitation skills and/or relevant contacts you can draw upon in shaping sessions around each topic area?
- Are you an activist currently engaged in organizing around any of these struggles?
GET INVOLVED IN THE TRADITIONS AND SKILLS TRACK!
People’s Music is defined not only by its relation to specific political struggles, but also by its rootedness in the cultural traditions from which today’s songs emerge as well as the skills to make songs and have them heard. We’re seeking Traditions and Skills workshops for both the in person program at The People’s Forum in NYC and our online-only program. Here’s some common topic areas we’re interested to see proposals for:
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Creative Process: Inspiration to develop new creative work and instruction on vocal, instrumental, and/or performance technique.
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Group Singing: Singing together in traditional performance settings and street protests.
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Music in the Movement: Knowledge, experiences, and strategies to make music more vibrant in today’s social justice struggles and in society at large.
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Music Promotion: The business end of being an independent working musician, with a focus on promoting music with a peace and social justice message.
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Musical Traditions of Struggle: Understanding the cultural and political history of specific traditions of music that support people struggling for freedom.
Please reach out to us using the email above if you're interested in helping us to organize a workshop session in one of these areas!
JOIN US!
We are excited to reconvene our network in person at The People’s Forum (320 West 37th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues) New York, NY) while also including people who can’t be present physically. Music has an essential role to play in this critical time in world history. Join us!
