Event Program
All Write!
ALL WRITE!
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2023 | 11AM
Brooklyn Public Library
Flatbush Learning Center
City University of New York
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Brooklyn College Adult Literacy Program
Lehman Adult Learning Center
York College Learning Center
Commonpoint Queens—The HUB
The Family Health Centers at NYU Langone
Family Support Center
Project Reach Youth
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
New York City Department Of Education
OACE Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Queens Adult Learning Center
Queens Public Library
Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Flushing Adult Learning Center
Peninsula Adult Learning Center
Shorefront YM-YWHA
SUNY Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center
THE READINGS
Donut Lover by Vladimir Berger
NYC DOE OACE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
Hope by Seta Sylla
NYC DOE OACE Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
A Window of Opportunity by Vyacheslav Latyshev
Shorefront YM-YWHA
Performed by Madeline Cohen, Philip Estrera, Najah Imani Muhammad, and Dawn Akemi Saito
Specialties by Akoua Atchrimi
Commonpoint Queens—The HUB
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
Where I’m From by Eugenia Joaquim
CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Sri Lanka by Shyama Disilva
Commonpoint Queens—The HUB
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
What the Word "Home" Means to Me by Lesya Bandrivska
Shorefront YM-YWHA
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
I Wish I’d Never Had Those Calls by Anastasia Proskurina
CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
A Letter from the Future by Maksim Nikolaev
Shorefront YM-YWHA
Performed by Philip Estrera
Nephew's Birthday Wishes by Gleb Mikhin
Queens Public Library Peninsula Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
You and Me by Tamara Sakamoto
NYC DOE OACE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
My Scar by Micaiah King
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone—Project Reach Youth
Performed by Philip Estrera
My Own Story by Ru Yin Dai and Colin Dai
Queens Public Library Flushing Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
A Girl Named Lakisha by Lakisha Bowens
CUNY Lehman College Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
White Shoes by Utkarsha Pagar
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
Women Party in the Park by Aissa Moumouni, Seta Sylla, and Francoise Duval
NYC DOE OACE Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
Super Blood Moon by Jerome Beasley
SUNY Educational Opportunity Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
The Spring by Sunhee Kim
NYC DOE OACE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
When all the other 3 seasons fail, take a vacation in this one by Gilberto Aguilera
Queens Public Library Peninsula Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
Coconut Water by Wenceslao Plazas Conde
CUNY Brooklyn College Adult Literacy Program
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
My Passion by Bassirou Fall
NYC DOE OACE Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
A LONG LONG Ride by Carlos Vellojin
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Philip Estrera
Break up by Nino Halpern
CUNY Brooklyn College Adult Literacy Program
Performed by Philip Estrera
10 Cents to Dream by Alexandra Meza
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
The Debt by Antonio Melenciano
CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Philip Estrera
The Bag by Maria Paniagua
CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
My Camera by Hilda Flores
NYC DOE OACE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
My Father by Xue Lan Hu
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
My Mother's Dress by Syeda Husan
CUNY Lehman College Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
The King's Throne by Nooreldeen Mettawa
Commonpoint Queens—The HUB
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Precious Gift by Yuci Li
Family Health Center at NYU Langone—Family Support Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
The Car by Maria Martinez Mendoza
CUNY Lehman College Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Remind Me by Maria Avila
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
Distracted by Almohamed Al-Madkharakhi
NYC DOE OACE Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
Cleaning the House by Leticia Soberanes
NYC DOE OACE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Sharpening the Mind: A Collection of Haiku Poems by Jesus German
NYC DOE OACE Queens Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera, Najah Imani Muhammad, and Dawn Akemi Saito
Our Subway by Julie Wang
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone—Project Reach Youth
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
The Subway is a Special Window by Yonghong Wu
Queens Public Library Elmhurst Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
How Lucky and Brave I Am by Anna Bliska
CUNY Brooklyn College Adult Literacy Program
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
I Couldn't Get Up: on Civil Rights Pioneer Claudette Colvin by Shelleann Brown
CUNY York College Adult Learning Center
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
The Strength of This Woman by Stacie Sinclair
Family Health Centers at NYU Langone—Project Reach Youth
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
School by Mahamadou Sillah
NYC DOE OACE Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Performed by Philip Estrera
Simple by Claudia Lema
CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
Performed by Najah Imani Muhammad
The Performers (in alphabetical order)
Philip Estrera
Philip Estrera is an NYC-based actor whose theater credits include Discus with Hunger & Thirst Theatre, Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse, and Lysley Tenorio’s Monstress at the American Conservatory Theater. He appeared in the Sesame Street Thanksgiving special as Anton the bus driver, which introduced the first Asian American puppet to the series. He can be seen in episodes of Blue Bloods and New Amsterdam. He recently appeared in and helped develop the original new musical Monstress by Emily Kitchens, which featured all original bluegrass music and showcased his acting and fiddling. Estrera is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program.
Philip Estrera is an NYC-based actor whose theater credits include Discus with Hunger & Thirst Theatre, Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse, and Lysley Tenorio’s Monstress at the American Conservatory Theater. He appeared in the Sesame Street Thanksgiving special as Anton the bus driver, which introduced the first Asian American puppet to the series. He can be seen in episodes of Blue Bloods and New Amsterdam. He recently appeared in and helped develop the original new musical Monstress by Emily Kitchens, which featured all original bluegrass music and showcased his acting and fiddling. Estrera is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program.
Najah Imani Muhammad
Najah Imani Muhammad is a multi-hyphenate artist and educator, with main disciplines in acting, hosting, and directing. With a degree in Theatre Education and Acting from Emerson College, Najah works as a freelance teaching artist, director, performer, and writer. Regardless of the project, Najah’s goal is to use the arts as a communicative tool to bring people together and start a conversation. She currently works for various groups such as Disney on Broadway and Beacon Performing Arts Center, taking great pride in helping to co-lead her mother’s nonprofit organization: Leaders by Choice. Najah also works to amplify unheard voices and give them a throne, as the co-host of a podcast called “UnderRepresented Representatives,” available on all listening platforms. Follow along her journey @najahknows www.najahknows.com
Najah Imani Muhammad is a multi-hyphenate artist and educator, with main disciplines in acting, hosting, and directing. With a degree in Theatre Education and Acting from Emerson College, Najah works as a freelance teaching artist, director, performer, and writer. Regardless of the project, Najah’s goal is to use the arts as a communicative tool to bring people together and start a conversation. She currently works for various groups such as Disney on Broadway and Beacon Performing Arts Center, taking great pride in helping to co-lead her mother’s nonprofit organization: Leaders by Choice. Najah also works to amplify unheard voices and give them a throne, as the co-host of a podcast called “UnderRepresented Representatives,” available on all listening platforms. Follow along her journey @najahknows www.najahknows.com
Dawn Akemi Saito
Dawn Akemi Saito is an actor, writer, director, and teacher whose credits include Insects in Heat, Suns Are Suns, Blood Cherries, HA, Knock on the Sky, Suicide Forest, Hiroshima Maiden, Arden/Ardennes, My House Is Collapsing Toward One Side, and Deshima. Her multi-disciplinary works have been performed at the Walker Art Center, Orpheum Theatre in Austria, the Whitney Museum, Dance Theater Workshop, New York Theater Workshop, LaMaMa, New World Theater, the Public Theater, and Aaron Davis Hall. Saito is an Associate Clinical Professor at Fordham University/Lincoln Center, is on the movement faculty at Juilliard, and serves as co-director of the Summer Theatre Devising Intensive at Bard College in Berlin, Germany.
Dawn Akemi Saito is an actor, writer, director, and teacher whose credits include Insects in Heat, Suns Are Suns, Blood Cherries, HA, Knock on the Sky, Suicide Forest, Hiroshima Maiden, Arden/Ardennes, My House Is Collapsing Toward One Side, and Deshima. Her multi-disciplinary works have been performed at the Walker Art Center, Orpheum Theatre in Austria, the Whitney Museum, Dance Theater Workshop, New York Theater Workshop, LaMaMa, New World Theater, the Public Theater, and Aaron Davis Hall. Saito is an Associate Clinical Professor at Fordham University/Lincoln Center, is on the movement faculty at Juilliard, and serves as co-director of the Summer Theatre Devising Intensive at Bard College in Berlin, Germany.
Madeline Cohen
Madeline Cohen is the Director of Symphony Space’s adult literacy program, All Write! She held the position of Education Director at Symphony Space from 1989 - 2022, and has been working in arts education for 43 years as a teaching artist, staff development leader, administrator, and consultant at Lincoln Center Institute, United Federation of Teachers, and Teachers College, among others. In addition, she is a costume designer.
Madeline Cohen is the Director of Symphony Space’s adult literacy program, All Write! She held the position of Education Director at Symphony Space from 1989 - 2022, and has been working in arts education for 43 years as a teaching artist, staff development leader, administrator, and consultant at Lincoln Center Institute, United Federation of Teachers, and Teachers College, among others. In addition, she is a costume designer.
MORE INFORMATION
The All Write! adult literacy program is generously supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the MacMillan Family Foundation, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Henry Nias Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, the Michael Tuch Foundation, the Vidda Foundation, and The Grodzins Fund.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
All Write! also receives support from an endowment established by the Steven Aresty Foundation.
Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
Floral arrangements are provided by PlantShed.
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Artistic Director (1988-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Lulu Fogarty Director of Education
Regina Larkin Manager of Education Programs
Madeline Cohen Director of All Write!
Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Producer of Literary Programs
Mary Shimkin Director of Broadcast & Literary Initiatives
Matthew Love Consultant for Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Literary Assistant
Mollie Gordon Program Assistant
Madeleine Hearn Literary Intern
Gabriela Parra Lambis Literary Intern
LITERACY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Teresa Bell NYC Department of Education–Mid-Manhattan Adult Learning Center
Madeline Cohen Symphony Space
Solange Farina City University of New York–Borough of Manhattan Community College
Mary Esther Malloy Consultant
*in memoriam
