Event Program
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO in Residence
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO PRESENTS: THE HAWTPLATES
FRI, FEBRUARY 25
The HawtPlates
Justin Hicks
Jade Hicks
Kenita Miller-Hicks
with
Meshell Ndegeocello
Abraham Rounds
Christopher Bruce
Jebin Bruni
Tonight’s program will run approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.
The Artists
The HawtPlates
The HawtPlates are a family singing group formed in a one-bedroom apartment in The Bronx. While living together, they found ways of addressing many of the issues unfolding around them in their neighborhood, in the city, in the world, and in their work lives, assembling around a problem, a joke, a feeling, or an urge, and singing their way through it. All three members have worked in music, theater, and art, and have used this project as a way to create together, and as a means to remain close, and stay connected.
More a performance trio than a band, the HawtPlates make conceptual live vocal works by breaking down folk and vernacular musical forms and reconstituting them into other modes of performance. Their work is a way to honor their lineage and personal histories, while playing within and outside of the tradition of Black singing styles, especially as they relate to the labor of movement building and outwardly reporting the Black and ultimately human experience. They play with found objects, electronics, noise, and a capella arrangements that convey a delight in exploration—mining materials for the histories they carry within them. Through repetition, experimenting with text, and deep listening, The HawtPlates embody a style that pays homage to the members' roots yet expands how “soul” music and the Black voice can be heard.
Together and individually, The HawtPlates have served as muses, of sorts, to various artists such as Meshell Ndegeocello, Abigail DeVille, Kaneza Schaal, Charlotte Brathwaite, and have collaborated with the likes of Hilton Als, Helga Davis, Cauleen Smith, Steffani Jemison, Reggie "Regg Roc" Gray and The D.R.E.A.M. Ring, National Black Theater, The Guthrie Theater, The Public Theater, Performance Space New York, and The Park Avenue Armory, among others.
The HawtPlates are a family singing group formed in a one-bedroom apartment in The Bronx. While living together, they found ways of addressing many of the issues unfolding around them in their neighborhood, in the city, in the world, and in their work lives, assembling around a problem, a joke, a feeling, or an urge, and singing their way through it. All three members have worked in music, theater, and art, and have used this project as a way to create together, and as a means to remain close, and stay connected.
More a performance trio than a band, the HawtPlates make conceptual live vocal works by breaking down folk and vernacular musical forms and reconstituting them into other modes of performance. Their work is a way to honor their lineage and personal histories, while playing within and outside of the tradition of Black singing styles, especially as they relate to the labor of movement building and outwardly reporting the Black and ultimately human experience. They play with found objects, electronics, noise, and a capella arrangements that convey a delight in exploration—mining materials for the histories they carry within them. Through repetition, experimenting with text, and deep listening, The HawtPlates embody a style that pays homage to the members' roots yet expands how “soul” music and the Black voice can be heard.
Together and individually, The HawtPlates have served as muses, of sorts, to various artists such as Meshell Ndegeocello, Abigail DeVille, Kaneza Schaal, Charlotte Brathwaite, and have collaborated with the likes of Hilton Als, Helga Davis, Cauleen Smith, Steffani Jemison, Reggie "Regg Roc" Gray and The D.R.E.A.M. Ring, National Black Theater, The Guthrie Theater, The Public Theater, Performance Space New York, and The Park Avenue Armory, among others.
More Information
This program is made possible by Susan Bay Nimoy, the NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund in The New York Community Trust, the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The Achelis and Bodman Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Michael Tuch Foundation, the Vidda Foundation, the Lemberg Foundation, and The Grodzins Fund.
This program is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Music programming also receives support from an endowment established by The Bydale Foundation, Mary Flager Cary Charitable Trust, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Christopher and Barbara Dixon, the Herman Goldman Foundation, William and Angela Haines, Walter and Marge Scheuer, and Zabar’s.
Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
It’s a truly extraordinary moment to be here for the 21/22 Symphony Space season! We are so grateful to the independent venue operators who banded together to initiate the Save Our Stages campaign, which became the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. Through the leadership of Senator Chuck Schumer, and with bipartisan support from many Senators and Representatives, the creative community was bolstered by this special funding. All of us at Symphony Space extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every individual who recognized the unmistakable power and importance of the arts in this most critical moment.
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)
Darren Critz Director of Performing Arts Programs
Sofia Frohna, Assistant Producer of Performing Arts Programs
*in memoriam
Funders:
