UP CLOSE Festival

This is it! Just one performance left of A Little Light. Come let us brighten your day with songs and stories for the whole family.

We are delighted to announce that Joi Marchetti, Leigh Poulos, and Emily Bruner return to the UP CLOSE Festival this weekend! Back in 2018, the festival’s inaugural year, these three magical artists created the piece that inspired this year’s concert name. And to me, no holiday season is complete without Joi’s beautiful voice singing A Little Light. You won’t want to miss it. As for what’s giving these creators a little light this season, Leigh is loving drawing, baking, and learning holiday tunes on my guitar while Joi enjoys phone calls with friends, cooking, and online ballet classes.

We are delighted to have Tyler Díaz join the lineup for A Little Light. Tyler is a composer and musician from Queens, New York and a member of Perfect City. During the last few months, Tyler has been an essential staff member for the food pantry operations at Abrons Arts Center and Henry Street Settlement. My colleagues at the Henry Street Food Pantry are giving me light these days. We serve over 700 families every week and we all have been coming in each week since April to make sure we address the food insecurity in the Lower East Side that was amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. A portion of our proceeds from concert tickets sales this weekend will help support this vital work at Henry Street Settlement.

Today is the Winter Solsticethe shortest day and longest night of the yearand a great day to share these gorgeous shadow puppets that storyteller Ana Cantorán-Viramontes will bring to life in our concert this Saturday, Dec 26 @ 7pm EST and Sunday, Dec 27 @ 2pm EST. Did you know that we once had a sun made of earth? A sun made of wind? A sun made of water? Grab your ticket at the link in our bio to learn more this weekend!

Theater artist, storyteller, and puppeteer Ana Cantorán-Viramontes will join our concert from her hometown of Puebla, Mexico. Here, at my family’s home, we have a small backyard with rose bushes, small chile trees, grass and a ‘Nochebuena’ tree. It’s very different from Brooklyn! I like being able to work in the garden, enjoy the flowers and the sun. This is what’s bringing me light these days! Swipe left to see a photo of the beautiful Nochebuena!