The Cleveland Museum of Art and FRONT International Present City Stages

Image

Cleveland, OH (June, 2018) – The Cleveland Museum of Art and FRONT International announce the schedule for City Stages, a new partnership that expands and extends the Cleveland Museum of Art’s acclaimed summer concert series featuring the best in global music. Starting Saturday, July 14, City Stages features six concerts in five neighborhoods where audiences of all ages can enjoy music from around the world and discover art in nearby exhibitions and installations. These free concerts begin at 7:30 p.m.

City Stages began in 2013 as the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Ohio City Stages and featured acclaimed global music artists on a neighborhood stage outside the Transformer Station in Ohio City on Wednes-days throughout the month of July.

City Stages Schedule 

Saturday, July 14: 
Uptown in University Circle
Euclid Avenue, between Mayfield Road and East 115th Street
Jupiter & Okwess
From Kinshasa, Jupiter Bonkodji and his band infuse a wealth of traditional Congolese rhythms into contemporary African music. 

FRONT Public Opening Celebration
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors and FRONT exhibitions open until 7:00 p.m.
MOCA Cleveland, FRONT exhibition open until 10:00 p.m.
Cleveland Institute of Art, FRONT exhibition open until 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday, July 18: 
Ohio City 
Transformer Station, West 29th Street and Church Avenue
Sidi Touré
A highly acclaimed practitioner of Songhai music whose band features the most exciting new faces on the Malian music scene, Sidi Touré makes music driven by the energy and groove of the rhythms—a danceable, dynamic, trance music overflowing with joy and carried by the beauty of Sidi’s voice.

Nearby FRONT Venues open until 9:00 pm
The Transformer Station
SPACES Gallery
St. John’s Church

Wednesday, July 25: 
Ohio City
Transformer Station, West 29th Street and Church Avenue
Orquesta el Macabeo
One of the great sensations of the current Puerto Rican salsa scene, Orquesta el Macabeo recovers the island’s salsa tradition and updates it with new ideas and energy. Their plan: to revive and reinvig-orate the true heavy sound of “salsa gorda.”

Nearby FRONT Venues open until 9:00 pm
The Transformer Station
SPACES Gallery
St. John’s Church 

Wednesday, August 15: 
Downtown 
Mall B
Cheick Hamala Diabate
Cheick Hamala Diabate explores West African rhythms in the griot tradition. At an early age, he mas-tered the n’goni, a stringed lute and ancestor of the banjo. He later learned to play the guitar from his uncle, legendary Super Rail Band guitarist Djelimady Tounkara. Diabate successfully fuses the tradi-tional rhythms and vocals of his ancestors with the more electric American sounds he has absorbed over the past decade living in the US.

Nearby FRONT Venues open until 9:00 pm
Cleveland Public Library
Federal Reserve Bank
Helen Theater, Playhouse Square
Old Arcade

Wednesday, August 29: 
PNC Glenville Arts Campus
East 105th Street and Wade Park
M.A.K.U. Soundsystem
Juxtaposing traditional percussion of their Colombian homeland with drums, electric bass, guitar, and vocals, NYC-based M.A.K.U. Soundsystem create an explosive performance filled with unshakable grooves––a unique sound encompassing their immigrant experience.

FRONT Porch at the PNC Glenville Arts Campus and surrounding neighborhood FRONT installations open until 9:00 p.m.

Friday, September 7: 
Nord Family Greenway in University Circle 
The Cleveland Museum of Art 
Gili Yalo
Combining Ethiopian roots music with a modern touch of jazz and soul, Tel Aviv-based Gili Yalo incorpo-rates traditional sound into the music of right now. Yalo’s family was part of the migration to Israel of Ethiopian Jews fleeing famine in Sudan; the music encouraged Gili and his family to keep moving for-ward in this exhausting, emotional journey.

FRONT Venues: 

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors and FRONT exhibitions open until mid-night.