Since 2015, National Sawdust has pushed the boundaries of the artistic sonic experience. This six-episode retrospective series, curated by composer and co-founder Paola Prestini, presents an overview of National Sawdust’s past, present and future.

Featuring Interviews with Renée Fleming, Beth Morrison, Paola Prestini and new music by Holland Andrews, Amyra León, Lido Pimienta, Paola Prestini with Eve Gigliotti, Theodosia Roussos and Diana Syrse

National Sawdust’s flagship educational program for middle school performing artists and composers, Student CoLab, seeks to engage young creatives through artistic expression to lead students into creating works of their very own. For this live event along the Domino Park waterfront, our students composed works for a subset of a marching band, engaging in a long and passionate history of protest music.

Discover the most exciting new voices in opera and music-theatre.

“They Still Want To Kill Us” is an aria by composer and activist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), performed by mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, and directed by filmmaker Yoram Savion, to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

The Blueprint Fellowship is an annual National Sawdust mentorship and commissioning initiative that connects Juilliard student composers with career and project mentorship, culminating in a concert of their commissioned projects.

Take a look behind the scenes of Alicia Hall Moran's Mother's Day performance.

For Mother’s Day, National Sawdust shares an offering from the heart: a piece composed by mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran and performed with flutist Allison Loggins-Hull and pianist Kris Davis, exploring the duality of being a mother and an artist.

Take a look behind the scenes of the making of Marisa Michelson and Miriam Parker’s ’Beneath the Surface’ – an exploration of the connection between body and space through music and movement.

Founder of Constellation Chor, Marisa Michelson, and interdisciplinary artist Miriam Parker, connect sound and movement from sacred music to free jazz, Buddhism to divine spirituality.

A collaboration between composer/performer Molly Joyce, dancer Jerron Herman, writer Max Greyson, and director Austin Regan to examine historical myths of the left versus right side.

Brianna Mims focuses on the body as a poetic and political site of liberation this season through dance and music.

Explore the ephemerality of flowers in their natural and abstract forms with Alabama-born choreographer Amy Hall Garner for a production that brings together music, dance, and art.

Delune spent three days at National Sawdust developing and shooting the film. A truly collaborative ode to performance, the piece incorporates many artistic disciplines that explore not only the stage, but all of the architectural flourishes that make the building unique. Here is a behind the scenes look at their time at Sawdust.

For National Sawdust, Izzi and Kate Eberstadt of Delune premiere a new concept video, “Pierrot and the Reverie”, blending animation by Alexandra Hohner, theater, pop music, and silent film.

Featuring the world premieres of three commissioned composers, Flannery Cunningham, Jimena Maldonado, and Sonja Mutić, and four works by competition finalists, Amanda Feery, Lauren Siess, Alicia Jane Turner, and Tan Yuting.

Galya Bisengalieva makes the world premiere performance of two tracks from her newly-released album, Aralkum, an elegy for the former Aral Sea, now the Aralkum Deser, in Kazakhstan.

Created across the distances of the Covid era, The Vanishing Point spirals in the anxious euphoria and isolation of our time.

Five artists perform in harmony, weaving an intimate choreography in this immersive visual experience. Everything starts and ends with the breath.

Choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham and pioneering producer Jlin have come together to create a new commission exploring death, folklore, and reincarnation through a reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor.

From the underground punk scene in a repressive Tehran to the creation of an auxiliary human named YONA, the polymath performer and self-described “software humanist” Ash Koosha lives on the front lines of the musical vanguard, both real and virtual.

National Sawdust has responded to the pandemic by creating the New Works Commission, and awarding twenty composers the resources to create a new work for streamed performance.

National Sawdust has responded to the pandemic by creating the New Works Commission, and awarding twenty composers the resources to create a new work for streamed performance.

JACK changed our perception of performance and sound with a show played in complete darkness.

In November 2018, composer laboratory Golden Hornet brought The Sound of Science to the National Sawdust stage.

Hailed as “the future of chamber music” (Strings), the veteran string quartet Brooklyn Rider presents eclectic repertoire and gripping performances that continue to draw rave reviews from classical, world, and rock critics alike.

Vocalist Lucy Dhegrae confronted sexual violence squarely and unapologetically in her residency project The Processing Series, which “attempts to shed light on the complex relationship between mind and body” (New York Times).

Vocalist Helga Davis and guitarist Taylor Levine collaborated on a cover of the seminal Lou Reed song, “Perfect Day.” Their recording is a work of languorous exploration and longing for closure.

Four-time Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Female Vocalist nominee Thana Alexa performs with her husband, the Pat Metheny sideman and Birdman original soundtrack composer, percussionist Antonio Sánchez. They will explore how the pair use song to bridge cultures and musical traditions, both as performers and as a couple.

The Sonic Great Wall, seeks to build connection by breaking down barriers. It draws inspiration from the Great Wall of China to disrupt the barrier between audience and performer.

The New Jersey-born pianist, percussionist and composer Matthew Whitaker is one of America's fastest-rising and best-known young jazz musicians. Blind from birth, Whitaker's prodigious talent on the keys won him endorsements from both Yamaha and Hammond by the age of fifteen.

Scheduled on the 18th anniversary of the passing of John Cage, Robert Wilson presents an appreciation of the revolutionary composer with a solo performance of his famed “Lecture on Nothing.”

Jenny Hval brings her fearlessly avant-garde and undeniably catchy live show to National Sawdust in support of her album, Blood Bitch.

The Tesla Quartet will perform works from their "Alternating Currents" commissioning project, in which Tesla selected 12 freelance composers whose work has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic to write short works for string quartet.

In 2018, pianist Lara Downes launched her Sony Classical debut album FOR LENNY, a Leonard Bernstein centennial tribute that spans the landscape of American music from the past, present, and future.

Join us for a Digital Discovery concert with the versatile percussionist Sae Hashimoto.

Hailed as one of the most prodigious guitarists of his generation, Julian Lage has spent more than a decade searching through the myriad strains of American musical history via impeccable technique, free association and a spirit of infinite possibility.

At this 2018 concert, Alan and his band performed his free jazz album Valley of Search live for the first time in over 40 years, followed by a second set of recent music.

Join us for a Digital Discovery solo electronic set with the enigmatic, experimental new music composer Tyondai Braxton, who has has been capturing the imagination of avant-pop aficionados since he first emerged on the scene nearly twenty years ago as a co-founder of the seminal art-rock collective Battles.

Join us for a Digital Discovery concert full of high-flying improvisations and sterling technique with Blue Note recording artist, rising jazz star and vibraphonist, Joel Ross. Ross will be joined by flautist Gabrielle Garo.

From post-rock to contemporary classical, percussion trio Square Peg Round Hole brought their minimalist, ambient music to the stage for their headlining debut in celebration of their album release 'Branches'.

Join us for a Digital Discovery concert with composer and performer Molly Joyce, who will be presenting five self-composed songs,

One of his generation’s extraordinary talents, Dan Tepfer has earned an international reputation as a pianist-composer of wide-ranging ambition, individuality and drive.

Mireya Ramos is a New York-based, Latin Grammy-winning vocalist, violinist, composer, arranger and founder of Flor de Toloache – NYC’s first and only all-women mariachi. In this performance, Ramos is joined by her partner Andy Averbuch on guitar as they perform works off her upcoming solo debut album.

Join us for a Digital Discovery concert with the multi-talented cellist Andrew Yee, a founding member of the award-winning Attacca Quartet. Yee will perform works by new music composers Ernst Reijseger, Mingjia Chen, Caroline Shaw, and past National Sawdust Hildegard Competition winner, inti figgis-vizueta.

Rendered through a hallucinatory, audio-reactive video treatment, Rafiq Bhatia's performance suggests other possibilities for expression, communion, and catharsis in our isolated present.

Jojo Abot’s Power to the God Within is an interdisciplinary, immersive experience that recognizes the black being as divine and all powerful.

Join us for a Digital Discovery performance with the electrifying Drum & Lace as she performs a 30 minute set of self-composed music, including unreleased material and tracks from her new EP Further, released on June 12th.

A 2019 recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, pianist Adam Tendler is a recognized interpreter of living and modern composers.

Hailed as one of Vogue’s “stars who continue to shine on a global stage“, Madame Gandhi is not an artist to be missed.

Seasons: An Experiential Voyage Through Sound, a multimedia concert from R&B singer/songwriter Sonic, reflects her unique relationship with sound: she’s partially deaf.

Must gender be fixed in opera? What happens when extraordinary singers and interpreters turn long-held conventions on their heads?

Korean-American Kangmin Justin Kim is one of the most sought-after countertenors of his generation.

Dayramir Gonzalez performs a 30 minute set of self-composed danzón, the official musical genre and dance of Cuba.

Hold Me, written and performed by Helga Davis, has one lyric: "When you hold me like this I can't breathe", which says everything. This performance features Marc Cary on piano, PUBLIQuartet and The D.R.E.A.M. Ring.

Theo Bleckmann performs Schubert’s song cycle Die Winterreise as reimagined by himself and pianist Uri Caine. In a first for National Sawdust, the venue was turned into an ice skating rink.

World premiere of Amelia Found, a new work which follows Amelia Earhart from dusk, through the night, into a daybreak where she has disappeared.

A raw and honest exploration into the minds and hearts of an array of women's theory and experiences.

An evening featuring Kamilah Forbes, Richard Gray, Chris Jackson, Jeanine Tesori and hosted by Elena Park. Performances by mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter with Jeanine Tesori, and Lauren A. Whitehead.

On December 13th 2019, Season 5 Artists-in-Residence Kinds of Kings presented Shelley Washington’s raucous electric guitar quartet The Workers’ Dreadnought, performed by Brooklyn-based group Real Loud.

Pioneering electronic musician Ryuichi Sakamoto is joined by fellow sonic adventurers Taylor Deupree, Joseph Branciforte, and Theo Bleckmann for an expansive set exploring the outer reaches of sound, emotion, and ambience.

Raised on Orcas Island off the coast of Washington state, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith's compositions are surreal yet rooted in nature.

On August 3 2019, the sound of hundreds of human voices transformed Rockefeller Center’s outdoor plazas in an immersive, site-specific choral and movement piece The Gauntlet – an intimate, personal experience were individuals were led through musical corridors of sonic architecture formed by the human voice.

Cellist Ashley Bathgate brings her dynamic, lyrical playing to the Digital Discovery Festival in this live streamed performance.

Emily Wells celebrates the release of her album “In the Dark Moving” with this Discovery series performance.

Violinist Mariella Haubs joins the Digital Discovery Festival for a solo violin performance of pieces by women composers.

Tunisia-born and New York-based artist Emel Mathlouthi brings her eloquent songcraft in a live streamed set of original material for voice and guitar.

Our second performance in the Discovery series features “intensely soulful” (New York Times) clarinetist, composer, and Season 3 National Sawdust curator Kinan Azmeh performing three original compositions.

Celebrating the power of beauty as a political act, vocalist Magos Herrera teams up with string quartet Brooklyn Rider to explore the artistry of poets and dissidents who dared to dream under repressive regimes in this performance from March 2019.

Originally performed at National Sawdust in spring 2019, The New Immigrant Experience includes a documentary drawn from Salles' interviews with DREAMers, captured by filmmaker Fernanda Faya, accompanied by original music by Salles which uses their speech cadences, and key words from these compelling and moving conversations, as its primary source material.

Join us for an evening of hip hop-inflected jazz that is both a celebration of our collective power and a call to action for a better future from the new EP of Samora Pinderhughes.

Pianist Vijay Iyer joins forces with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in an intimate live performance of their highly acclaimed duo album "A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke."

Musician, mystic, and laughter meditation practitioner Laraaji, presents Sun Piano as part of National Sawdust’s Powerful Sounds series.

Composer and vocalist Maja S.K. Ratkje’s performance in the River to River Festival in 2013.

The future of Amazon Rainforest, where our every fifth breath originates, hangs in the balance today. Second in the Trilogy of Rivers, The Amazon takes its viewers on an epic journey, weaving the present-day stories of two indigenous groups into the larger fabric of history.

PUBLIQuartet, National Sawdust’s 2018-19 Artists-in-Residence, marked Earth Day 2019 with four world premieres responding to the crisis facing our environment.

The Colorado, co-written by William deBuys and Murat Eyuboglu, and narrated by the stage legend Mark Rylance, takes us on a journey in nine chapters through the prehistoric settlements of the region to the impact of climate change.

Exploring the relationship between humans and technology, the dystopian story is one of people struggling to survive alongside artificial intelligence in an environmentally scarred future.

Brooklyn-based vocalist and songwriter, J Hoard, performs songs from his EP Follow Me (Now).

Joyous String Ensemble was founded in 2010, when its members were just five years old. Playing repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Katy Perry, the ensemble is now an international sensation.

David Byrne, Mauro Refosco and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus perform an uplifting arrangement of David Byrne and Brian Eno’s One Fine Day at National Sawdust’s 2019 Spring Gala.

National Sawdust hosted the US debut of Orquesta Akokán, a big band collective of Havana’s top musicians both young and old, joining forces with some of the most creative and spirited talents of New York’s Latin music scene.

A deep dive into the art of juggling with Sean Gandini and his boundless and virtuosic London-based troupe, Gandini Juggling.

Blue Hour forms part of the suite of works with titles inspired by poetry that composer Anna Clyde's mother wrote in the last year of her life.

Young People’s Chorus of New York City, directed by Francisco Núñez, perform Ellen Reid’s "So Much On My Soul".

Lucy Dhegrae performs "no" by Caleb Burhans, from her project The Processing Series, which explores how music can address the aftermath of trauma.

Opening night of our first season featured mandolinist and singer Chris Thile, of the Punch Brothers, in a set of original songs, bluegrass classics, Bach arrangements, and more.

Mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti, guitarist Gyan Riley, and cellist Jeffrey Zeigler performed an excerpt from Paola Prestini and Royce Vavrek’s Yoani Songs, a song cycle based on the life of Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who gained notoriety as a sharp critic of her government, at our opening night in 2015.

Vocalist and composer Tanya Tagaq performed an excerpt from Animism, featuring her astonishing Inuk throat singing, with percussionist Glenn Kotche, guitarist Nels Cline, and cellist Jeffrey Zeigler at the opening concert of our first season.