Annual Benefit Concert 2025

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Arooj Aftab

Declared “the coolest rock star in the world right now,” by UNCUT magazine, Arooj Aftab has earned her position at the vanguard of creative music for her embrace of risk and nonconformity. In 2024, she released her fourth solo album, Night Reign (Verve), to universal acclaim, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Jazz Album, while the song “Raat Ki Rani” was tabbed for Best Global Music Performance.

The album expands on the musical universe Aftab has created over the years. Night Reign features an all-star cast of musicians (Cautious Clay, Vijay Iyer, Elvis Costello, James Franceis, Moor Mother, Joel Ross), united beneath the steady, brilliant hand of the queen of the night. As put by the Wall Street Journal, “[Night Reign’s] beauty is self-evident, and it stands on its own” which helps explain its inclusion across so many Best of 2024 album lists.

Arooj Aftab

Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson is a writer, director, composer, visual artist, musician and vocalist who has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, experimental music, and technology. Her recording career was launched by O Superman in 1981.

Anderson's live shows range from simple spoken word to expansive multimedia stage performances such as the eight-hour United States (1982), Empty Places (1990), Songs and Stories from Moby Dick (1999), and Delusion (2010). In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance The End of the Moon.

Anderson had created numerous audio-visual installations as well as films- the feature film Home of the Brave (1986), Carmen (1992), and Hidden Inside Mountains (2005). Her film Heart of a Dog (2015) was chosen as an official selection of the 2015 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

Laurie Anderson

Tenzin Choegyal

Tenzin Choegyal is one of the world’s finest musicians in the Tibetan tradition. As a son of Tibetan nomads, he feels a particular connection to the music of the high Himalayan plateau. In a career spanning 30+ years Tenzin has performed at festivals across Australia and curated numerous events and concerts including Brisbane’s annual Festival of Tibet. Internationally he has performed in New Zealand, Japan, India, Germany, Bangladesh, South America, Russia and USA, including performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has also opened many of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Public Talks in Australia, New Zealand and Japan with his musical offerings.

While proudly continuing the unbroken nomadic lineage which is central to his repertoire, Tenzin also embraces to take his music into more contemporary, uncharted territory, both in the studio and on stage. An outstanding composer/ performer with a great depth of musical knowledge, intuition and inventiveness, Tenzin continues to bring new sounds of Tibet while strongly holding the essence of ancient Tibetan wisdom. He attributes his art form to the early karmic imprints of hearing his mother and father as a toddler.

Tenzin Choegyal

Angélique Kidjo

Five-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today, a creative force with sixteen albums to her name. Time Magazine has called her "Africa's premier diva”, and named her one of the most influential people in the world for 2021; The BBC, Forbes Magazine, and The Guardian have all highlighted her importance to the people of the African continent. She is the recipient of the 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the 2016 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award, the 2018 German Sustainability Award, the 2023 Vilcek Prize in Music, and the 2023 Polar Music Prize.

As a performer, her striking voice, stage presence and fluency in multiple cultures and languages have won respect from her peers and expanded her following across national borders. Kidjo has cross-pollinated the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America.

Angelique also advocates on behalf of children as a UNICEF and OXFAM Ambassador. She created her own charitable foundation, Batonga, dedicated to support the education of young girls in Africa.

Angélique Kidjo

Ebon Moss-Bachrach

For over 25 years, Emmy award winning actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach has portrayed myriad characters across film, television and theatre. He currently stars in The Bear and plays Ben Grimm in this summer’s Fantastic Four: First Steps. Moss-Bachrach lives in New York with his partner, visual artist Yelena Yemchuk and their two daughters and cat.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Allison Russell

Grammy-winning artist Allison Russell is a weaver of stories and tales through the medium of music. Since the release of her first solo album three years ago, the self-taught singer, songwriter, poet, activist, and multi-instrumentalist has redefined what artistry means in the 21st century. From her devastatingly moving celebration of survivors' joy through Outside Child to the body-shaking, mind-expanding, soulful expression of Black liberation that is The Returner, Russell’s music exceeds all reasonable (and unreasonable) expectations and affirms her place among today’s most vital artists.

Various honors include her Grammy win for Best American Roots Performance for the powerful single “Eve Was Black” alongside 7 additional nominations, the Juno Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, the Americana Music Association’s 2023 Spirit of Americana Award & 2022 Album of the Year Award, two International Folk Music Awards, three Canadian Folk Music Awards, and four UK Americana Music Awards.

Alongside the Rainbow Coalition Band - a talented ensemble of Black and POC, queer, and historically marginalized musicians from across the U.S. - Russell uses the power of music in order to spread her message of the “Beloved Community” and is dedicated to lifting others upwards as her own star climbs higher.

Allison Russell

The Philip Glass Ensemble

The Philip Glass Ensemble (PGE) comprises the principal performers of the music of Philip Glass. In 1968, Glass founded the PGE in New York City as a laboratory for his music. Its purpose was to develop a performance practice to meet the unprecedented technical and artistic demands of his compositions. In pioneering this approach, the PGE became a creative wellspring for Glass, and its members remain inimitable interpreters of his work. The PGE debuted at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1969, and in its early years performed primarily in the galleries, artist lofts, and museums of SoHo's then thriving artistic community. In the five decades since, the PGE has performed in world renowned music festivals and concert halls across five continents, and has made records with Sony, Nonesuch, and Orange Mountain Music.

The artists of the PGE recognize their unique position in the history of music of the past half-century, and passing on that legacy is part of their practice, with a deep dedication to educating the next generation of artists in the authentic practice of Philip Glass’ music.

The Philip Glass Ensemble

Gogol Bordello

Since 1999, International punk band Gogol Bordello, led by Ukrainian frontman Eugene Hütz, has been filling up rooms with an energy that could run a whole city. Their latest album Solidaritine is no exception, going back to their hardcore roots. The band has lit up stages around the world alongside System of a Down, Primus, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, dueted with Regina Spektor, appeared in films like Liev Schreiber’s Everything Is Illuminated with Elijah Wood and Filth and Wisdom helmed by Madonna, cutting albums with legends Rick Rubin and Steve Albini. Russia's war in Ukraine is personal for Eugene & the band, who have been tirelessly advocating for Ukrainian solidarity, partnering with Nova Ukraine, ArtDopomoga and beyond.

Gogol Bordello

The Scorchio Quartet

Scorchio is a GRAMMY Award winning cutting edge electro-acoustic string quartet that made it’s debut at Carnegie Hall performing with David Bowie at the 2001 Tibet House Benefit Concert. Scorchio has performed with Philip Glass, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Phoebe Bridgers, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Trey Anastasio, Sturgill Simpson, David Byrne, the Kronos Quartet and others. Scorchio recorded on Bowie's 2002 release “Heathen” produced by Tony Visconti and is featured on “Trey Anastasio and the Scorchio Quintet: Live from Princeton.” They have performed with Blur at Madison Square Garden and Damon Albarn at Bonnaroo, the Governor's Ball and on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Scorchio is featured in the documentary “Inside the Perfect Circle: The Odyssey of Joel Thome”.

The Scorchio Quartet

Patti Smith

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Patti Smith has had a very notable career. In 1975 Smith’s first recording, Horses, was inducted into the National Recording Registry then in 2010 at The Library of Congress by the National Recording Preservation Board. Represented by the Robert Miller Gallery in New York since 1978, her art has been exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide. Patti Smith was awarded the honor of “Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres" from the French Ministry of Culture, and has been awarded honorary doctorates from several other institutions. In addition she has received prestigious awards representing lifetime achievement, significant achievements in music and The Kathryn Hepburn Medal which recognizes women whose lives embody the same drive and accomplishments as the four-time winning actress. Her 2010 acclaimed memoir, Just Kids, was awarded the National Book Award. She is a four-time Grammy nominee, most recently nominated in 2017 for the spoken word recording of her latest book, M Train, and a Golden Globe nominee for the song Mercy Is from the film Noah. Patti Smith and her Band continue to tour worldwide as well as lend support for human rights issues.

Patti Smith

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