SHABAKA has spent much of the past decade pushing the boundaries of contemporary jazz with different groups. He reached into the past with Shabaka and the Ancestors, plumbed the depths of the Caribbean with the Sons of Kemet, and forged out into the cosmos with The Comet is Coming – both of the latter, SummerStage alumni. But, in recent years the artist and bandleader has retreated from the saxophone and into a more meditative space, exploring experimental and ambient sounds for his 2023 solo debut Afrikan Culture. His bold new direction is informed by the exploration of instruments like the Japanese shakuhachi, Mayan Teotihuacan drone flutes, Brazilian pifanos, Slavic svirels, South American quenas, and other Native American flutes. For his latest LP Of The Earth, Shabaka pivots once again, writing, performing, producing, and mixing the album entirely on his own, doing much of it on the road with portable instruments and production tools. The result is a project he is bringing to SummerStage that integrates the expansive diversity of his past work and his return to the saxophone more completely than ever before, including the hip-hop and R&B influences that have largely been absent from his previous jazz compositions. He’s joined by Kokoroko, the ​​London-based septet led by Sheila Maurice-Grey and Onome Edgeworth that strives to connect young people in the African diaspora through a fusion of funk and highlife; and Omar MBE, UK Soul legend who has collaborated & Performed with Common, Erykah Badu, Leon ware, Stevie wonder etc received a lifetime achievement award from The Queen of England. and best known for his debut single “There’s Nothing Like This.” This show is presented in association with Giant Step, who have championed artists like Massive Attack, Daft Punk, Amy Winehouse, and Jamiroquai and they have presented legendary performances with SummerStage through the years from icons like Erykah Badu, Femi Kuti, Janelle Monae, Little Dragon, Gilles Peterson and many more.

St. Vincent's genre-defying blend of pop and rock, fueled by her inimitable vocal style and poetic lyrics, has earned her numerous awards, including six Grammys. St. Vincent ventures once more into unexplored territory when she performs with the New York Philharmonic — with spellbinding orchestral arrangements of favorites and deep cuts by conductor, orchestrator, and arranger Jules Buckley — in an evening of extraordinary music. Cellist and composer Lucinda Chua opens the evening with her mesmerizing fusion of ambient pop and R&B.

Program

Annie Clark / Arr. M. Garson & S. Gale

We Put a Pearl in the Ground / Hell Is Near

Annie Clark / Arr. R. Eckroth & S. Gale

Reckless

Annie Clark / Arr. J. Neuffer

Violent Times

Annie Clark / Arr. J. Neuffer

I Prefer Your Love

Annie Clark / Arr. R. Eckroth & P. Riley

The Strangers

Annie Clark / Arr. J. Buckley & R. Eckroth

Black Rainbow

Annie Clark / Arr. P. Riley

Marrow

Annie Clark / Arr. J. Buckley

The Bed

Annie Clark / Arr. R. Eckroth, J. Buckley & J. Neuffer

Smoking Section

Annie Clark / Arr. S. Gale

Now, Now

Annie Clark / Arr. T. Trapp

Live in the Dream

Annie Clark / Arr. C. Brownstein & J. Buckley

The Nowhere Inn

Annie Clark / Arr. T. Trapp

Digital Witness

Annie Clark / Arr. R. Eckroth & P. Riley

Los Ageless

Annie Clark / Arr. J. Neuffer

The Party

Annie Clark / Arr. J. Antonoff & J. Buckley

New York

Annie Clark / Arr. J. Neuffer

Paris Is Burning

Annie Clark / Arr. R. Eckroth & J. Neuffer

Candy Darling

Annie Clark / Arr. J. Williams & J. Buckley

Slow Disco

Chamber music ensemble The Knights—led by Colin Jacobsen and Eric Jacobsen—bring a program that fuses classical music with numerous American influences in true “Knightsian” fashion. Arrangements on the program include Bonds’s “Troubled Water,” based on the spiritual “Wade in the Water”; selections from Coleridge-Taylor’s 24 Negro Melodies, arranged by violinist Curtis Stewart; Stones River by violinist Jeremy Kittel, which draws from a multicultural well of American Revolutionary and Civil War music; Colin Jacobsen’s arrangement of Paul Simon’s “American Tune” and other short works; a piece by Jacobsen inspired by Dvořák and bluegrass; and more.

Performers

The Knights
Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director and Violin
Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director and Conductor
Christina Courtin, Vocals
Alex Sopp, Vocals
Jeremy Kittel, Violin
Additional vocalist to be announced

Program

Program to include:

BONDS "Troubled Water" (arr. Bruno Lima)

COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Selections from 24 Negro Melodies (arr. Curtis Stewart)

JEREMY KITTEL Stones River

COLIN JACOBSEN Sheriff's Freud

TRAD. "Simple Gifts" (arr. Colin Jacobsen)

PAUL SIMON "American Tune" (arr. Colin Jacobsen)

Mark-Anthony TURNAGE New England Etudes

CARTER Eight Etudes and a Fantasy

George LEWIS The Faculty of Sensing

Liann KANG (TMC 2025) Viriditas, world premiere, commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center through the generous support of the Merwin Geffen M.D. and Norman Solomon M.D. New Commissions Fund

Sehyeok PARK (TMC 2026) Quartet No. 2

GABRIELI Canzon per Sonar Duodecimi Toni a 10 

GABRIELI Sonata Octavi Toni a 12 

GABRIELI Canzon No. 2 a 4 

Program

Philip GLASS Symphony No. 15, Lincoln (world premiere) 
John WILLIAMS Suite from Lincoln
COPLAND Lincoln Portrait

Featuring

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Karen Kamensek, conductor

Zachary James, baritone (GLASS)

Alec Baldwin, narrator (COPLAND)

Spoon, Austin’s most esteemed rock ambassadors, have released ten albums to date including a string of five straight top 10 records: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007), Transference (2010), They Want My Soul (2014), Hot Thoughts (2017), and Lucifer on the Sofa (2022). The latter earned the band its first-ever GRAMMY nomination (Best Rock Album) and was praised by Rolling Stone as "the best thing they’ve ever done.” Look for hits from the revered catalog and more when the band play SummerStage in Central Park. They’re joined by Ratboys, a prolific rock band once dubbed “the nicest indie rock band in Chicago” by Pitchfork. They’re touring behind their sixth album Singin’ to an Empty Chair, a record built around a dialogue between lead vocalist Julia Steiner and a close—but estranged—loved one, which swerves between bubbly power-pop and post-country Americana. Opening the show is Brooklyn’s own BODEGA, the anti-consumerist rock band, jagged post-punk energy and social critique, whose new album will be coming out via Chrysalis Records later this Fall.

+Sloppy Heads- structured/disintegrating, shambling/pretty

+Mountain Movers- New Haven psych stalwarts Dan/Rick/Kryssi/Ross on troubleinmindrecords.com

+Karen Schoemer’s “August” Band- ft Kid Millions of Oneida and guests

In just 10 short years, the German music performance platform COLORSxSTUDIOS has evolved from a simple idea—showcasing emerging artists through stripped-down live performances with a minimalist, monochrome aesthetic—into one of the most influential live-music platforms on the internet. For this show in Bed-Stuy’s Herbert Von King park, they invite to the heart of Brooklyn a trio of cutting edge artists on the cusp of breaking out. Mereba, a talented singer and songwriter with a deep connection to the American South who effortlessly flits between hip-hop, folk, and progressive R&B, has already recorded with both big indies (Secretly Canadian), major labels (Interscope), and Dreamville’s Spillage Village collective. Her debut 2019 LP The Jungle Is The Only Way Out was co-produced by Samuel Hoffman and 9th Wonder. She's joined by Mack Keane, the Los Angeles native emerging as a leader of the next wave of R&B. His self-produced 2025 project Entries demonstrated his command of songwriting and storytelling, earning him a spot opening for Destin Conrad on the Love On Digital Tour. He has since partnered with Star Trak Entertainment – the label behind some of the most defining sounds in R&B – and is gearing up to release his debut album Wide Eyed on May 8. Opening the show is Arima Ederra, who imbued melancholy with bursts of sunshine on her debut LP An Orange Colored Day; her latest album A Rush to Nowhere takes a morose ‘80s rock sentimentality to bolder and darker places. With DJ sets from Halfmoon BK, the hip internet radio station turned music media platform and “new age cultural institution” with its finger on the pulse of Black dance music in New York City.

Habibi Festival brings the vibrant sounds of Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, and beyond. DJ Kofta of the iconic party series Yalla! Party Project will keep the vibes high as we kick things off with the Habibi Festival house band, led by Yacine Boulares and featuring special guests, including Tunisian cellist/composer Nesrine, and Sudanese singer-songwriter Mai Elgizouli. The groundbreaking avant-garde artist EMEL will headline with her theatrical avant-garde electronic, rock, and pop sound.

Presented with the legendary Apollo Theater, this evening brings together boundary-pushing voices in R&B and soul. A foundational member of the loose late-’90s hip-hop/R&B collective the Soulquarians, Bilal has an effortless, understated swag. It oozes from every track of his 2001 debut 1st Born Second, a retro yet fresh take on soul music at the turn of the century. He’s gotten more experimental as he’s grown, collaborating with artists such as Kimbra, Otis Brown III, Kat Dahlia, Slum Village, and Kendrick Lamar on his third album To Pimp a Butterfly. Bilal’s latest release is Live at Glasshaus, a live recording from an intimate, career-spanning performance with Questlove, Robert Glasper, and Burniss Travis as his backing band. He’s joined by GENA, a new project from the dynamic R&B artist Liv.e and renowned producer/drummer Karriem Riggins; their name stands for God Energy, Naturally Amazing, indicative of their improvisationally o (View Full event Description Here: https://cityparksfoundation.org/events/bilal/)

For Bastille Day, the Consulate General of France in New York imports four distinct acts from across the French pop landscape. Headlining is Black M, French-Guinean rapper and member of the world-renowned group Sexion d'Assaut. Known for his animated personality and tongue-twisting rhyming style, he broke out as a solo artist with the 2014 album Les yeux plus gros que le monde, and has collaborated with artists such as Shakira ("Comme Moi"), Manu Dibango, and Amadou & Mariam. He’s joined by Laurent Voulzy, one of the most successful and critically acclaimed composers in contemporary French pop who has only become more prolific with age. Often working in tandem with longtime collaborator Alain Souchon, Voulzy is known for an obsessive attention to detail in the studio, crafting sophisticated melodies and rich arrangements. Also featured, Legends of the 80’s, a group of some of the most legendary French artists of the ‘80s. They’ve been touring as a unit for more than two decades, sharing nostalgia and a love of one of France’s most popular eras in music. Finally, Michel Polnareff, the enigmatic French singer and composer best known for his 1966 hits “La Poupée qui fait non” and “Love Me, Please Love Me,” who has found success writing pop hits, film scores, and music for the stage.