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Community Live Music

Omomuki pays musicians to give public and private performances, and works with non-profit organizations to include live music as part of their events.

2024 Programs and Recipients

2024 Programs and Recipients
Jill McCarron & Vincent Herring Live at Omomuki, 2024
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Jill McCarron & Vincent Herring Live at Omomuki, 2024

Liz Story Live in Memphis, 2024
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Liz Story Live in Memphis, 2024

Gabriele Chakarji Live at GMHC, 2024
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Gabriele Chakarji Live at GMHC, 2024

Tainan Rainbow Pride, 2024
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Tainan Rainbow Pride, 2024

The Juilliard School, 2024
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The Juilliard School, 2024

Esteban Castro at Broadway Cares, 2024
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Esteban Castro at Broadway Cares, 2024

Jordan Williams, Sungtaek Choo, & Jill McCarron at Omomuki
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Jordan Williams, Sungtaek Choo, & Jill McCarron at Omomuki

2023 Programs and Recipients

Liz Story 40th Anniversary Concert at Carnegie Weill Hall

Pianist and composer Liz Story celebrating forty years since the release of her first album in November 1983 with a full-length concert at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, produced by Jazz Bird Records / Omomuki.

GMHC

Since 2015, Omomuki's Community Live Music Program has been funding meal-time professional piano performances for GMHC clients.

Liz Story at The Old Church

Pianist and composer Liz Story performing at The Old Church in Portland Portland, Oregon in a concert produced by Jazz Bird Records / Omomuki.

New World High School of the Bronx + Hudson Review + Metropolitan Opera

In a program run by The Hudson Review, we took members of the New World High School in The Bronx to see "Don Giovanni" at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, after a classroom lesson and discussion on the opera’s history.

Jill McCarron + Broadway Cares + Carnegie Reception

Pianist Jill McCarron performing at the Broadway Backwards Kickoff Event & Liz Story's 40th Anniversary Carnegie Weill Hall Reception

Liz Story - Bradley's Dream - LC Nature Park, Roanoke, IN, December 16, 2023
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Liz Story  + LC Nature Park

Pianist and composer Liz Story performing at the LC Nature Park in Roanoke, Indiana.

Davis Whitfield + Griot Circle

Pianist and composer Davis Whitfield performing at Griot Circle's 27th Anniversary Celebration.

2022 Programs and Recipients

Sean Mason + Griot Circle

Pianist and composer Sean Mason performing at Griot Circle's 26th Anniversary Celebration on October 27th at Omomuki.

Tainan Rainbow Pride is an HIV education event, parade, and music festival for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies held annually in the historic city of Tainan in Southern Taiwan. This year featured performances by Ourshame, Lö-Fivë, Sisterhood of Disfigurement, and Ko-I.

Tainan Rainbow Pride

Edward R. Murrow High School of Brooklyn + Hudson Review + Metropolitan Opera

In a program run by The Hudson Review, we took members of the Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn to see "The Magic Flute" at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, after a classroom lesson and discussion on the opera’s history.

Liz Story + Yavapai College Performing Arts Center

Liz Story is an American solo pianist and composer. She is Grammy-nominated and one of the most successful Windham Hill recording artists, producing 10 albums on Sony Music between 1983 and 2005 — seven of original solo piano compositions, two of jazz standards, and a holiday album. On August 9th, 2022 Omo arranged for Liz to give a 90-minute concert at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center in Prescott, Arizona. It was her first performance since her recovery from a brain hemorrhage in 2019.

SummerStage NYC + The Resistance Revival Chorus

SummerStage is New York’s largest free outdoor performing arts festival. In a typical year, SummerStage presents approximately 100 free concerts in 15-18 parks throughout the five boroughs. Omomuki funded a performance by The Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective of more than 60 women and non-binary singers, at "Maroons & Suffragettes: A Greg Tate Tribute Concert Celebrating The 20th Anniversary Of Burnt Sugar/Danz” on August 20th at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem.

Chris McCarthy + Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

Chris McCarthy performing at Broadway Cares' annual Broadway Backwards Kickoff Event on November  17th at Omomuki.

Ben Paterson + Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

Pianist Ben Paterson performing at Broadway Cares' annual Broadway Backwards Kickoff Event on March 28th at Omomuki.

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Josh Evans + Jazz at Lincoln Center

Trumpeter Josh Evans at Jazz at Lincoln Center for two live performances in February 2022 of "Mansa Mali," an evening-length suite for quintet composed by Evans.

2021 Programs and Recipients

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SummerStage NYC + Madison McFerrin

SummerStage is New York’s largest free outdoor performing arts festival. In a typical year, SummerStage presents approximately 100 free concerts in 15-18 parks throughout the five boroughs. Since its inception 35 years ago, more than six million people from New York City and around the world have enjoyed SummerStage. The Omomuki grant funded a performance by Madison McFerrin singing original music alongside Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and A.I.M. dancers Jessica Amber Pinkett, Gianna Theodore, and Samantha Figgins. Photo courtesy of City Parks Foundation / Sean Jamar.

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Davis Whitfield

Davis Whitfield performing at the October 5th Exhibition of painter Neftali Mejia.

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SmallsLIVE Foundation

The SmallsLIVE Foundation for Jazz Art & Education is a non-profit arts organization based in New York City. During the Covid-19 pandemic, SmallsLIVE has been sponsoring live-streamed concerts from New York’s infamous Smalls Jazz Club. The Omomuki grant funds the SmallsLIVE Keep the Cats Working Fund to sponsor ten performances in 2021 in order to keep musicians working during this period.

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Jazz at Lincoln Center

The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) in New York City is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy. The Omomuki grant funds in part two original compositions commissioned by JALC: an untitled work by bassist Endea Owens inspired by the life and work of Ida B. Wells, particularly her crusade against the lynching and wrongful imprisonment of black Americans; and “Red Summer” by trumpeter Josh Evans about the 1919 Elaine Massacre in Hoop Spur, Arkansas. Both pieces will be premiered in spring of 2021 at JALC as part of their Freedom, Justice, and Hope program.

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Vax Fest 2021 + Percussia

Percussia is based in New York City’s vibrant, culturally diverse neighborhood of Jackson Heights, Queens, and seeks to honor and reflect this cultural richness through the music they play. Percussia’s signature sound is created through the marriage of lyrical melodic instruments (flute, viola, and harp) with a variety of percussion instruments. While rooted in the modern classical tradition, Percussia’s style incorporates a wide variety of influences, from world music to elements of pop culture. Their one-of-a-kind body of work includes numerous world-premiere commissions, as well as original arrangements by the group’s members. Omomuki’s Community Live Music Program funded Percussia’s participation in the Vax Fest 2021 vaccination drive.

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The Juilliard School

The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. Located at Lincoln Center in New York City, Juilliard offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance, and drama. The Omomuki grant supports a scholarship for an undergraduate student in Juilliard’s jazz program.

2020 Programs and Recipients

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SmallsLIVE Foundation

The SmallsLIVE Foundation for Jazz Art & Education is a non-profit arts organization based in New York City. During the Covid-19 pandemic, SmallsLIVE has been sponsoring live-streamed concerts from New York’s infamous Smalls Jazz Club. The Omomuki grant funds the SmallsLIVE Keep the Cats Working Fund to keep musicians working during this period.

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The Juilliard School

The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. Located at Lincoln Center in New York City, Juilliard offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance, and drama. The Omomuki grant supports a scholarship for an undergraduate student in Juilliard’s jazz program.

2019 Programs and Recipients

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Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem + The Hudson Review + The Metropolitan Opera

In September, in a program run by The Hudson Review, we took the senior class of The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem (80 students) to see Porgy and Bess at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, after a classroom lesson and discussion on the opera’s history. Following the opera, soprano Golda Schultz (who played Clara in the production) spoke to the students about her personal history.

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Princess Lockerooo

Pricess Lockerooo is a dancer, choreographer, and educator. Her performances and dance workshops throughout the world promote the joyous dance form “waacking,” which originated in the LGBT clubs of Los Angeles during the 1970s disco era. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Apollo Theater, and has appeared on numerous television shows. Her work has brought her to over 27 countries throughout Asia & Europe. The Omomuki grant funds in part her Waack To the Future: Africa dance competition in Brookly in July of 2019, a portion of the proceeds from which were donated to Dancers Responding to AIDS.

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Toshiko Akiyoshi and Yasushi Nakamura

Toshiko Akiyoshi is a New York City-based jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. She is the recipient of fourteen Grammy Award nominations, and in 2007 was named an NEA Jazz Master by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts. Yasushi Nakamura is a New York City-based jazz bassist who graduated from the Juilliard School in 2006. He records and performs all over the world at venues including BlueNote, Birdland, Town Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Omomuki grant funded a performance at the Japan Society 2019 Gala in New York City.

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The Juilliard School

Founded in 1905, The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. Located at Lincoln Center in New York City, Juilliard offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance, and drama. The Omomuki grant supports in part the Juilliard Jazz Composer’s Ensemble and the Juilliard Dance Division.

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Gabriel Lubell

Gabriel Lubell is a composer and scholar whose music has been performed throughout the U.S. and Europe by numerous soloists and ensembles, including the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Intercontinental Ensemble, Tesla Quartet, and Barkada Quartet. Lubell earned a Doctorate in Music Composition from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He has held teaching positions at Knox College, Indiana University, and Macalester College, and is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Kenyon College. The Omomuki grant commissioned Song of the Little Owls, an original composition for shakuhachi (Japanese flute) and bassoon, which premiered at Kenyon College in February 2019.

2015 - 2017 Programs and Recipients