The Village Trip Festival: Review of 2023

Thanks to everyone who came to The Village Trip 2023

Rain rather impertinently stopped play on the final weekend of The Village Trip 2023, washing away our signature free concert in Washington Square Park with People of Earth, The Peace Poets and BETTY. But even if the sun wasn’t obliging, our fifth festival was a great success, some 65 events across Greenwich Village and the East Village attracting rainbow-colored audiences of young and old who came to enjoy and celebrate all the great riches that Downtown Manhattan has to offer.

September 8. 5.52am and the sun rises on The Village Trip 2023

Framing the Village – opening party at Moshava Art, curator Marc Kehoe far left

Vexations – September 8, 6am. Marilyn Nonken opens the Erik Satie piano relay

Vexations – September 8, 8pm. Marc Peloquin plays the final repetitions as David Del Tredici, a veteran of Vexations 1963, listens

Songwriting to Save the World. David Roth (top left, waistcoat) and young sonwriters

The Eighth Street Block Party – David Amram, Avram Pengas (bouzouki) and friends

The Eighth Street Block Party – Martha Redbone and Aaron Whitby

The Eighth Street Block Party – CM Erik Bottcher presents the Mayor’s Proclamation of David Amram Day to The Village Trip Artist Emeritus

Earth Requiem – Mark Shapiro conducting The Village Trip Singers (Elizabeth Hummer)

Earth Requiem – artist Diana Wege and composer Jeff Beal

Earth Requiem – with Kyle Walker, piano, and Mark Shapiro conducting The Village Trip Singers (Elizabeth Hummer)

Neightbors, Lovers and Friends. Michael Kelly, baritone, and Brad Moore at the Salmagundi Club

Veslka – Ukrainian home away from home in the East Villaage

Ukraine Day – Dr Irwin Redlener, founder of UCAP, speaking at the Play-a-Thon for Ukraine

Ukraine Day – Hana, one of the young pianists at Playing for Change

Ukraine Day – Opal, one of the young pianists at Playing for Change

Ukraine Day – Canto Ostinato, witn pianists Kees Wieringa and Joan Forsyth

Ukraine Day – Teryn Kuzma, soprano and bandurist, at Killing the Silence

Ukraine Day – Chorus Dumka were special guests at Killing the Silence

Kommuna Lux – Viktor Kyrylov, left, and Bagrat Tsurkan

Kommuna Lux – Willie Nile with Lisa Gutkin and David Amram

Kommuna Lux concert – David Roth plays the ocarina

Kommuna Lux with Lisa Gutkin and Frank London (far right) of the Klematics and David Amram

We don’t have space to mention all the highlights, but here are a few: Sell-out events at Joe’s Pub featured musicians Jamie Bernstein, Michael Kelly, Janis Siegel, Yaron Gershovsky and John di Martino, and theater producer Gail Merrifield Papp who, with her late husband Joe Papp, birthed the Public Theater. Celebrate Ukraine, a day-long musical fundraiser for the Ukraine Children’s Action Project showcased some wonderful young musicians playing for Ukraine, and Kommuna Lux a band whose unique brand of “Odesa gangsta folk” got everyone dancing.

Two events marking Rosh Hashanah honored the Jewish traditions that have so influenced music around the world. Terri Thal and friends Tom Paxton and Happy Traum packed the Bitter End for an evening of songs and stories from the heyday of the Village folk scene, while the inimitable Julie Gold held everyone spellbound with a recital at Greenwich House Music School. And Jazz for Justice was an all-star jam in aid of Keith LaMar, who has spent more than three decades on death row for a crime he didn’t commit.

Eric K Washington (second from left) with Liz Thomson, Rob Snyder and Cliff Pearson

Erik K Washington delivers The Village Trip Lecture

Eric K Washington (left), with Rob Snyder, Manhattan Borough Historian

Greenwich Village and Me – soundcheck at the Bitter End (Andy Peden Smith)

Greenwich Village and Me – Terri Thal (in black) and Liz Thomson with (from left) David Amram, Tom Paxton, and Happy Traum

Greenwich Village and Me – Terri Thal (in black) in conversation with Liz Thomson, Tom Paxton (left) and Terri Thal

Greenwich Village and Me – standing room only (Andy Peden Smith)

Wonderful Town – Jamie Bernstein with (from left) Janis Siegel, Yaron Gershovsky and Michael Kelly

Wonderful Town – Jamie Bernstein, for whose baby needs the musical provided

Wonderful Town – Janis Siegel (left) and Jamie Bernstein commiserate in ‘Ohio’

Wonderful Town – Michael Kelly and ‘Pass the Football’

Wonderful Town walk – ‘Poets and peasants on Waverly Place’ Jamie Bernstein leads the tour

Mazel – Janis Siegel and Cantor Daniel Kramer

Mazel – Janis Siegel with Leonardo Granados on maracas

Old Friends – David Amram with Jamie Bernstein (right) and Janis Siegel

Mazel – Janis Siegel and David Amram ham it up on ‘The Sheikh of Avenue B’

A couple of swells – David Amram and Janis Siegel heading down Lafayette in search of supper

Stand Up and Be Counted – Olga Namer

GuitarFest 1 – William Anderson conducts the guitar orchestra in ‘Splendor in the Grass’

GuitarFest II – Daniel Conant and Ema Tufekčić

GuitarFest II – Jessica Bowers with William Anderson (left) and Oren Fader

GuitarFest II – Rianne Mision plays John Duarte’s Joan Baez Suite

GuitarFest III – David Leisner

Jazz for Justice – all-star line-up at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

Jazz for Justice – Bobby Sanabria on drums

Jazz for Justice – Keith Lamar on the line at the all-star benefit in his honor

Jazz for Justice – poet Marcos de la Fuente

Seeking Refuge – William Anderson and Sharon Harms

An innovative program of classical and new music featured several exciting premieres, among them new works by Victoria Bond, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Carman Moore, and Errolyn Wallen, performed by a roster of top-flight musicians, including Joseph Keckler, Kees Weiringa and The Horszowski Trio. A salute to Joan Tower, who poignantly debuted a new composition in memory of her late husband Jeff Litfin, celebrated women composers, and another paid homage to the innovative music and vibrant culture of Loisaida – the Lower East Side. And the festival’s opening event, running from 6am to 8pm, was a piano relay performance of Erik Satie’s Vexations, a composition comprising 840 repetitions that John Cage first presented in the East Village 60 years ago. David del Tredici, who performed then, was present to hear his long-time collaborator Marc Peloquin play the final repetitions.

Shanah Tovah – Avram Pengas, David Amram and friends celebrate Rosh Hashanah

Shanah Tovah – David Amram, Avram Pengas and Nick Mandoukas

Shanah Tovah – Israeli singer Clil Reich joins the band

Public Private – Gail Papp with George C Wolfe (right) and Wiley Hausam

Public Private – Gail Papp returns to the Public Theater

So Surreal! Joan Forsyth, piano, with Sharon Harms and William Anderson (Michael Spudic)

Simic Colors – Cia Toscanini and Michael Spudic, both of ASCAP, which supported the concert

Simic Colors – composer Aleksandra Vrebalov with baritone Joseph Keckler

Simic Colors – Joseph Keckler premieres Aleksandra Vrebalov’s Simic Songs

Simic Colors – Sharon Harms with guitarists Owen Fader (left) and William Anderson

Statuesque – Harmonica Sunbeam opening the Martha P Johnson Fundraiser

Statuesque – Misty Mountains

Uncommon Women – Duo Mundi, George Lopez and Gulimina Mahamudi

Uncommon Women – Joan Tower makes a surprise appearance at a concert in her honor

Uncommon Women – soprano Kenneithia Mitchell and pianist Catherine Kautsky

Stand Up and Be Counted – Oscar Aydin

Up close and Personal – Julie Gold

Lafcadio Hearn Project – Satoko Inoue and John McLachlan

Horszowski Trio – chamber music by Village composers at Tenri Cultural Institute

Electric Circus – Evan Francis on flute

Electric Circus – the premiere of Gene Pritsker’s Electric Circus Canon

Electric Circus – with mezzo Jesica Bowers and soprano Adriana Valdes, John Ferrari conducting

The intimate Village – Michael Kimmelman leads a walking tour of his childhood haunts

Framing the Village – closing party at Moshava Art, light show by George and Gregory Stadnik with Joshua White

Joint Artistic Directors Liz Thomson (left) and Cliff Pearson (right) with festival philanthropists and board members David Milch and Nancy Notaro

This year’s festival offered art, film, walks and talks throughout its 17 days. In myriad ways, The Village Trip lived up to its mission as a festival of arts and activism. At the historic Great Hall of Cooper Union where the NAACP was born and Lincoln and Obama spoke, David Deblinger and Daniel Carlton created a magnificent and moving tribute in words, music and dance to the March on Washington and the ongoing fight for equality and social justice. The evening ended with the audience on its feet, cheering as Peter Yarrow, who organized the music for the historic 1963 March and sang from the Lincoln Memorial as part of Peter, Paul and Mary, led everyone in a rousing rendition of “If I Had a Hammer.”

Let Freedom Ring – Alvin Keith

Let Freedom Ring – Antoinette Montgaue sings ‘Strange Fruit’

Let Freedom Ring – Nabate Isles sounds the invocation

Let Freedom Ring – Molly Collier (left) and Lori Sinclair Minor

Let Freedom Ring – Dancer from EMERGE 125

Let Freedom Ring – Daniel Carlton (in white cap) leads a vocal warm-up

Let Freedom Ring – Fred Johnson and percussionist Hasan Bakr

Let Freedom Ring – Stephanie Pacheco, New York City Youth Poet Laureate

Let Freedom Ring – Hasan Bakr and David Amram

Let Freedom Ring – Terri Thal (center) with TVT’s Cliff Pearson (left) and Liz Thomson with Peter Yarrow

Let Freedom Ring – Peter Yarrow (far right) with daughter Bethany (center) leads the finale

The next day Peter wrote, praising the “creativity, determination and leadership” of the festival, adding:

“Making this kind of an effort is the lifeblood of all of our attempts to dig ourselves out of the very depressing and worrisome hole that we are in now. I firmly believe that what you are doing is precisely what will help us to bring our strength, our determination, and our souls together. We cannot fight hatred with returned animosity and anger; we can only bring light and love that can push away the darkness and illuminate the goodness in all of us. That is the work of the arts and that is what you are doing, so, hooray! kudos! wonderful!”

Thank you, Peter! You have fought the good fight for many decades, so your words have special significance.

Thank you to everyone who made it happen. Our civic and business partners, our board, our small creative team, our donors and volunteers – and all our wonderful performers and artists and tour guides. It wouldn’t be the same without you!

And, thanks to all those who came to Village Trip events – it was wonderful to meet and talk to so many of you. Feel free to email and share your thoughts.

If you believe in our mission of shining a light in the darkness, please support The Village Trip. We are now a 501c3 non-profit and we need to reach $25,000 in new funds raised by the close of the year to make our first matching grant towards The Village Trip 2024, which will run from September 14-28. Make a donation and your gift will be matched dollar for dollar – up to $25,000 – by one of The Village Trip's generous board members. Your support is essential for us to continue producing a festival that captures the spirit of Greenwich Village, so please give whatever you can afford. We can’t wait to see you as we all “march on!”

Thanks, and stay tuned!

Cristina Arrigoni

Cristina Arrigoni has long been fascinated by the photographic pioneers of the past century. Having also been passionate about the blues, she’s travelled the world photographing live performance, developing a unique photographic style and a knack for creative post-production. In love with Dalì and the Surrealists, Cristina has created a highly pictorial and multilayered approach that pushes her images into the realm of illustration. Her work been published in books and on record covers and in Rolling Stone and El Pais.

Bassman Rene Hart

Left to right – David Amram, Avram Pengas, Jim Seeley and Ivan Renta

Rene Hart

Joint Artistic Directors Cliff Pearson and Liz Thomson

Jim Seeley, trumpet, and Ivan Renta, sax

Jerome Harris

David Amram playing two penny whistles

Guitarist Jerome Harris

Erik Bottcher presenting the Proclamaton to David Amram as Liz Thomson looks on

David Amram’s hands

David Amram’s hands (3)

David Amram’s hands (2)

David Amram speaking

David Amram speaking (2)

David Amram singing

David Amram playing penny whistle

David Amram playing keyboard

David Amram playing a drum

David Amram clapping

David Amram clapping (3)

David Amram clapping (2)

David Amram (3)

David Amram (2)

CM Erik Bottcher with David Amram and Liz Thomson

David Amram (3)

CM Erik Bottcher with David Amram

David Amram with CM Erik Bottcher

David Amram Day – The Village Trip Artist Emeritus receives an honor from the Mayor

Maria Passanante-Derr

Maria Passannante-Derr was born and raised in Greenwich Village and continues her family tradition of political and community service and business ownership, managing her own law firm. She became fascinated by photography as a teenager, building her own darkroom, but put photography aside while she furthered her law career. A Saraha sunset reawakened her interest. “It was then and there that I made the commitment to become a photographer. I have steadily moved forward and not looked back since.”

Let Freedom Ring – Antoinette Montague with David Amram

Let Freedom Ring – Antoinette Montague singing ‘Strange Fruit’

Let Freedom Ring – Antoinette Montgue with (background) Molly Collier

Let Freedom Ring – Alvin Keith

Let Freedom Ring – Bethany Yarrow with Antoinette Montague

Let Freedom Ring – dancers from EMERGE 125

Let Freedom Ring – Daniel Carlton, creator of March On

Let Freedom Ring – Daniel Carlton

Let Freedom Ring – David Amram accompanying Antoinette Montague

Let Freedom Ring – David Amram

Let Freedom Ring – EMERGE 125 dancers

Let Freedom Ring – Fred Johnson, the evening’s Melodic Host

Let Freedom Ring – Joseph Wisniewski with Molly Collier, Lori Sinclair Minor

Let Freedom Ring – Laurent Grant Williams

Let Freedom Ring – Lori Sinclair Minor

Let Freedom Ring – Lucki Islam

Let Freedom Ring – March On!

Let Freedom Ring – Nabate Isles and David Amram

Let Freedom Ring – Nabate Isles sounds the invocation

Let Freedom Ring – Nabate Isles

Let Freedom Ring – percussionist Hasan Bakr

Let Freedom Ring – Peter Yarrow and cast members

Let Freedom Ring – Peter Yarrow and daughter Bethany at the finale

Let Freedom Ring – Peter Yarrow, a veteran of the 1963 March, with David Amram

Let Freedom Ring – Peter Yarrow

Let Freedom Ring – producer and director David Deblinger

Let Freedom Ring – Stepheanie Pacheco, who read ‘Sisterhood’

Let Freedom Ring!

Statuesque – Harmonica Sunbeam, host of the Stonewall benefit for Martha P Johnson

Statuesque – Egyptt LaBeija

Statuesque – Harmonica Sunbeam plays on

Statuesque – Harriet Tugsmen

Statuesque – host Harmonica Sunbeam welcomes everyone to Stonewall

Statuesque – Lyra Vega

Statuesque – Misty Mountains

Statuesque – Myster E Mel Kiki and Harmonica Sunbeam

Jamie Kalikow

Jamie Kalikow is a City-based photographer specializing in music and street photography. She graduated from Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications with a degree in photojournalism. Directly after graduating, she moved to Greenwich Village and has maintained an apartment on Bleecker Street since 1979. From the late 1970s till the present, she has photographed the streets of New York City and in the last decade photographed and videotaped over a thousand NYC music events.