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MAPP February 3rd, 2024

Name: MAPP February 3rd, 2024
Start: 2024-02-03T19:00:00-08:00
End: 2024-02-03T22:00:00-08:00
Location: Red Poppy Art House

February 3 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

MAPP February 3rd, 2024

Saturday, February 3rd, 2024 | 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Red Poppy Art House
2698 Folsom @23rd

Curator: Dina Zarif
Celebrating RPAH’s Window Altar installation:
“Fuego Creador” (Fire creator)

7:05 – 7:35 Steel & Hammers Duo (Piano, Vox, Cello & Drums)
7:50 – 8:20 Indian Drum Duet (Rohan & Nilan)
8:30 – 9:00 Classical Meets Classics (Harp & woodwinds)
9:15 – 10:00 Dos Bandoleros trío (Spanish Rumba / Latin fusion)

Altar installation “Fuego Creador” (Fire creator) by Arturo Méndez-Reyes
THIS IS A FREE EVENT

MAPP (Mission Arts & Performance Project)

Launched in 2003, the Mission Arts & Performance Project (MAPP) is a homegrown bi-monthly, multidisciplinary, intercultural event that takes place in the Mission District of San Francisco. On the first Saturday of every even month of the year, the MAPP transforms ordinary spaces, such as private garages, gardens, living rooms, studios, street corners, and small businesses into pop-up performance and exhibition sites for a day/night of intimate-scale artistic and cultural exchange among a kaleidoscope of individuals and communities. This program is funded by the California Arts Council Impact Project Grant.
We will continue our work in presenting unique artistry to the communities that we serve.

RED POPPY MAPP TEAM:

Artistic Director | Managing Director: Dina Zarif

PR and Digital Marketing: Jennie D. Legary and Anjali Varma.

MAPP FEBRUARY 3RD, 2024 PROGRAM

Time	Performance/Event	Description	Artists
Celebrating Altar installation “Fuego Creador” (Fire creator) by Arturo Méndez-Reyes
7:05 – 7:35 pm	Steel & Hammers Duo	Piano, Vox, Cello & Drums	Elyse Weakley – Piano and voice Anton Estaniel – Drums, Cello
7:50 – 8:20 pm	Indian Drum Duet	Indian classical percussion duet featuring Carnatic (mridangam, ghatam, khanjira) & Hindustani (tabla) drums and vocal percussion	Rohan Krishnamurthy – mridangam, ghatam, khanjira, Vocal Nilan Chaudhuri – tabla, Vocal
8:30 – 9:00 pm	Classical Meets Classics \| With a touch of Latin Flare!	Strings & Woodwinds	Amelia Romano – Harp, vocals Asaf Ophir – Saxophone, flute, vocals
9:15 – 10:00 pm	Dos Bandoleros trío	Spanish Rumba / Latin fusion	Alberto Gutiérrez – guitar and vocals Raul Vargas – cajon and vocals Javier Jiménez – Guirarrista and vocals

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Steel & Hammers Unplugged
Keys, Vox, Cello & Drums

Live music duo Steel&Hammers will play a mix of original music and re-imagined cover tunes but will leave the Nord at home in favor of the beautiful acoustic piano at Red Poppy.

Featuring:
Elyse Weakley, – Piano and voice
Anton Estaniel – Drums, Cello

Anton Estaniel (cello and drums) with Elyse Weakley (keyboard and voice) make up the cross-genre duo Steel & Hammers. Weakley and Estaniel, both classically trained, have taken part in a wide array of musical projects including Middle Eastern and Latin music, and currently work together in the Hurd Ensemble, recently featured at the Kennedy Center, and Redwood Tango Ensemble presenting contemporary tango music. Their recording projects include collaborations with acclaimed rapper MC Squadda B and Grammy award-winning composer Mason Bates.

Indian Drum Duet
Rohan Krishnamurthy + Nilan Chaudhuri

Indian classical percussion duet featuring Carnatic (mridangam, ghatam, khanjira) & Hindustani (tabla) drums and vocal percussion.

Featuring:
Rohan Krishnamurthy – mridangam, ghatam, khanjira, Vocal
Nilan Chaudhuri – tabla, Vocal

Rohan Krishnamurthy, Indian-American percussionist, composer, and educator Dr. Rohan Krishnamurthy is one of the leading voices of Indian classical and cross-genre music in the South Asian diaspora. Acclaimed as a “musical ambassador” by The Times of India, he received mridangam training from the legendary maestro, Sri. Guruvayur Dorai. Distinguished as a soloist, composer, and collaborator, Rohan performed with legendary Indian classical musicians and Grammy Award-winning global artists. Rohan leads The Alaya Project, an Indo-jazz-funk collective featuring celebrated saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan and keyboardist Colin Hogan. The group’s recently released debut album has been praised by Jazziz Magazine, NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, and more. Rohan holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the Eastman School of Music and directs the RohanRhythm Percussion Studio with students from across the globe. Rohan is the recipient of international awards and grants including commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Foundation, and Goethe Institute (Germany). He has taught at renowned institutions and his patented RohanRhythm drum tuning system is available worldwide.

Nilan Chaudhuri has spent his life immersed in the tradition of Indian classical percussion. Initiated into Tabla studies at the age of five by his father, Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri, Nilan has performed as a Tabla soloist and accompanist for over two decades. He’s shared the stage with some of Indian Classical Music’s most celebrated artists at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Fillmore, Fox Theater, and San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center, and The Kennedy Center. In addition to maintaining a busy performing schedule, Nilan has dedicated his life to teaching Tabla worldwide privately and as a faculty member at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael and Chitresh Das Institute in San Mateo, California.

Classical Meets Classics | Strings & Woodwinds
With a touch of Latin Flare!

A celebration of strings and woodwinds in classical and Latin American traditions.
Drawing on their roots in folk, jazz, and classical music, Amelia Romano and Asaf Ophir present a program of music adapted for harp and woodwinds which both honors these traditions and celebrates their diverse upbringings.

Featuring:
Amelia Romano – Harp, vocals
Asaf Ophir – Saxophone, flute, vocals

Asaf Ophir began his professional career in musical theaters in Israel, on some of Israel’s most distinguished stages. Having moved to the United States in 2014, Ophir can most often be seen in world music projects on Jewish, Arabic, and Balkan stages. Throughout his career, he has shared the stage with artists such as Miri Mesika, Avi Kushnir, Galit Giat, David De’or, Rana Farhan, and Barbara Streisand. The San Francisco Chronicle writes: “Asaf Ophir gives the clarinet the timbre of a trumpet, then a violin, then a raspy scream… the instrument’s wail almost becomes too plaintive and beautiful to bear.”

Amelia Romano (harp, voice) is a concertizing lever harpist, programming classical re-imaginations alongside original works. She received her master’s in classical lever harp performance at San Francisco State University under the tutelage of Karen Gottlieb, retired second harpist of the San Francisco Symphony. Her latest album, “Levers Engaged: Classical Works Re-imaged for Harp ” and the sheet music collection “Classical Re-imaginations,” present the instrument as a valid voice in classical music. A composer, arranger, and trailblazer in the lever harp world, she is equally at home writing Latin America-inspired works for solo harp as she is adapting classical pieces for chamber collaborations.

Dos Bandoleros ft. Javier Jimenez
Spanish Rumba / Latin fusion

Feel the heat with this Spanish duo as they bring back their fiery flamenco rumba sounds, infused with a Latin twist. It’s an authentic, pulse-pounding performance that redefines traditional rhythms.

Featuring:
Alberto Gutiérrez – guitar and vocals
Raul Vargas – cajon and vocals
Javier Jiménez – Guirarrista and vocals

Dos Bandoleros is a flamenco rumba/Latin fusion duo formed by two people from Madrid: Raúl Vargas and Muchacho Mandanga.

Raúl Vargas is the biggest bandit, he sings and is in charge of percussion, he’s a great guy, he writes songs almost without breaking a sweat. Only his concerns are comparable to his ideals and only his creativity is comparable to his talent, which on the other hand is not bigger than his soul. He will never have enough space in this world because he has a heart that does not fit in his chest.

El Muchacho Mandanga is the minor bandit, he plays guitar and sings, although he is not great, he often verges on genius, always unintentionally, of course, and even aware of the effect that music has on people, he continues to write songs oblivious to the impact or the repercussion that this may cause in society.

Together they waste talent, they save effort, they are pure mathematics. They form a perfect duo, indivisible, without cracks or ties. They are capable of conquering the world with the simple melodies that they feel and arrive late but always on time to the hearts of the people.

WINDOW INSTALLATION: ‘Fuego Creador’ (Fire creator)

‘Fuego Creador’ (Fire creator), is a multidisciplinary altar installation of Indigenous Futurism.
This magic-totemic altar intends to connect our modern lives to our ancestral lineage through education, ritual, and song.

Its primary aesthetic and narrative are rooted in Otomí and Nahuatl cosmovision and the tradition of the Day of the Dead altars in Huaquechula, Puebla, and Tenango, Hidalgo.

This is a sacred altar found hidden in nature and represents an interdimensional portal to reconnect with the ancestors. In the tradition of the four directions, is understood that through practicing sacred ritual we open a portal in space and time that connects us with those who have engaged in this ritual before us for thousands of years, imbuing us with their love, and wisdom, and above all, the hope that they had for the future world. Our ancestors cared for us.

‘THE FIRE IS ON, KEEP HOPE ALIVE’

That is the message that the central figure of the piece, the Hummingbird is delivering to us, its figure represents the messenger between the dimensions, communicating the voices of our ancestors, and inviting us to be the bridge between those who practiced this ritual before us, and those who will in the future. This ‘Hope’ is the Fire Creator, the inspiration for us as future ancestors, to create the world that we’re leaving to our future generations.

As we fight against colonization and cultural erasure I am reminded that there is no wrong way to reconnect with our heritage, we have to follow our intuition and trust the guidance of our ancestors.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Arturo Méndez-Reyes (he/they), is a cultural producer, curator, visual artist, musician, and community organizer, advancing cultural equity in SF. Founder of community empowering projects including Arts.Co.Lab, La Diáspora Festival, and Urban Prophets Illustrated and a producer for the Mission Arts and Performance Project (MAPP) since 2016.

He has curated shows for the Exploratorium, Harvard and Cornell University, and the United Nations, recipient of the CALI Catalyst Grant from CCI, the Cultural Equity Initiatives Grant by the SFAC, and fellowships with the Intercultural Leadership Institute ‘22, and the Emerging Arts Professionals SF/BA ‘19.

His work strives to create generative narratives to empower people through arts and culture for collective joy and liberation, and to advocate for institutional policies and practices that center the voices of people from the most vulnerable communities.
“Culture is an essential tool to pursue dignity for all people”.