Arts & Entertainment

Jon Secada Performs At 28th Annual International Art & Ideas Festival

Artists, writers, musicians, actors, vocalists including a Pulitzer Prize finalist, Grammy and Emmy-award winners and nominees, headline.

New Haven's International Festival of Arts & Ideas, set for June 10-25, is one of the nation’s only festivals of this size that brings together world-class artists, thinkers, scientists, and innovators to celebrate great art as well as discuss big ideas.
New Haven's International Festival of Arts & Ideas, set for June 10-25, is one of the nation’s only festivals of this size that brings together world-class artists, thinkers, scientists, and innovators to celebrate great art as well as discuss big ideas. (Shutterstock)

NEW HAVEN, CT —Officials for the 28th Annual International Festival of Arts & Ideas announced the full lineup for this year’s highly anticipated program of events to run June 10-25 across multiple venues in New Haven.

The Festival’s 2023 theme, RISE, celebrates that everyone faces challenges from every direction in life, but can choose to RISE above them all with ARTS & IDEAS as their superpower.

Headliners for the internationally renowned festival include Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo, who will kick off the festival on June 10, and will be joined by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. On June 17 and 18, co-presented with Long Wharf Theater, Pulitzer Prize finalist and comedienne sensation Kristina Wong will perform.

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On June 17, keynote speaker Baratunde Thurston, an Emmy-nominated, multi-platform storyteller and producer and New York Times best-selling author will share his perspective on the state of our democracy. World-touring jazz artist and piano phenom Matthew Whitaker, being hailed as one of the greatest of all time, will perform on June 18.

Thursday, June 22, the legendary three-time Grammy award-winning artist Jon Secada will grace the New Haven Green with his band for a special concert. Also performing on the Green, Adams Sanders, better known as his drag persona, Ada Vox, who is an accomplished vocalist, songwriter and drag artist who found success and pushed boundaries as a contestant on the hit signing competition series American Idol. Among the many other notables joining the Festival are the Grammy-nominated contemporary string quartet Brooklyn Rider and Netflix actress Zainab Johnson.

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The Festival’s 150-plus events and programs appeal to people of all ages and interests. And new this year, the outdoor concert experience will be elevated after the Festival secured naming rights for the New Haven Green stage, which will now be known as the Alexander Clark Stage. The upgraded stage design will include state-of-the-art lighting and a new digital display.

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas is one of the nation’s only festivals of this size that brings together world-class artists, thinkers, scientists, and innovators to celebrate great art as well as discuss big ideas.

“Our goal is to present diverse programming that both entertains and inspires attendees, while broadening their perspective and deepening their understanding of the world we share,” said Shelley Quiala, festival executive director. “Our festival goers can choose from interactive workshops, thought-provoking panels, musical concerts, dance performances, bike tours, culinary tours, walking tours, fashion shows, drag shows, cooking classes, and so much more.”

This year’s ‘Ideas’ events focus on such critical issues as climate change, democracy, artificial intelligence, global water crises, clean cities initiatives, social equity and more. Each event features extraordinary thought leaders at the center of these important cultural conversations.

The program is also packed with family-friendly experiences. Children can try their hand at circus arts, participate in a musical about our oceans, join a cooking class serving up the delights of plant-based eating, learn a dance routine that brings Winnie the Pooh to life through Afro beats, and experience a multi-disciplinary performance inspired by the classic poem, Wynken, Blynken and Nod.

One of the highly anticipated programs for children is Melbourne, Australia-based Polyglot Theater’s production of Bees, which is hailed as a universally accessible experience. Additional international influences include Montreal’s highly acclaimed theatrical production of Macbeth Muet and the National Dance Theater Company (NDTC) of Jamaica, which is described as one of the most innovative dance companies to have achieved world acclaimed in the last half century. NDTC comes to New Haven in partnership with the Shubert Theater.

Closer to home, New York-based and award-winning Heidi Latsky Dance disrupts space, dismantles normal and redefines beauty through innovative performance that inspire an experience of inclusion.

“What makes this festival so unique is the array of art experiences interlaced with the humanities content,” said director of programming & community impact Malakhi Eason. “At the heart of this festival is the opportunity to present smart and entertaining programming about important ideas that help our audiences see others, themselves and the world differently.”

The festival will kick off Saturday, June 10 and run through Sunday, June 25. Tickets for selected events are on sale now at www.artidea.org. 85% of the events are free.

“New Haven is one of the most diverse, creative and welcoming cities in New England,” adds Kevin Ewing, International Festival of Arts & Ideas Board Chair. “There is an energy here that makes it the perfect location to celebrate and build community through arts and ideas.”

The Festival is presented with major support from Yale University, Connecticut Humanities, a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Connecticut Office of the Arts, Roslyn Milstein Meyer and Jerome Meyer, The Sassafras Foundation, Alexander Clark, The Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, The City of New Haven, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided our media sponsor Connecticut Public, and our generous community of individual supporters. For a complete list of supporters, please visit artidea.org


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