New York City nonprofit cultural institution Belongó has announced its holiday season programming, featuring the Harlem Holiday Lights Parade, weekly jazz performances, the annual Christmas Eve concert and more. The free events will run from early November to late December.
Belongó will kick off the holiday performances with a float in the annual Harlem Holiday Lights Parade on Nov. 17, bringing Afro Latin jazz to 125th street. Six time Grammy winning pianist, composer and founder of Belongó, O’Farrill and the 18-piece Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra will perform holiday favorites from the Americas every Tuesday in December and January live jazz at The Pocket in Times Square. The ALJO will also perform at the annual 9 p.m. Christmas Eve Concert at the All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Park Slope.
The Fat Cats, a free youth ensemble program led by Zack O’Farrill, have an upcoming open rehearsal and jam at El Barrio’s Artspaces PS 109, Nov. 30 from 5–7 p.m., and a ShapeShifter Lab on Dec. 14. The Fat Cats has been providing young New York musicians with free mentorship and performance opportunities for 16 years.
Belongó’s free music programs during the holiday season will take place at the Harlem Library, public schools and will feature free events in Manhattan and The Bronx. Two HFH Family Workshops will be on Nov. 6 and Dec. 4, Arts in Health Interactive Performance Series at Urban Health Plan will take place Nov. 9, 16, 23, 30 and Dec. 7, a School Residency at the PS 30X Wilton school every Monday and Thursday in November and December and an Afro Latin Jazz Music Exploration at the Harlem Library on Nov. 21 and Dec. 19.
Founded in 2007 by O’Farrill, Belongó is dedicated to performing, teaching and preserving music rooted in African and Indigenous traditions through jazz. This year, the nonprofit saw the groundbreaking of Casa Belongó, a new culture hub with performance spaces, practice rooms and a public gathering space located on the first two floors of housing project Timbale Terrace in East Harlem. The groundbreaking was hosted by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in February.
View the full calendar here.
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