Thanks to the New York City Administration for Children's Services and the Department of Homeless Services for supporting families during Family Concerts.
Carnegie Hall Family Concerts are made possible, in part, by endowment gifts from The Irene Diamond Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Lester S. Morse Jr., and the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund.
Ilusha Tsinadze is a singer, guitarist, composer, and arranger born in Tbilisi,
Georgia. After studying jazz in college, his passion shifted to the music of his homeland.
In 2011, Ilusha released his debut album, Deda Ena (Mother Tongue), which
featured his own distinctly personal interpretations of Georgian folk songs along with
compositions of his own. The music video for his song "Mokhevis Kalo Tinao" went viral in
Georgia and has since won him wide acclaim and national fame in the country. He has
performed with his Brooklyn-based band around the world, allowing audiences to experience
his emotional renditions of Georgia's beautiful and little-known musical
traditions.
Called a "postmodernist Bessie Smith" by The Village Voice, composer,
vocalist, and cultural worker Imani Uzuri has collaborated with an eclectic array of
artists including Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Vijay Iyer, Carrie Mae Weems, and Robert
Ashley. Her breakthrough album The Gypsy Diaries was released to critical acclaim.
In 2016, Imani made her Lincoln Center American Songbook debut and was a featured performer
on Black Girls Rock! on BET. She also composed and co-wrote lyrics for a new
musical GIRL Shakes Loose, which was selected for the 2016 O'Neill National Music
Theater Conference, and is currently composing a contemporary opera, Hush Arbor.
She recently collaborated with The Public Theater on a concert tour of community centers,
shelters, and prisons, and is Founder and Artistic Director of Revolutionary
Choir.
Haitian songstress Emeline Michel is internationally acclaimed for fusing pop,
jazz, blues, and traditional Haitian rhythms into deeply moving, joyful music delivered
through charismatic live shows. A master entertainer, Emeline has shared her message with
audiences for more than 20 years, including appearances at the United Nations, Montreal's
International Jazz Festival, and MTV's Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for
Earthquake Relief. Hailed by the New York Times as a "diplomat of music" and
"the dancing ambassador with a voice serene and warm like the breeze," she is now based in
New York City, where she runs her own production company, Production Cheval de Feu, and
remains an important voice for social issues concerning women and children worldwide.