On Saturday, October 14th at 5:00 p.m. EST, the Armstrong Now Open Studio will broadcast live from our Facebook and Youtube sites. The Armstrong Now Open Studio will provide an intimate look into the process of creating a new work that engages the Armstrong Archives. With a Q&A Talkback with the artists led by Dancer/Choreographer Chanel DaSilva, esperanza spalding, Antonio Brown and their collaborators will demystify and deconstruct their choices on stage and discuss how they responded to the week in residency.  Sign Up For The Newsletter to receive a notification for the beginning of the broadcast. See below for more information on Armstrong Now.

We are proud to announce the 2023 Armstrong Now Artists in Residence: Antonio Brown, Esperanza Spalding and Amyra León

The ARMSTRONG NOW Artist-in-Residence program contextualizes Louis Armstrong’s contributions within historical and 21st Century constellations of Black making, thinking, and vitality.  The residency provides emerging artists with a platform to create new work inspired by the vast collection of artifacts and documents in the Armstrong Archives.

Between July and December, 2023, Artists-in-Residence will spend time at the Museum for an intensive period of research and rehearsal, creating their new work based on thematic content drawn from the Armstrong Archives. At the end of their residency, artists will present a public performance of the work at the Museum and additional performances may premiere in collaboration with partners throughout New York and beyond.

“As we research and recall shared lineages and present day interrelations of improvisational music and dance across the Black Diaspora (and beyond),  it is an absolute treasure to explore and expand our learning, vocabulary, and connections through the music and life of Louis Armstrong.”

~esperanza spalding & AntonioBrownDance: Off-Brand gOdds

“This is truly a dream! It is an immense honor to have the opportunity to breathe new life into Louis Armstrong’s sacred archive. I am thrilled to approach this experience as an empty vessel, ready and willing to receive, transmute and discover the hymns and stories waiting to be summoned.  I do not take this lightly for I know the vibration of his spirit will be guiding me on this journey of witnessing and creation. Harlem raised me on this music, on this liberated feeling, taught me to navigate the trenches with a smile on my face and oh how Louis smiled even as he sang of the troubles unseen. I cannot wait to get to know the self documented version of Louis Armstrong – the person behind the brass and grit, the melody and sway.”
-Amyra León

Background 

In addition to his profound impact on the arts and global culture, Louis Armstrong’s aesthetic and performance elements reveal Blackness and Black vitality historically, currently, and most importantly for the future. Armstrong Now is dedicated to featuring world-class artists responding creatively to the Armstrong Archives through a contemporary Black lens. Each collaborative performance for Armstrong Now embodies this legacy.

Armstrong Now features world renowned Black artists responding creatively to the newly digitized Armstrong Archives. The result of these engagements is the development of new collaborative projects, art works, and a suite of short films. In December 2020, we premiered the inaugural season of Armstrong Now with four full episodes with accompanying artist talk-backs.