Tag: live music

Iris Fellows at the Green Room

Iris Collective Fellows 25-25

Crosstown Arts presents Iris Fellows at The Green Room

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Thursday, November 6, 2025
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20 in advance (plus fees) | $20 at the door

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Join our Fellows, Roberta dos Santos, cello, and Alexandre Negrão, violin, for an eclectic night of music in this intimate setting. From the lyricism of Brazilian masters Osvaldo Lacerda and Chiquinha Gonzaga, to the intensity of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7, this program spans worlds of sound and emotion. The program also includes Tucker Fuller’s contemplative The Road Ahead inspired by Thomas Merton’s reflections on faith, and Clarice Assad’s Canções da América, bursting with color and rhythm. Featuring Iris artists Marisa Polesky, violin; Aaron Tubergen, viola and David Carlisle, percussion.About the Fellows:
Originally from Belem do Pará, Alexandre Negrão started his violin studies when he was 7 years old at the Fundação Amazônica de Música. Alexandre is a former member of the Theatro da Paz Symphony Orchestra and has served as acting concertmaster from 2014 to 2016.
Alexandre has studied in a special international string program in Southern Louisiana at Nicholls State University under the direction of Prof. James Alexander in Fall 2016. After completing the program, Alexandre auditioned and was admitted with full scholarship for his undergraduate studies at the University of Missouri – School of Music. He has graduated with master’s in music degree in violin performance in the class of Professor Eva Szekely this August 2025 and was the violin chair for the New Music Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Stefan Freund.
Currently he dedicates his time to discover and perform music from underrepresented composers from Brazil and the USA. While teaching and guiding young musicians in the community, Alexandre help students to find their on paths in music and in life.
Roberta dos Santos is an avid chamber musician and advocate for contemporary music. A Brazilian cellist, Roberta collaborates with some of the most diverse and renowned composers to elevate underrepresented voices in the music scene, both in Brazil and internationally.
As an educator, Roberta has dedicated over a decade to teaching at Associação Músicos do Futuro in Taboão da Serra, her alma mater. She is a Suzuki-certified instructor, trained under Dr. Tanya Carey, and she has mentored students at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Civic Youth Ensembles.
Roberta continues to influence the next generation of musicians through collaborations with the Memphis Youth Symphony Program, PRIZM Ensemble, and other initiatives, while also maintaining a private studio in the U.S. and Brazil. Roberta is a doctoral candidate in cello performance at the University of Memphis, where she also serves as a teaching assistant. Her doctoral research explores themes of social justice and race within Brazilian classical music. Her principal mentors include Ji Yon Shim Anderson, Felipe Avellar de Aquino, Dennis Parker, Brian Snow, and Kimberly Patterson.

The Iris Collective Strings Return!

Iris Collective Strings

Crosstown Arts presents Iris Collective Strings in The Green Room

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Friday, May 16, 2025
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20 in advance (plus fees) | $20 at the door

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Join the Iris Collective string musicians as they return for an evening of inspiring and eclectic string music.
Gabriela Fogo is a dynamic and versatile violinist and educator from Brazil. In orchestral settings, Gabriela has played with orchestras across Brazil and the U.S. and her chamber music experience includes collaborations with numerous ensembles like Camerata Fukuda, the Abraham Franck String Quartet, and the Burgin String Quartet, as well as the FogoNuevo violin and viola duo. Deeply committed to music education, Gabriela is a trained Suzuki teacher under the guidance of Susan Kempter at the University of New Mexico.
Gabriela has taught private and group lessons, coached youth orchestras in Brazil and the U.S., and was a Suzuki Group class coordinator at the University of New Mexico string lab school. Gabriela holds a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Faculdade Cantareira in São Paulo, Brazil, and a master’s degree in violin performance and string pedagogy from the University of New Mexico, where she was a teaching assistant. She received her Doctor of Music degree in violin performance at Florida State University as a graduate teaching assistant to Dr. Shannon Thomas.
Roberta dos Santos is an avid chamber musician and advocate for contemporary music. A Brazilian cellist, Roberta collaborates with some of the most diverse and renowned composers to elevate underrepresented voices in the music scene, both in Brazil and internationally. Roberta continues to influence the next generation of musicians through collaborations with the Memphis Youth Symphony Program, PRIZM Ensemble, and Iris Collective as an Iris Artist Fellow, while also maintaining a private studio in the U.S. and Brazil.
Roberta is a doctoral candidate in cello performance at the University of Memphis, where she also serves as a teaching assistant. Roberta earned her bachelor’s degree from Faculdade Cantareira in São Paulo, Brazil, her master’s degrees from the Federal University of Paraíba and Bowling Green State University, and an Artist Diploma from Nicholls State University.

The Blue Tom Records Revue

Crosstown Arts presents The Blue Tom Records Revue in The Green Room

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $1o | free for students

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

The Blue Tom Records Revue showcases student performers from the University of Memphis’ Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. Serving as the finale of the student-run record label’s live performance series, the Revue will feature music from all genres, including R&B, rock, folk, rap, and jazz.
Blue Tom Records is the student-run record label facilitated by music industry students at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis.
Students in our Record Operations (MUID 4850 & 4851) and Concerts & Touring (MUID 4301 & 4825) courses produce, market, manage, and display their original music throughout Memphis over the course of two semesters.
Blue Tom has performed at: Mempho Fest; WYXR’s Raised By Sound Fest; Overton Park Shell on Wheels; Health Sciences Park; and hosted festivals at Crosstown Theater.
Alumni of the label include: The Band Camino, Aaron James, PreauXX, Kid Maestro, Jordan Occasionally, Nick Black, Alexis Jade, and others.

Shadowlands

John & Sean, Shadowlands

Crosstown Arts presents Shadowlands in The Green Room

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $28 in advance (plus fees) | $33 at the door

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

John Raymond x S. Carey “Shadowlands”
John Raymond and S. Carey have been playing music together for close to twenty years since their time studying music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. While they both received training in jazz and classical music, their careers would soon head in very different directions. Carey would become the right-hand man to Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver); collaborate as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Low, and Bruce Hornsby among others; and release four albums of his own to critical acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, and more. Raymond, on the other hand, would become a Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer “steering jazz in the right direction” (Downbeat); release eight albums garnering praise from the New York Times, Stereogum, and others; and teach on faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, one of the most prestigious music conservatories in the world.
In 2019, the two reunited and began experimenting on what their artistic voices would sound like together. Raymond brought in a host of musical ideas, while Carey contributed lyrics and helped shape the ideas into songs. Producer Sun Chung (formerly with ECM Records) came on board shortly after, and together they enlisted a cast of A-list musicians to help flesh out the music including pianist Aaron Parks (Terri Lyne Carrington, Terence Blanchard), bassist Chris Morrissey (Norah Jones, Mark Guiliana), and guitarist Dave Devine (Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band).
The result is their new album, Shadowlands (Libellule Editions), a stunning, genre-bending collection of songs that combines the warmth and beauty of Carey’s aesthetic with the improvisational, spontaneous nature of Raymond’s. The music ranges from intimate and meditative to soaring and anthemic, with electric moments of musical interplay throughout. It’s the kind of collaboration that feels as if it were years in the making.

Orixa’s Afropunk Experience 40

Live music performance.

Free food and drinks with admission.

Anitra Jay & The Rebellion

General Admission: $5 in advance | $10 at the door
VIP Ticket: $15

Join Anitra Jay & The Rebellion for a night of not-so-ordinary live music. This full band show is a raw, nitty-gritty, soulful musical experience for the conscious rebel.

Also featured is the soulful, rugged sound of FredX and the visual art of Rodan Ross.