In-person tickets for this program are SOLD OUT. You can still join us online.
With multiple European tours already under their belt, QWANQWA, an Ethiopian experimenta/traditional ensemble, embarks on their  debut US tour. The tour visits 23 states with performances including the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Boston Global Music Festival, and the  North Carolina Folk Festival. Plus the City of Asylum stage. 
Founded in 2012, QWANQWA is a supergroup of musicians from the baddest ensembles of Addis Ababa, brought together by a shared passion for the power of Ethiopian music. Named for the Amharic word for “language,” QWANQWA, is a project creating dialogues between cultures, promoting the idea of music as universal language.

This concert features some of Cory’s original music as well as music by one of his biggest inspirations, saxophonist Hank Mobley. Local musicians Alton Merrell, Paul Thompson, and Thomas Wendt round out the group in what promises to be a lively, fun, and cool evening of music.

Ciao! Local group Alla Boara celebrates the release of their debut album, Le Tre Sorelle, with an intimate concert for the City of Asylum community.
Alla Boara seeks to bring recognition and new life to Italy’s diverse history of regional folk music. Their modern arrangements of near-extinct folk songs are surprising, playful, mournful, tender, and bewitching. Alla Boara’s dynamic work aims to inspire audiences of all ethnic heritages to treasure their musical roots and consider the contemporary cultural relevance of historical songs. Check out their spin on the Italian folk song “Fimmene, Fimmene” here.

City of Asylum artist-in-residence Mai Khôi presents a concert of brand-new music composed in collaboration with Pittsburgh-based pianist Mark Micchelli. 
Khôi founded Mai Khôi and the Dissidents in Vietnam in 2017 as a vehicle to perform her genre-busting songs protesting government censorship and police violence. The band performed secretly at underground shows in Hanoi until threats from the Vietnamese government forced the band to change their name, then ultimately dissolve. Following Khôi's exile to the United States, she reformed the band with local Pittsburgh musicians while continuing the group's radical mission.