Date:
Sat, Sep 13
Time:
6:00pm – 9:30pm
Venue:
Great Lawn, Yerba Buena Gardens
Mission St. between 3rd & 4th Sts.
San Francisco, CA + Google Map
Phone:
Cost:
Free
Date:
Sat, Sep 20
Time:
2:00pm – 4:30pm
Venue:
Great Lawn, Yerba Buena Gardens
Mission St. between 3rd & 4th Sts.
San Francisco, CA + Google Map
Phone:
Cost:
Free
Samora Pinderhughes believes that music can and must change the world, and he crafts his songs to reach the tender spots we all share. The Berkeley-raised composer, pianist, vocalist, filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist is known for both his consummate, conservatory-trained musicianship and the striking intimacy and radical honesty of his lyrics. He can turn the spotlight inward, like on his haunting 2024 album Venus Smiles Not In the House of Tears, or plumb the depths of America’s carceral system. A protégé of MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship-winning actor, playwright and activist Anna Deavere Smith, he collaborates with artists such as Herbie Hancock, Glenn Ligon, Sara Bareilles, Simone Leigh, Daveed Diggs, Kyle Abraham, Lalah Hathaway and Common. Working in the tradition of Black surrealists throughout the African Diaspora, Pinderhughes seeks to bend words, sounds and images toward the cause of revolution. With his supple, achingly vulnerable vocals, jazz-steeped piano and innovative approach to designing songs, he’s carved out a singular path by incorporating a myriad of hidden voices. Presented in partnership with MoAD and SFJAZZ, this afternoon offers Pinderhughes’ latest dispatches from the frontlines of human connection.
Setting the stage for Pinderhughes’ revelations is the soul-steeped Oakland-based hip hop jazz collective SOL Development. Pushing back against despair and working through grief, the four teachers and freedom fighters of Sound of Light Development blend imaginative musicianship, virtuoso vocalists and a master emcee to illuminate today’s cultural and political climate. The band offers music that allows the listener to feel empowered in finding their own activism and healing, embracing Nina Simone’s belief that an artist’s duty is to reflect the times.
Date:
Sat, Sep 27
Time:
2:00pm – 4:00pm
Venue:
Great Lawn, Yerba Buena Gardens
Mission St. between 3rd & 4th Sts.
San Francisco, CA + Google Map
Phone:
Cost:
Free
After last year’s near legendary debut at the YBG Festival there was no question about a return date for Movement Immigrant Orchestra. Co-founded by Ethiopian-American singer-composer Meklit Hadero and Italian-born percussionist Marco Peris Coppola, the Movement Immigrant Orchestra is a singular collective of Bay Area-based immigrant artists that brings together musicians from a multitude of nations, including India, Mexico, Ethiopia, Cuba, Italy, Taiwan, Spain, Iran, China and Lebanon. It’s Ethio-Jazz meeting Mexican Ranchera; Indian Classical melodies colliding with Eastern European rhythms; Taiwanese folk songs melding with Spanish guitar. Recalibrating the ensemble’s sound for each piece depending upon which artists take the lead, the musicians revel in sharing their stories, traditions and influences, revealing the unexpected emotional and sonic resonances that connect them. Ever wondered what global movements of people sound like? This is it. Our local music is actually global and everyone is invited to dance. More than a concert, this performance reminds us of our cultural power, resilience, collaborative potential and strength.
Date:
Sun, Sep 28
Time:
11:00am – 4:00pm
Venue:
Great Lawn, Yerba Buena Gardens
Mission St. between 3rd & 4th Sts.
San Francisco, CA + Google Map
Phone:
Cost:
Free
In a city built on tall tales, hard-boiled prose, revelatory memoirs, and penetrating reportage, Litquake is the soul of San Francisco’s cultural life. The region’s largest literary festival returns in 2025, celebrating the exuberantly creative literary community from throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Come explore a curated spread of small presses and literary magazines at the Litquake Book Fair in Yerba Buena Gardens. Browse the best in local literature set to a day of poetry readings from Litquake Out Loud. Highlighting the Bay Area’s BIPOC & LGBTQ+ writers and thought leaders, Litquake continues to elevate underrepresented voices so that all people are included in creating and imbuing the Bay Area’s historic, thriving arts scene.
For complete schedule, please go to Litquake’s website at www.litquake.org.
