Philadelphia, Pa. – August 26, 2022 – Esperanza Arts Center (EAC) announces its 2022-2023 season. This year EAC presents its annual VOCES Series spotlighting the artists and traditions of the Latin Caribbean, with a rich array of family and community events throughout the year. The 2022-2023 season also marks the official launch of EAC’s new Arte en las Calles (Art in the Streets) series, bringing the power of the arts beyond the four walls with outdoor events in the Hunting Park neighborhood, featuring performances by a powerful lineup of local Latino artists.
“We are thrilled to once again offer a full season of affordable and pay as you wish in-person events and performances both for, and reflective of, the community we serve after two years of primarily recorded productions and livestreamed presentations. I’m especially excited to feature the artists and traditions of the Latin Caribbean, and to launch the first full season of our new outdoor neighborhood series, Arte en las Calles after piloting the program with several wonderful events this past Spring and Summer, including Wawa Welcome America’s first Latino event. 22/23 will also mark our first-ever foray into the world of comedy with an in-school/neighborhood residency and several performances led and curated by our Artist-In-Residence, comedian Che Guerrero. You won’t want to miss it.” – Bill Rhoads, Senior Vice President, Esperanza Arts Center.
“Esperanza Arts Center continues to fulfill the purpose for which it was established just four short years ago – to be a leading center for Latin performing arts in Philadelphia,” Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr. CEO of Esperanza. ”I’m always inspired by the unique artistic collaborations and how the center is a place for sharing our culture and stories, building with each other, and equipping the next generation of artists. Each night is memorable. Come to experience and support hope as it thrives on the stage.”
EAC’s season opener and first Arte en las Calles event of the new year will take place September 10 – a free season opening celebration in partnership with Opera Philadelphia with performances by local Latino artists, Latin food, local business marketplace, and activities for the entire family. Our opener will launch a multifaceted season that includes several world premieres; and performances by the Philadelphia Ballet, Orchestra 2001, Astral Artists, Dolce Suono, Javier Ávila, Piffaro, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, and Guggenheim Fellow and MacArthur Genius, Latin Jazz sensation, Miguel Zenón.
Esperanza Arts Center
2022/2023 Season Calendar
9/10/2022, 5:30 pm
Arte en las Calles
Opera in the Park, featuring Opera Philadelphia
LOCATION: Esperanza Parking Lot (entrance on Bristol Street, between 3rd & 5th)
Bring the whole family for an evening of Latin food, face painting, local business marketplace, bilingual comedy with Che Guerrero, Live Latin Jazz, and a hi-definition outdoor screening of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro with Spanish subtitles.
9/30/22, 7:30pm
De Cerca
Philadelphia Ballet
EAC opens our 22/23 season with an evening of intimate performances and conversation featuring Latino principal dancers of the Philadelphia Ballet.
10/7/22, 7:30pm
In Person & Livestreamed
VOCES Series
iConexiones! Cuba
Orchestra 2001
Orchestra 2001 continues its annual iConexiones! series at Esperanza Arts Center this season featuring orchestral and chamber music by Cuban composers and the world premiere of a new work.
11/18/22, 7:30pm
In Person & Livestreamed
LatinX Composers/Astral
Astral Artists
Astral Artist’s roster of emerging virtuosos will perform chamber music by Latin American composers, including the world premiere of a new work by Sergio Delgado Rodriguez.
12/3/22, 7:30pm
Música en tus Manos
Dolce Suono
Hailed as “an adventurous ensemble” (The New York Times) and “One of the most dynamic groups in the US” (The Huffington Post), the Dolce Suono ensemble will present a program of Baroque masterpieces by Latino composers.
12/8/22, 7:30pm
VOCES Series
Miguel Zenón
Latin Jazz
Described as a composer who is “reestablishing the artistic, cultural, and social tradition of jazz while creating an entirely new jazz language for the 21st century,” multiple Grammy nominee, MacArthur Genius, and Guggenheim Fellow, Jazz saxophonist and composer, Miguel Zenón, will lead a performance of classic and original Latin Jazz with his ensemble.
12/16/22, 7:30pm
In Person & Livestreamed
Christmas in the Barrio
Community Holiday Celebration
A North Philly tradition, Esperanza’s annual Christmas celebration for the community returns to Teatro Esperanza with an evening of Christmas caroling, traditional Latino music and dance, festive food, face-painting, and fun activities for the entire family.
1/28/23, 7:30pm
VOCES Series
The Perfect Latino
Javier Ávila
Award-winning Poet, Actor, and Educator, Javier Ávila, returns to Esperanza Arts Center with his new one-man show, The Perfect Latino, which blends comedy and poetry to explore the American Latino experience. The show draws on the arts, education, and entertainment to deliver a message about diversity, inclusion, race, and representation.
2/17/23, 7:30pm
In Person & Livestreamed
VOCES Series
Stand Up!
Bilingual Comedy with Che Guerrero
Esperanza Arts Center Artist-In-Residence, Dominican-American comedian, playwright, and Tik-Tok sensation, Che Guerrero hosts an evening of bilingual stand-up comedy featuring up and coming Latino comedians.
3/24/23, 7:30pm
VOCES Series
Landfall
Screening and Conversation
Through shard-like glimpses of everyday life in post-Hurricane María Puerto Rico, LANDFALL is a cautionary tale for our times. Set against the backdrop of protests that toppled the US colony’s governor in 2019, the film offers a prismatic portrait of collective trauma and resistance. Featuring intimate encounters with Puerto Ricans as well as the newcomers flooding the island, LANDFALL reflects on a question of contemporary global relevance: when the world falls apart, who do we become?
Post-screening conversation and talkback with Associate Producer/Narrator, Lale Namerrow Pastor.
4/22/23, 7:30pm
In Person & Livestreamed
Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers
Keila Perez-Vega
KYL/D returns to the Teatro stage with a program that spotlights performances and choreography by company dancer, Keila Perez-Vega.
5/12/23, 7:30pm
Piffaro
Renaissance Music from South America
The written tradition of a melody without accompaniment goes back centuries. Piffaro and AMLA will explore and perform sacred and secular music from 16th and 17th century Peru, Paraguay, and Bolivia for singers, winds, and plucked strings.
6/10/23, 10:30am
VOCES Series
Stories from the Caribbean
Storytime and Activities with Dr. Stephanie Brown
Enjoy a morning of games, balloons, storytime, and other fun activities, as Philadelphia-based children’s author, Stephanie Brown, reads her new book and other stories for children by writers from the Caribbean.
Moderated audience conversations with the artists follow all performances.
Artists, dates, and programs subject to change.
Performances will be presented at limited capacity in the Teatro. Social distancing and masks recommended throughout the event regardless of vaccination status. For Esperanza’s current COVID safety policies and restrictions, visit https://www.esperanza.us/esperanza-visitor/.
For media inquiries, please contact Christine Nieves at cnieves@esperanza.us
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Esperanza Arts Center. Guided by our core values of faith, excellence, and integrity, Esperanza Arts Center (EAC) will touch the lives of and foster positive social change in, the Hunting Park neighborhood and the Latino community through the arts. EAC will be the center for Latino arts and culture in the Philadelphia region – presenting music, dance, theater, cinema, and visual art from Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as a broad spectrum of traditions from around the world.
Che Guerrero – EAC Artist-In-Residence
Dominican-American comedian, playwright, and Tik-Tok sensation, Che Guerrero has spent 16 years tackling race, politics, and family through stand-up comedy. Che’s style is rooted in his experiences growing up undocumented. A revolutionary voice on the modern comedy scene, his sense of humor and command of the stage is the result of obstacles often unseen by the average American. He has been a contributing writer to MTV, and appeared on several national media outlets, including AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live amidst a roster of world-renowned comedians. In 2018 he was on 50 Central on BET as part of their Artist Spotlight Series. He also featured at the NXNE’s Comedy Film and Music Festival as well as The Laughing Skull Comedy Festival. Che is a staple in the New York City comedy circuit. He has featured in Time Out NY’s Joke of the Week which showcased his consummate professionalism as a joke writer and familiar face in the city’s comedy clubs. He was also asked to perform in The Hoboken Comedy Festival for three consecutive years along with some of the most prolific local comedians in the industry. His album “Thank You, That’s My Time” is on constant rotation on Sirius XM radio. His 5 star rated podcast American Immigrant can be heard on iTunes and stitcher.
Esperanza is a national community-based social benefit organization founded in 1987 by the Reverend Luis Cortés Jr., and the Hispanic Clergy of Philadelphia & Vicinity with the biblical mandate to serve and advocate for “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40). Beginning with a local initiative, with programs targeted to address the unmet needs of North Philadelphia’s Hispanic community, Rev. Cortés is now sought by national and international leaders alike on issues of economic and workforce development, housing, immigration, and education. Under his leadership, Esperanza has grown from a small 20-person operation to a $52 million organization with more than 500 employees. Follow us on social media @esperanza_us on Twitter and Instagram, EsperanzaUSA on Facebook and Esperanza US on YouTube. For more information, please visit www.esperanza.us.
THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS & SPONSORS
Connelly Foundation, State of PA, Comcast, William Penn Foundation, Mellon Foundation, PA Sharp, OACCE, Presser Foundation, Musical Fund Society, NALAC, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Pennsylvania Humanities Council, Steven R. Gerber Trust, Mattel, MailChimp, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
ARTISTIC & COMMUNITY PARTNERS
AMLA, Astral Artists, BalletX, The Philadelphia Orchestra, KYL/D, Opera Philadelphia, Dolce Suono, Orchestra 2001, Philadelphia Ballet, Carnegie Hall, Piffaro, Teatro del Sol, PCMS, Philadanco, FringeArts, Philly Pops, Play on Philly, Mighty Writers, Clef Club of Jazz, Global Philadelphia, The Mann Center, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Taller, APM, Congreso, Concilio