My friend Conor Sullivan hosted the first Festival of Lights and Sound in December 2019, raising over $1,500 for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. I had so much fun that night playing and singing with Lily and the Goddamns at midnight in our socks.
This year, instead of cramming into Conor’s Brooklyn living room with two or three dozen artists and friends, we’re taking the festival online. And instead of producing the marathon 24-hour festival from last year, Conor is spreading it out over “eight crazy nights” in a nod to Hanukkah. A slew of artists are appearing for performances and interviews every night from 7 pm to 9 pm. Donations will benefit the National Bail Out Collective this year.
I’m going to be playing a 25-minute solo set at the virtual music festival this Thursday evening, December 10, 2020. That night’s festivities begin at 7 pm; there are several other musicians and some interviews with other artists as well ’til 9 pm. I’m slated to go on at 8:20 pm. You can access everything related to the festival (viewing, donating, etc.) at this link: https://linktr.ee/ctlsully
Direct link to the YouTube playlist which you can click on to see the live festival videos (and the archived videos once they are broadcast) each night through Dec 12: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwZhShgr32iOBY7gAhDZf44vWLfYd7kxu
Also, I’ll be doing a more laid-back performance and interview with fellow Sarah Lawrence alum Kurt Santana on his broadcast on Thursday morning. Catch us Thurs 12/10 at 11 am Eastern at https://twitch.tv/brownmichaelcera
Other things I’ve been working on:
This summer, my friend and BMI Workshop collaborator Rachel Griffin asked if I’d like to contribute a short music lesson for her online program “Preschool for Littles”. I decided to deconstruct a piano lesson and turn it into a dance game by drawing part of the keyboard on pavement. You can view my piano cardio exercise (?!?!) at 1:10:25 of https://youtu.be/noJrVwp6akE?t=4225
Rachel and the rest of her team at Songs for Littles create free, engaging educational videos for young children, focusing on music and communication skills. When the pandemic reached the U.S., Songs for Littles ramped up their programming, seeing the increased need for enrichment for preschool and school-aged children. (Yeah, Rachel is great, but my heart belongs to Herbie, the fuzzy orange puppet.)
And my single “Curious” has been released on all major streaming platforms and music stores.
To stream or buy it on Bandcamp, click here: https://mariacaputo.bandcamp.com
To stream or buy it on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, etc., click here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mariacaputo/curious