AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER AND ARTIST SAMORA PINDERHUGHES TO PRESENT AN ORIGINAL SUITE OF MUSIC ALONGSIDE VISUAL ELEMENTS INTERWOVEN WITH INSPIRATION FROM BALDWIN’S PLAYS & ESSAYS

SPECIAL PERFORMANCE AT NEW YORK’S APOLLO THEATER FEBRUARY 22

IN CELEBRATION OF BALDWIN’S 100TH BIRTHYEAR

February 11, 2025 –This February, The Apollo will celebrate the 100th birthyear of seminal author and activist James Baldwin with a weekend of events across film and performance. Award-winning composer and artist Samora Pinderhughes will present an original suite of music alongside visual elements interwoven with Baldwin’s essays, including The Amen Corner and The Cross of Redemption in a headline performance titled “The James Baldwin Essays: As Much Truth As One Can Bear” on February 22—tickets are available now here.

The weekend also includes a special screening of Horace Ové’s groundbreaking short documentary on the author, which captures a poignant conversation between Baldwin and comedian-activist Dick Gregory discussing topics ranging from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement to the perils of false consciousness. The film screening expands on Baldwin’s legacy with a post-show conversation with Baldwin scholar and historian Dr. Rich Blint.

“At the core of The Apollo’s spring season is the exploration of Black legacy and lineage, celebrating the impact of seminal and pioneering Black artists and thinkers,” said Apollo Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes. “We honor the 100th year of James Baldwin’s legacy nativand impact through Samora’s immersive performance, a part of our Apollo Works in Process series, which invests in the future of the Black artistic canon, providing an incubator for burgeoning talent across music, dance, and theater.”

Tickets for Apollo Film: Baldwin’s N*gger + Post Show Conversation are $25 and can be purchased here.

To learn more and view programming updates, please visit https://www.apollotheater.org/winter-spring-2025.

Apollo Film: Baldwin’s N*gger + Post Show Conversation
Friday, February 21, 2025
The Apollo Stages at the Victoria | 7:30 PM

In this riveting short documentary from 1968, directed by pioneering Trinidadian-British filmmaker Horace Ové, James Baldwin and comedian-activist Dick Gregory speak to a group of radical West Indian students in London about everything from the state of the civil rights movement to the perils of false consciousness. The provocative title, drawn from Baldwin’s words, refers to one of the painful realities of Black American identity: that even his name conjures a history of slavery. This thought-provoking documentary invites audiences to critically explore American history while reflecting on the enduring relevance of Baldwin’s ideas for today’s society.

A post-show conversation with Baldwin scholar and historian Dr. Rich Blint and Apollo Senior Director of Programming Leatrice Ellzy will expand on Baldwin’s enduring impact on the community.

Samora Pinderhughes: The James Baldwin Essays:
As Much Truth As One Can Bear
Saturday, February 22, 2025
The Apollo Stages at the Victoria | 4 PM, 8 PM

In celebration of James Baldwin’s legacy, Pinderhughes will be performing The James Baldwin Essays: As Much Truth As One Can Bear, an immersive multimedia experience that weaves together songcraft, poetry, film, and inspiration from Baldwin’s own plays & essays like The Amen Corner and The Cross of Redemption. The presentation includes new, original music for which Pinderhughes will develop into an upcoming EP. Originally commissioned by Harlem Stage in 2015, Pinderhughes has refreshed the original score with new music and new voices.

Through instrumental ensemble, small choir (6 vocalists), and the echoes of Baldwin’s timeless words, Pinderhughes invites audiences to grapple with the pressing questions of today while imagining new ways forward. Surrounded by beautiful soundscapes and poignant, original lyrics, this transformative experience honors Baldwin’s legacy and inspires a deeper understanding of our modern world.

About the Participants
Samora Pinderhughes (Vocals/Piano/Keys)
Cleo Reed (Vocals/Audio/Guitar)
Josh Hari (Bass)
Brian Richburg Jr. (Drums)
Frankie Leroux (Percussion/Production)
Julia Easterlin (Vocals)
Dani Murcia (Vocals)
Tajahniya Sapp (Vocals)
Jehbreal Jackson (Vocals)
Vuyo Sotashe (Vocals)
Nia Drummond (Vocals)

SAMORA PINDERHUGHES

Samora Pinderhughes is a composer, pianist, vocalist, filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist known for examining sociopolitical issues and fighting for change through his art. Lauded as “one of the most affecting singer-songwriters today, in any genre” by The New York Times and “a magical being” by Forbes, Pinderhughes is shaping new worlds through his art, his honesty, and his vulnerability.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Pinderhughes began playing music at two years old and went on to study music at Juilliard where he met his primary artistic mentor, MacArthur-winning playwright Anna Deavere Smith. Pinderhughes has collaborated and performed with a number of artists including Common, Robert Glasper, Karriem Riggins, Kyle Abraham, Sara Bareilles, Daveed Diggs and Herbie Hancock, and his works have been commissioned by institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Sundance Film Festival, The Kitchen, Yerba Buena Center for The Arts, and the Kennedy Center.

Pinderhughes was the first-ever Art for Justice + Soros Justice Fellow and a recipient of Chamber Music America’s 2020 Visionary Award. He is also a United States Artist Fellow, Creative Capital awardee, and Sundance Composers Lab fellow. He graduated from Juilliard and is getting his Ph.D. at Harvard University, where he is currently teaching the class 'Music in Social Practice: Sounding the Chorus of Community.’ In 2025, Pinderhughes was named the Adobe Creative Resident at MOMA as well as a Pioneer Works Visual Art & Music Resident.

Pinderhughes also recently won an Emmy for his work as the composer, pianist and vocalist on Michéle Stephenson and Joe Brewster’s documentary, “Going to Mars: the Nikki Giovanni Project,” which also earned a place on the Oscars shortlist on top of IDA and Cinema Eye Honors nominations for Best Music Score.

In support of his new, third full length LP Venus Smiles Not in The House of Tears, Pinderhughes embarked on a slew of new US and Europe tour dates, with stops in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, DC and Seattle. In Europe, Pinderhughes performed at the London Jazz Festival and made stops in Germany, Netherlands, and Poland.

ABOUT THE APOLLO

The legendary Apollo—the performing arts center and soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, The Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world. In 2024, The Apollo opened The Apollo Stages at the Victoria, marking the first ever expansion of The Apollo in its nearly 90-year history.

With music at its core, The Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes the world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved; special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo; 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella; and the annual Africa Now! Festival. The non-profit Apollo is a performing arts presenter, commissioner, and collaborator that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and musical works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend The Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens, including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival as well as other multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.

Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, The Apollo has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at The Apollo are Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R. D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Jazmine Sullivan, Machine Gun Kelly, and Miri Ben Ari; and The Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy. For more information about The Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.

For more information, please contactKrista Williams, Christopher Emond or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.

For more information, please contact Sydney Edwards at The Apollo or Josh Balber and Destanie Martin-Johnson at Resnicow and Associates.