# John Zorn’s ‘Concert For Ukraine’ at the New School joins a growing relief effort: Video, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2022/03/12/john-zorns-concert-for-ukraine-at-the-new-school-joins-a-growing-relief-effort-video-photos/
- Published: 2022-03-12T03:55:23+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**The war in Ukraine has galvanized diplomatic sanctions, global protest, and humanitarian
actions big and small. One of the notable responses in our musical community is 
a [benefit concert](https://event.newschool.edu/aconcertforukraine) taking place
tonight at the New School in New York.**

Organized by composer and alto saxophonist John Zorn, it will feature his New Masada
in an all-star lineup that includes composer Philip Glass, in a solo piano recital,
and performance artist Laurie Anderson, in a duo with Zorn. Also performing are 
vocalist Sofia Rei, Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano’s Sound Prints, and the Julian Lage
Trio.

The impulse behind the concert comes down to basic human principles, says Richard
Kessler, Executive Dean for the College of Performing Arts at the New School, which
is co-presenting the event. “You’re seeing civilians being targeted, civilians trying
to evacuate, being targeted by the Russian government”.

![Richard Kessler and John Zorn](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/dd4012d/
2147483647/strip/true/crop/3456x2592+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%
2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwbgo%2Ffiles%2F201703%2Fzorn_kessler_piano.
jpg)

Kessler adds: “We haven’t seen anything like this in Europe since World War II. 
So I think really was John’s initial feeling, and my initial feeling: We want to
do something, as I think so many people want to, and I think we’ve seen it with 
how fast the tickets sold out for this.”

The auditorium at the New School has a capacity of 465, and as Kessler notes, reservations
filled quickly. Every RSVP came with a prompt to donate to one of three relief organizations,
which Zorn and Kessler selected after carefully surveying the field. First among
them was the [International Rescue Committee](https://help.rescue.org/donate/ukraine-acq)—“
one that, in my view, is among the gold standards for humanitarian relief in the
20th century, Kessler says. “We know them, and they mobilized very quickly around
this. And then [Save the Children](https://support.savethechildren.org/site/Donation2?df_id=5751&mfc_pref=T&5751.donation=form1)
had developed a very specific, family-oriented charity that was directed to Ukraine.”

The third organization is [Razom](https://razomforukraine.org/), which emerged out
of the Maidan uprising, better known as the Revolution of Dignity, in 2014. “Both
John and I were searching — you know, there were websites that emerged, and other
media outlets, and they would recommend for those who want to give to the Ukrainian
relief,” Kessler says. “They would recommend charities, and Razom popped up on almost
every one of the lists.”

The Concert for Ukraine will be the first full-scale presentation in the New School
auditorium since March of 2020. Kessler says that in addition to supporting humanitarian
relief, the institution is now focused on providing resources and emotional support
to its Ukrainian students — as well as its Russian students, who could be experiencing
social ostracism or worse, regardless of their own opposition to the war.

Many other benefit concerts for Ukraine have cropped up in recent days and weeks,
here and abroad. A separate yet identically named Concert for Ukraine is scheduled
for Sunday night in London, as we discussed in a recent [conversation with its organizer](https://www.wbgo.org/music/2022-03-03/music-as-resistance-a-word-with-ukrainian-polish-jazz-harpist-alina-bzhezhinska),
Ukrainian-born harpist Alina Bzhezhinska.

As for Zorn, who has mobilized quickly around other humanitarian efforts in the 
past, he is preparing to mount two festival residencies in the coming weeks. [Reflektor John Zorn](https://www.elbphilharmonie.de/en/festivals/reflektor-john-zorn/768)
is a four-day series unfolding next week at the Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle 
in Hamburg, Germany. Then Zorn heads to Knoxville, Tenn. for the [Big Ears Festival](https://bigearsfestival.org/),
which will present “The Music of John Zorn” as a fest-within-a-fest, featuring New
Masada alongside more than a dozen fellow travelers in Zorn’s sound-world.

He’ll be back in the New York area on April 1 for [Benefit for Ukraine Relief](https://roulette.org/event/benefit-for-ukraine-relief/),
at Roulette in Brooklyn. That event will feature a special edition of his Cobra 
project, along with Vadim Neselovskyi’s Odessa Project, a solo piano set by Fred
Hersch, and a video presentation of Meredith Monk’s “Happy Woman,” with Monk on 
vocals and John Hollenbeck on drums.

**By [Nate Chinen](https://www.wbgo.org/people/nate-chinen)**

![John Zorn's New Masada](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6487152/2147483647/
strip/true/crop/1638x1228+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.
s3.amazonaws.com%2F75%2F81%2F892c9c3c46579936e1489ed7a7f1%2Fnew-masada.jpeg)

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