MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCES

In 2023, the Murphy Park Amphitheatre was transformed with exciting cultural music, drumming, dance, and circus arts throughout the day.   Check back in November 2023 for a list of 2024 performers and activations.

2023 PERFORMANCES

11 AM - 12:30 PM
​Glendale Community College Student Music Showcase

The GCC Music Department offers a wide range of performing ensembles which are both an integral part of every musician's education and an opportunity for adults from the community to participate in the performance of great masterworks. Instrumental performing ensembles at Glendale College include the Community Orchestra, various Chamber groups, Jazz combos, Jazz Band, and our newly formed North Indian and West African ensembles.

11:00 AM Woodwind Quintet
11:25 AM Trumpet Quintet
11:50 AM Sax Duo
12:05 PM Vocal Ensemble
1 PM - 2 PM
​Traveler (World Music)
​https://scottjefferstraveler.com/
TRAVELER featuring the captivating sound of violin, oud, Middle Eastern percussion along with ethnic instruments collected during violinist and band leader Scott Jeffers' journeys around the world. The compositions range from fiery to playful songs, to tragic, heart-wrenching ballads inspired while traveling across the harsh deserts of Jordan and Egypt and across the contrasting landscape of the Emerald Isle. The real magic of a Traveler concert is in the connection the band makes with the audience. Acoustic Traveler has been a returning favorite of the spectacular Las Noches de las Luminarias festival throughout December, bringing the sounds of Moroccan sand dunes, Mediterranean coast, birdsong filled forests of Transylvania, and rain forests of Malaysia to Arizona.
​2:30 PM- 3:00 PM
​9 Dragons Lion Dance and Kung Fu Martial Arts
9dragonskungfu.com/
9 Dragons Lion Dance has been performing traditional Chinese lion dance for 5 years all over the Phoenix Valley.  Based out of a martial arts school, they seek to combine martial prowess and the artistry of the lion dance to share this unique cultural experience. Traditional Chinese Lion Dance has been performed for centuries to provide entertainment, protection, and good fortune. The 9 Dragons Lion Dance Team is led by Instructor Janeen Lantry and has represented 9 Dragons Kung Fu in performances across the valley for more than three years.  The 9 Dragons Lion Dance team was founded to learn and preserve the cultural practice of Chinese Lion Dance, both as a performance art and competition piece. 
3:30 PM - 3:50 PM
​Kawambe-Omowale (African Drum and Dance)
https://www.kawambeomowale.com/about
Kawambe-Omowale is a Phoenix based multifaceted performing arts company merging music, dance, song, and storytelling as they exist traditionally in the cultural communities of Peoples from Africa south of the Sahara and the African diaspora. For thirty-eight years Kawambe-Omowale has engaged audiences in our presentations, performing throughout the state of Arizona and outside the state as well, We are resident artists at Eastlake Park Community Center in Phoenix, AZ where we offer classes for children and adults at beginning through advanced levels. Come join us and glimpse the depth, breadth, consistency, and diversity of African Peoples!
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
​Arizona Mariachi
https://www.ollinyoliztli.org/
Ollin Yoliztli Mexican Culture, Dance and Arts Institute is an Arizona based educational institution founded in 1994 under the direction of Master instructor, choreographer & researcher Ana M. Bonilla. Our current programs include Mexican folklore dance classes, Mariachi music classes (all instruments), karate, Japanese language, kobudo and Nahuatl (Aztec) language classes! We perform on the world's stages presenting our art in public and private spaces. We connect the world through the beauty of the Mexican folklore dance and music and inspire a lasting love and appreciation for dance through exhilarating performances, authentic choreographies and outstanding educational programs.​
5:30 PM - 6:10 PM
​Ken Koshio (Japanese Taiko Drumming)
www.kenkoshio.com/

Producer, Japanese folk artist, Taiko player and Peace activist, Ken Koshio was born in Japan and has traveled the world as a street singer. Currently based in Phoenix, he creates fusion music with Native Americans and has produced a Japanese folk tale musical story, “Sakura no Ne”, in collaboration with the Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix. Not just a musician, Koshio acts as a cultural ambassador of Japan and a cultural bridge of the world. He frequently collaborates with Native American artists exploring the intersection of cultures with dance, music, drumming and singing. He tours Japan with several Native American artists to create new exchanges in this global age. We know that music and art are one of the great tools to communicate between cultures and languages. Ken is currently working on upcoming new project “heartbeats from the Grand Canyon” which has been his dream to bring peace and harmony through music and arts to the world. 
​6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
​Flam Chen (Circus and Fire Arts, DJ Dance Party)
https://flamchen.com/​

Flam Chen teams up with JuJuBey Dance company to present Dance Across the Water - A Journey of Refuge, Restoration and Synthesis.
 
A spectacular showcase evening performance will take place by FLAM CHEN at 6:30 PM in the Murphy Park amphitheater. The collaborative performance will feature elaborate costuming, tightly-woven choreography, puppetry, fire arts, stilt-walking, music, and other circus arts.
 
Flam Chen creates dazzling public spectacle, merging daredevil acrobatics and a mastery of air and fire arts. Their spectacular performances explore narratives that roam from the fantastic to the satirical with skills finely honed over 20 years of innovation in new circus arts. With creative engineering and effects, their performances create a sense of immersion, wrapping the audience in hypnotic visions from dozens of original shows in the troupe’s repertoire, along with custom-made performances for public projects and private commissions. Flam Chen have flown and created performance for such luminaries as director Tim Burton and Spiderman/Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee. FLAM CHEN hosts and produces international performance artists at events in Tucson, AZ and collaborates in many projects throughout the year, including co-founding the annual All Souls Procession Weekend in Tucson which draws upwards of 150,000 participants region wide and performers and creatives from all over the world.

Artist Statement: 
Through dance, global beats and circus arts, we spin a semi-autobiographical yarn about how we navigate through difficult spaces, both emotional and physical, to evolve culture and ourselves. We were inspired by the dances that pilgrims use to cross the harsh expanse of the Sahara and the journeys our friends and families have taken to arrive in the Sonoran Desert. Questions arise like “ what do we keep with us? What do we discard?
How do we honor our Ancestors? And How do we translate these stories to our children? Circus arts, such as stilt walking, fire spinning and puppetry give us an exciting and varied palette to weave with Afro Brazilian, West African and AfroBeat Dance forms. DJJustJon closes the evening with a rousing Dance Party.

INTERACTIVE ART INSTALLATIONS

​The festival will give attendees the unique opportunity to engage up close and personal with artists and interactive art installations. Activities and experiences will take place throughout Murphy Park and inside participating businesses located in the Downtown Glendale district surrounding the park. Highlights include a community chalk art zone, a live paint-by-the-numbers mural with Snoodcity Artists, inflatable art installations, youth painting activities with Veronika Deeva, and a musical instrument petting zoo with Sankofa Island Magic.  
VESSEL
Performing Spectrum from 12 PM – 3 PM
 
The atmospheric theatre performance by VESSEL, Spectrum, will surprise and delight audiences transforming the street into a stage, revealing the poetry and beauty of the mundane. Adorned in every color of the spectrum, performers playfully weave in and out of audiences and public space creating a visual kaleidoscope.
 
Founded in 1996 by Rachel Bowditch and Lea Bender, Vessel is a theatre company dedicated to exploring innovative intersections between physical theatre, public art, installation, dance, visual arts, and multi-media technology. The founders’ combined international experience results in a style that crosses the boundaries of theatrical form. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Vessel draws actors, dancers, circus artists, playwrights, poets, musicians, and designers into a single creative endeavor. From the street to the stage, their aim is to create a poetry of space that brings stories to life in dynamic, poignant, and visceral forms while creating a sense of intimacy and connection to audiences. Vessel is a not-for-profit (501c3) theatre company under the fiscal umbrella of Fractured Atlas.  www.vesselproject.org 
Snood City Mural Island
www.snoodcity.com/

Snood City is a Phoenix based artist collective that specializes in Immersive Art, Neon, Epic Installations, and is the undeniable life of any party.

Grab a paintbrush and visit Snood City artists to help complete a large format community mural, take a commemorative photo in front of the mural installations celebrating the festivities, and even grab a high five from Snoodmen.

Join them for an art off the wall experience!
Gouache Plein Air Painting - Youth Arts & Crafts with Rita Goldner and Arizona Plein Air Painters
Explore gouche painting with master painter, Rita Goldner! Youth can work on nearly a dozen designs under her supervision. Rita will bring both big and small paintings made with gouche method to decorate the tent and the paintings will also work as examples to follow. Youth will learn the step-by-step process of creating a painting from the picture and go home with the finished art. 
Sankofa Island Magic - Musical Instrument Petting Zoo
www.islandmagicmusic.com
Sankofa-Island Magic founder and artist, Keith Johnson, specializes in Caribbean Steel Drums and West African Drumming. Johnson is a commissioned artist with the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, Arizona Arts Commission, Wolf Trap Head Start Programs and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. In their educational outreach efforts, the group exposes students and teachers to the traditional folklore of West Africa. Island Magic’s live steel pan music will make you smile, bringing you to the unique sounds of the Caribbean Island, Trinidad and Tobago. 
Cultural Coalition - Mask-Making
https://culturalcoalition.com/

Cultural Coalition hosts a free mask-making activity!  This activity is fun for both youth and adults to color, decorate, and design their own masks to wear around the festival. Cultural Coalition hosts several annual festivals in the Phoenix area including the annual Mask Alive! Festival of Masks at Pioneer Park in Mesa every March and the Mikiztli Dia de Los Muertos Festival at Steele Indian School Park in October. The Cultural Coalition, Inc. began as a grass roots organization of artists and community activists in the summer of 1996. Our goal is to develop innovative ways to address important social issues while encouraging the participation of organizations, schools and individuals in the creation of neighborhood arts program. 
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCES THROUGHOUT THE EVENT
  • Inflatable Animal Art Exhibit and Photo Opportunities
  • ColorMeMind Interactive Word Art Mural with Debra Lee Morrow
  • Live Plein Air Painting ​

POP-UP PERFORMANCES & LIVE ART

Pop-up performances and live art demonstrations will take place throughout Murphy Park as well as throughout the store fronts along the downtown Glendale corridor.  For a complete list of participating artists and locations, check back the week of the event for the official event passport and program. 
A Live Painting - Hao Shi (Abstract Modern) 11 AM - 2 PM. Located in front of Pink Door Tea House / Lizards for Kids

B Live Painting - Inseong Kim (Landscapes) 11 AM - 2 PM. Located in front of Glendale Flowers and Gifts.

C Live Music - Igor Glenn the Jazz Cowboy 11 AM - 1 PM. Located at Memory Lane and Trinkets

​D Chalk Art Activities and Live Painting - Eli Farias 11 AM - 2 PM. Located at Papa Ed's Ice Cream

E Free Grab and Go Coloring Kits, Demos with Local Artisans. Located at Tangled Root Botanicals

F Live Music - Rachelle Romeo (Saxophone) 11 AM - 1 PM. Located at Blue Corn Café and Bakery

G Live Painting - Laura Thurbon (Modern Abstract) 11 AM - 2 PM. Located in front of Glendale General Store and Pink House Boutique

H Live Painting and Celebrity Portrait Walk - Gina Ribaudo (Portraits) 1 PM - 4 PM. Located at Saguaro Grill

I  Live Painting with Kyle Chansley 1 PM - 4PM. Located at Drawn to Comics

J Live Music with Kerwin Pasia (Guitar) 11 AM - 5 PM, Free Grab and Go Coloring Kits. Located at Jax House Boutique

K Live Painting by Brie Bordeaux (Mixed Media) 11 AM - 2 PM Located in front of Taqueria El Sol and Black Sheep Coffee

L Live Painting by Juan Morales (Mixed Media) 11 AM - 2 PM. Located in C&D Industry

M Kids Art Activities with Happy Little Canvas 11 AM - 4 PM. Located in front of Retail Therapy

N Live Painting by Kat Murphy 11 AM - 2 PM at Homage Coffee