IAC Commissions: Tamar Korn and Dennis Lichtman

"The word 'animated' may not be enough to describe Korn...she [owns] the room."—WXXI

Tamar Korn has been a full-time New York-based vocalist for more than a decade, playing a repertoire steeped in early twentieth century American music. From traditional New Orleans and 1920s and ‘30s jazz to western swing, early country, roots and folk, gospel and bluegrass (and now endeavoring towards singing Yiddish music), Tamar’s love is of both of the lyrical traditions in song as well as the improvisational capacity to feel and play musical sounds. She is noted for playing “instrumentally” with her voice. Tamar performs both solo and with collaborators and in ensembles and bands, and has toured in the States and to Canada, Scandinavia, France, Lithuania, and China.

 Photo credit: Nir Arieli

Originally from Boston and currently living in New York City, Dennis Lichtman is a multi-instrumentalist (mainly clarinet, fiddle, and mandolin) who is deeply entrenched in early- to mid-1900s American music, from traditional jazz and swing to bluegrass and western swing. Since 2007, Dennis has been the clarinetist and bandleader of the famed Tuesday night traditional jazz jam session at Mona's in downtown New York, which was recently profiled in the New York Times and has been described by the Wall Street Journal as "ground zero for an emerging late-night scene of young swing and traditional jazz players.” 

Lichtman released two albums in 2017: Queens Jazz: A Living Tradition and The Brain Cloud: Live at Barbès. The former features ten original compositions inspired by the migration of jazz legends into the borough of Queens, NY, in the 1920s and 1930s. The latter documents a Monday night residency in Brooklyn, which Lichtman’s western swing sextet, the Brain Cloud, has held for years. 

Lichtman has performed at Carnegie Hall, major festivals throughout the United States, and on stages in Europe, Brazil, and China. He is on the faculty of the Welbourne Traditional Jazz Music Camp in Middleburg, VA, and has led college master classes and inner-city school workshops through the Midori Foundation, Lincoln Center’s Meet The Artist Series, and Beijing’s Ping-Pong Productions. 

Photo credit: Aidan Grant

The pandemic has forced humanity into an involuntary state of uncertainty that may last a long time. This is troubling, of course, but, as with any of life’s terribly sad moments, is not without redemptive possibility. We are challenged to find a new comfort level with uncertainty as a more constant companion. 

Like everyone, we at Irish Arts Center are entering a new phase of grappling with all of this. We still don’t know when it will be safe or allowable to gather in groups for live performing arts experiences. We continue to innovate our digital programming and prepare for our magnificent new building that awaits us, soon enough we hope. We develop scenarios and contingency plans. 

And we challenge ourselves to lean into the moment. For this, as ever, we rely on the artists. 

To that end, we have commissioned more than two dozen artists reflecting a range of perspectives across our artistic community, to create short works that respond to the idea of finding grace in uncertainty, to find meaning in the chaos, and perhaps even some redemption, as we recognize the fear and sadness we feel. 

In his work On the Transmigration of Souls, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic just weeks after 9/11, John Adams sought to create a “memory space” for those who suffered loss of life, of loved ones, of innocence, and to evoke the feeling “that we are all united by a common bond of humanity.” 

In a similar spirit, we wish to inspire a volume of artistic responses that might form a kind of tapestry of emotion, a chronicle of the moment, work that can be appreciated now and for the long-term.

The common bond of humanity unites these artists—and will carry us all through this moment.