SPARKLING DEBUT BY YOUNG POET AT ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS’ SHOWCASE

“Jillian Buckley had us spellbound with her beautiful poems straight from her heart; she delivers with a disarming innocence. Her writing is wise and touchingly emotional far beyond her years. A poet surely on her way to wider and wider acclaim. We can’t wait to have her back.” David Goldman, singer/songwriter

“Listening to Jillian’s poetry was wonderful. We all witnessed the combined power of a young talent emerging with deep vulnerability, truth, and sincerity.” Martha Pinson, Filmmaker/Director

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And we received this from John Buckley, Jillian’s father:

“I can’t express enough my appreciation for the opportunity for Jillian to perform, but even more so the opportunity for her to experience the artistic environment that was provided.    As I’ve mentioned to many people it is one thing for her to hear from Mom & Dad or friends how great we think her writing is, but for her to share it and hear from fellow artists means so much more.

And I could tell (from a distance) that the conversations she had afterwards with fellow performers were not perfunctory “Oh, you were good…” but legitimate feedback and conversation with her.

 

Your website suggested that you had very talented performers, but I must admit I was really impressed with the quality and diversity of talent that performed.   While Jillian probably would have performed the same no matter what, I was happy you placed her second because after your opening act I wondered if any pressure was building up in her to perform at that level.  And then to have Niamh follow her and say “Tough to get up and speak after that performance” brought even more tears to my eyes.

I know Jillian enjoyed the experience and the conversations, and I hope she uses it as a springboard to search out additional artist venues/workshops to continue her development. It is through opportunities like this that she will grow and determine where she wants to go with her writing;   the more exposure to different environments will only help her in her journey.

Thank you again for the opportunity;   greatly appreciated.   Looking forward to the next gathering.

John”

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Photos by Mitch Traphagen

STELLAR PERFORMANCES at ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE, 10/27/2015

“I’ve been working as an actor for at least twenty five years now and I’ve never before been involved in anything quite like this. AWoW is a unique blessing. So happy to be a member.” Jack O’Connell, actor

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Tess Druckenmiller
       Tess Druckenmiller

Young and extremely talented singer/Songwriter Tess Druckenmiller opened the night with three of her compositions. Exhibiting her musical versatility Tess played solo, accompanying her voice with acoustic guitar and piano. She sang three songs – “Break My Heart,” “Please Say Yes,” and “Red Wine.” Red Wine is included in Tess’s recently released EP, “Carousel.” Wonderful performance.

 

Rafiq Kathwa
     Rafiq Kathwari

Thanks to Connie Roberts, who has introduced AWoW to a number of excellent poets, we were able to experience the poetry of  Rafiq Kathwari, the first non-Irish recipient of the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award, in the 44-year history of the award. When asked to say a few words about his first Artists Without Walls’ experience, Rafiq Kathwari responded with a poem:

 

Geography

for Artists Without Walls

.

“Where are you from?” I’m often asked.
“From Kashmir,” I answer.
“Is that where wool comes from?”

.

Sometimes, I play it straight: I95
Exit 16, hang a left. In the Himalayas
my road diverged.

.

Not, “Where are you from?”
But where are we going
together?

.


Screen Shot 2015-11-01 at 9.15.29 AMCharles R. Hale’s film, “The Musical History of the Lower East,” which was recently performed as a full-length musical production at Rockwood Music Hall, followed. The short film is a musical journey through the diverse cultures that have inhabited the Lower East City, New York City’s melting pot, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.  “This could be a PBS or HBO special! A treasure.” Joanna Migdal.  

 

Meredith Szalay
       Meredith Szalay

Meridith Szalay followed with a dance piece entitled “Alan.” According to Meridith, “The dance allowed me to be emotionally vulnerable and send out my cries of pain.”  The dance was a heart wrenching display of passion, heartache, and anger with Meridith  lost in a swirl of intense feelings. “I felt as free as a bird. I flew directly into the heart of my storm of pain. I laid my broken heart on the dance floor” she said.  Breathtakingly vulnerable, beautiful, and tender.

 

Erik Lawrence and Dina Regine
     Erik Lawrence and Dina Regine

Multi-media artist, photographer and musician Dina Regine performed a few songs off her latest album, “Right On, Alright.” Dina, who sings with a gentle unease, varied her delivery from one track to another, from sweet to defiant to undeterred.  “I had such a great time playing this evening! Thank you Artists Without Walls for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful event, and thanks to saxophonist Erik Lawrence for sitting in and dressing up my songs so cool.”    

 

Connie Roberts, Rafiq Kathwari, Shu Nakamura and Charles R. Hale
Connie Roberts, Rafiq Kathwari, Shu Nakamura and Charles R. Hale

Erik Lawrence, a longtime Levon Helm sideman, has built his career as a saxophonist, flutists, composer and educator.  Erik spoke of the power of music in the healing process and then proceeded to join the entire audience in a breathtaking chorus of healing and meditation. A few moments that won’t soon be forgotten by those in attendance.

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“Thank you for the incredible opportunity and incredible reception to my work,” Erik said. Well deserved. For information about Erik’s work, sound healing/guided musical meditation concerts or private sound therapy sessions you can contact him at Erik Lawrence Music on Facebook

 

The next Artists Without Walls’ Showcase will be at The Cell Theatre, 338 W23rd St., on Friday, November 20th. 

 

Photos by Vera Hoar

LIV MAMMONE'S "ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS SHOWCASE at THE CELL" WRAP-UP

 

LIV MAMMONE’S “ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS SHOWCASE at THE CELL” WRAP-UP

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Niamh Hyland, Sasha Papernik, Anette Homann and Noel Lawlor
Niamh Hyland, Sasha Papernik, Annette Homann and Noel Lawlor

This month’s Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre really exemplified our organization’s core values of both diversity and community, bringing a set of fresh, new, young artists amidst seasoned veterans of the AWoW stage. The whole evening was filled with the warmth and the welcoming atmosphere we have come to expect from these gatherings. The Cell itself feels as though it’s growing smaller and more intimate with each passing month, as this family of faces come together to support, sustain, and shine. But the circuit never closes, always making room for more.

 

Richard Stillman
Richard Stillman

First up, Richard Stillman gave us all a laugh with two musically accompanied story recitations. One, a comical rhyme about a young highland lad named Angus with a prominent honker he puts to use in a bagpipe band; the other, a Peruvian pied piper tale about a young man who uses the forgotten tradition of pan flute playing to rid his mountain town of a scourge of slimy frogs and finds his place among them. Richard, too, has embraced an art form not seen often these days with his oral storytelling and showed us why it is still vivid and necessary. (How on Earth did he make that bubble sound?)

 

Ed Romanoff and I.S. Jones
Ed Romanoff and I.S. Jones

I.S. Jones shimmered with grace and grit reciting three spoken word poems; a gripping piece about racist language; the sensual “Kingdom of Touching”; and a gloriously uplifting ode to those forces in her life which have tried and tested her. I.S. had worried that her work would be “a little risky” for the audience, but we were jolted and moved by the elegant truth in her work. Her calmness and refined manner acts as a prism through which torrents of feeling are focused. Her risk was rewarded and we would welcome her future work.

 

Noah Hoffeld
Noah Hoffeld

Cellist, pianist, and songwriter Noah Hoffeld demonstrated his incredible range, favoring us with a melodic ballad, a rocking ode to the music that shaped his youth, and an utterly heartrending classically inspired solo to return us to his Juilliard roots. His vocals are reminiscent of Matthew Good, at once tender and rough-edged. It was a roller coaster of feeling to be witness to just a fraction of what he is capable.

 

Eithne Nic An Riogh
Eithne Nic An Riogh

In a happy accident, we were then joined by Eithne Nic An Riogh, just this week transplanted from Ireland. She had reached out to fellow University College Dublin alum Niamh Hyland looking for a cello and we were most fortunate that, instead, she wound up with a slot. Borrowing Noah’s, Eithne treated us to a million dollar smile and two beautiful pieces, a cello standard as well as a deeply moving Irish song about a woman who cannot be buried on the island of her choice. It was heartwarming to see how these fellow performers came together on a spur of the moment to share her talent with us.

 

Nicholas Garr
Nicholas Garr

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Sopranos’ Chris Moltisanti was given the psychic powers of John Edwards? Character actor Nicholas Garr has finally given us the answer and it is as hilarious as you would expect. Watching how Nick has altered his body language especially is truly evidence of his gift. He left us in stitches. A pilot should be sent to HBO now that its gangster show niche has a void.

 

Alex Shapiro
Alex Shapiro

The second poet of the night, Alex Shapiro, was brand new to the AWoW stage, and brought a bouquet of lively, thought provoking, philosophical musings. These poems as quick and sharp as shots of whiskey. Alex inhabited his whole body for his reading, giving off an air of approachability and an enviable talent for memorization. We are lucky to have caught him before he heads out to the Midwest to continue his writer’s journey.

 

 

Niamh Hyland and Allison Sylvia
Niamh Hyland and Allison Sylvia

Ed Romanoff is never less than awe inspiring and was a perfect closer for our evening. Ed has performed a great deal with AWoW and is an integral part of its nature, but those who were in the audience last night hearing him for the first time are to be envied. He demonstrated his prowess as a lyricist and his signature sound–steady as a train and sharp like a razor–in three tracks. The first was new, the story of a boxer and his shiftless women. His second choice was a deeply personal gesture for fellow member Connie Roberts, a song called “Orphan King.” Niamh and Noah then joined Ed for his song “Two Yellow Roses,” giving an already breathtaking number a level of depth we as audience members were held in thrall by. It is always an indescribable pleasure when showcase performers come together in impromptu collaborations. This is part of the magic of the space and there is nothing else like it.

 

We hope that you could be present and that you’ll join us for the next Showcase on August 25th, at The Cell Theatre. 

VERA HOAR'S PHOTOS CAPTURE AWoW's APRIL SHOWCASE at THE CELL

Vera Hoar’s photos from Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre, April 28, 2015

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Terry McCarthy, Andy Sandel, Gerry Griffen and Tom Monaghan
Terry McCarthy, Andy Sandel, Gerry Griffen and Tom Monaghan
Shu Nakamura
Shu Nakamura
Connie Roberts
Connie Roberts
Toby Tobias
Toby Tobias
John Liam Shea and Jenny Evans
John Liam Shea and Jenny Evans
Vincent Cross
Vincent Cross
Richard Stillman and Flip Peters
Richard Stillman and Flip Peters
Terry McCarthy and Charles R. Hale
Terry McCarthy and Charles R. Hale
Shu Nakamura
Shu Nakamura

THE WONDERFUL DEBUT BOOK OF CONNIE ROBERTS' POEMS, "LITTLE WITNESS"

THE WONDERFUL DEBUT BOOK OF CONNIE ROBERTS’ POEMS, “LITTLE WITNESS”

written by Charles R. Hale

 

Given a cruel childhood how does anyone function psychologically at a far greater level than his or her experiences might predict? It’s a question I’ve often pondered when thinking of my grandfather Allie’s extremely difficult youth.

 

Connie Roberts
Connie Roberts

Recently, I had a discussion with poet Connie Roberts about this same topic. Connie suffered through an equally difficult childhood but survived as one of the most talented, vivacious people I’ve ever met. I asked her when she was going to write a memoir and she said, “I have. It’s all in my poetry.”

 

Now you have an opportunity to read this great woman’s work. The winner of the Patrick Kavanagh Award as Ireland’s top poet in 2010 and winner of the Listowel Writer’s Week Poetry Collection Award, her debut book of  poems Little Witness has been published by Arlen House Dublin. You can buy a copy and learn more about Connie by clicking here. 

 

Paywright/actress Erin Layton and Connie Roberts
Playwright/actress Erin Layton and Connie Roberts

Here’s what Dan Barry wrote about Connie’s work in the NY Times: “The concrete language of Connie Roberts hits you hard; leaves a mark. You smell the brutal father’s soured Guinness breath before his next abomination; you taste the succulent orange spirited into an orphanage bed; you feel the sting of a nun’s wooden spoon, the warm piss of fear, the run of blood. 
In her vivid recounting of a childhood spent in one of Ireland’s notorious industrial schools, truth hides behind no “masquerade of metaphors.” Roberts honors children, holds adults accountable, and finds acceptance, all with a reportorial rigor that, through her soaring language and big-hearted vision, achieves poetic art. This is the poetry of rock-hard experience. It will skin your soul.”

"AWoW, WHERE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN"

“AWoW, where anything can happen.” Vera Hoar

 

And Tuesday night’s “anything” was a distinctly multi-cultural night with performers from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ireland, Puerto Rico, the Czech Republic, Germany and the United States. As member Jim Rodgers once said, “It’s proof that AWoW is becoming the United Nations of the cultural scene here in New York City.”

 

The Trio
The Trio Samovili

Tuesday night’s Showcase started off with a delightful taste of chamber music. The Trio Samovili, comprised of Macedonian soprano Gabriela Gyorgeva, Serbian flutist Ana Tanasijevic and Bulgarian pianist Aleksandra Kocheva performed three pieces consisting of two arias by GF Handel: Piangero la Sorte Mia (Giulio Cesare) and Ombra Mai Fu (the famed Largo from Xerxes) and culminating with a traditional Macedonian song Zajdi Zajdi Jasno Sonce, which is considered an anthem of the Balkan area. Through their interpretation you could easily feel the special emotions of homeland and the spirit of the Balkan. 

 

Joanna Migdal
Joanna Migdal

In celebration of this month’s 35th anniversary of The National Women’s History Project, Joanna C. Migdal read “Good Night, Noises Everywhere”, a cento (collage-poem) she had composed of lines by 45 of some of her favorite women poets of the past. The audience (including the men!) were moved as the lines of her poetic soliloquy expressed universal and timeless frustrations and anxieties of these women.

 

I.S. Migdal
I.S. Jones

With a commanding stage presence and vivacious poems of triumph, tribute, and forgiveness, I.S. Jones’s poetry stunned the audience at AWoW. Her brilliant and heart-warming verse brought the audience from roaring amens to a celebration of the “black body.” I.S. was a delight to experience. We hope to see her again…and again.

 

Ashley Bell
Ashley Bell

 

Ashley Bell thrilled the crowd with a beautiful performance of Bach/Gounod’s Ave Maria. She then joined forces with Artists Without Walls’ regular, violinist Annette Homann, for an impromptu, spectacular rendition of “The Prayer” by David Foster.

 

Allison Sylvia
Allison Sylvia

 

 

 

 

Allison Sylvia performed her anti-strophe, edon.adan, at this past week’s showcase.  “I am endlessly grateful for the opportunity to perform for such a supportive audience,” she said. “There are few words to describe how exciting it was that the audience ‘clapped [that they] believed in fairies.” This is one talented young lady, whose greatness is early in its ascendance. 

 

Larry Fleischman and Courtney Torres
Larry Fleischman and Courtney Torres

 

 

 

The opening scene, excerpted from Brendan Connellan’s new play Savage, was just the mix of unsettling darkness and bubbling farce that you might expect from some of his prior pieces, POMPA POMPA, Kill the Bid! or Death, Please! Courtney Torres and Larry Fleischman fully captured the awkward daughter-father dynamic as she dropped on him a very unexpected and somewhat unwelcome piece of news. Mary Tierney directed with great imagination and verve. The full play should be completed in the coming months so the fall out will be further explored! Expect further mayhem!

 

 

Martina Fiserova
Martina Fiserova

Martina Fiserova closed out this month’s AWoW Showcase with another spellbinding performance. During her three song set of “Silver Streams,” “Song For Brian” and “A Well” you could hear a pin drop as she wowed the crowd with her voice, her guitar, the piano and the poignant stories she told about where she received the inspiration for the songs. As AWoW member Mitch Traphagen posted after the performance ‘”Go to her shows, look on YouTube — whatever you have to do — she is worth it. An incredible talent.” 

 

Another great evening of multi-cultural talent. The next Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell will be on April, 28, 6:45pm. 

 

Photos by Vera Hoar. 

 

 

 

 

AWoW's SHOWCASE AT THE CELL, MARCH 24, 2015: THE PHOTOS of VERA HOAR and MITCH TRAPHAGEN

The wonderful photographs of Vera Hora and Mitch Traphagen capture the spirit of another exciting evening of performances at The Cell Theatre, last Tuedsay, March 24th. 

 

Gabriela Gjorgeva
Gabriela Gjorgeva

 

I.S. Jones
I.S. Jones

 

Larry Fleischman and Courtney Torres
Larry Fleischman and Courtney Torres

 

Lynnell Herzer and Zofia Stefanowicz
Lynnell Herzer and Zofia Stefanowicz

 

Alison Sylvia
Allison Sylvia 

 

Martina Fiserova
Martina Fiserova

 

Sam Adelman and Terry McCarthy
Sam Adelman and Terry McCarthy

 

Ashley Bell and Annette Homann
Ashley Bell and Annette Homann

 

Ron Vazzano and Joanna Migdal
Ron Vazzano and Joanna Migdal

 

Niamh Hyland
Niamh Hyland

 

Charles R. Hale
Charles R. Hale

"TALENTED PERFORMERS, FRIENDLY PEOPLE and TIME to MINGLE": AWoW's SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE, TUESDAY 3/24

Ashley Galvani Bell
Ashley Galvani Bell

As a first time visitor of an AWoW Showcase, I enjoyed everything about the evening…. Talented performers, friendly people, time to mingle … fantastic. I will be back for certain.” Clyde Berger

 

Ashley Galvani Bell has performed as a soloist in the United States, Italy, Spain, France and Russia.  Recent performances include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni in Narni, Italy, Musetta in La Bohème at the National Opera Center, and Norina in Don Pasquale with Rioja Lirica in Spain, where she was called unstoppable in her brilliant singing and a true “stage animal” with her hilarious interpretation of the two sided character of Norina/Sofronia.  This will be the popular soprano’s third appearance at an AWoW Showcase. 

 

 

I.S. Jones
I.S. Jones

I.S. Jones is a spoken word poet hailing from Southern California. She moved to New York to pursue her passion for poetry. Her intense fire & honesty brims through every performance; It has been said she has a voice bigger than her body. Her works have appeared in Chaparral, The Harpoon Review, Fat City and various others literary magazine.

 

 

Brendan Connellan
Brendan Connellan

Mary Tierney will be directing a scene from Brendan Connellan’s Savage. According to Mary, “We’ve given it the Ingmar Bergman treatment. In Sweden, he’d rehearse actors from the National Theater for six months before a production was ‘ready.’ That’s what our actors, Larry Fleishman and Courtney Torres have done. ”  Fleischman, has performed at a number of AWoW Showcases,  and Torres, who recently performed at Beal Bocht in Sacred Sow, will be making her AWoW debut.

 

 

Martina Fiserova
Martina Fiserova

Prague born singer/songwriter Martina Fiserova has established a following on the NYC music scene with her unique songwriting approach and intimate and emotional vocal performance. She is finishing up an album of her original music, which will be her second release after the jazz oriented debut Clearing Fields.

 

Allison Sylvia
Allison Sylvia

 

Alison Sylvia is a “poet.in.progress,” and Tuesday, she will connect her poems with dance.  Allison dazzled the audience with a spellbinding performance of her epic poem “Scroll” at her first AWoW appearance.  “I am honored to have performed for such a receptive audience and to share the space with such talented artists,” she said. “That was the first performance I’ve done where I summoned the appropriate chutzpah to make the concluding sword trick work.” Her’s was an absolutely mesmerizing performance.

 

Gabriela Gyergeva
Gabriela Gyergeva

 

Gabriela Gyergeva was born in Macedonia and studied at University in Bulgaria, majoring in opera and voice. Gabriela performed extensively in Bulgaria and Macedonia before moving to NYC three years ago.  Last year she performed at Carnegie Hall and the Mono No Aware film festival in Brooklyn. Currently Gabriela performs at St. Francis Xavier church in the city.

 

 

Joanna Migdal
Joanna Migdal

 

Joanna Migdal is a poet working on a chapbook of centos, one of which she is reading Tuesday night in honor of women poets of the past as part of the celebration of March Women’s History Month. Her cento will be posted 3/31 on a site called www.womenyoushouldknow.com

 

AWoW’s Showcase is hosted by The Cell Theatre, located at 338 W23rd St., NYC. Drinks at 6:45; the show begins at 7:20. Hope to see you then. 

 

 

 

 

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MORE AWARDS for POET CONNIE ROBERTS

Connie Roberts
Connie Roberts

It’s been a good few weeks for Irish poet and Artists Without Walls’ member Connie Roberts: She was declared the winner of the 2014 Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition, Roscommon, and she received—for the second year in a row—the Highly Commended Award in the iYeats International Poetry Competition, Sligo. The Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition awards ceremony was held in King House, a magnificently restored Georgian Mansion located in Boyle, County Roscommon on July 27th. Connie’s winning poem “Seeing”—a three-part sequence about sight and blindness, set on both sides of the Atlantic—will be posted to the Boyle Arts Festival website soon.

 

The winners of the iYeats International Poetry competition was announced on July 31st at a ceremony at the Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo during the 55th Yeats International Summer School. Connie read her poem “Oasis”—an homage to her foster-mother Eileen—via video link. (You can see and hear Connie at the end of this article.) The two judges, Peter Sirr and Catherine Phil McCarthy, remarked on Connie’s poem: “Oasis”, we thought, managed to communicate convincingly a striking life-force and feeling. The voice had vividness and humour and the sharpness of pain and sense of abandonment beneath the language.”

 

Noel Lawlor, far right
Noel Lawlor, far right

As it happens, fellow AWoW member Noel Lawlor is in Sligo at the moment, attending the Yeats Summer School. He attended the awards ceremony and celebratory luncheon on Connie’s behalf. Noel’s Wexford wit was in full swing in his follow-up e-mail to Connie:  “I had a great time being you for a day—star treatment, paparazzi, free lunch. [I even] got a ticket for a sold out show at the Hawks Well Theatre last night also. So your influence is far and wide.”

 

“Team effort and collaboration—that’s what AWoW’s all about!” said Connie. 

 

POET CONNIE ROBERTS' TRIBUTE to IRISH JOURNALIST MARY RAFTERY

Mary Raftery
Mary Raftery

Mary Raftery was an Irish investigative journalist and filmmaker whose 1999 documentary film series States of Fear brought to light the suffering of children in Irish reformatory and industrial schools, and was central in delivering a State apology to those who suffered.  Her book Suffer the Little Children bolstered her claim that the Irish childcare system between the 1930s and 70s was guilty of widespread persecution and abuse. The subsequent establishment of the Ryan Commission and the Residential Institutions Redress Board was largely as a result of Mary’s work.  Mary sadly passed away in 2012, at the too-young age of 54.  

 
Connie Roberts
Connie Roberts
The Mary Raftery Journalism Fund was established shortly thereafter to promote more in-depth investigative coverage of issues close to Mary’s heart.  On their website they post tributes to Mary, including New York Times/Irish Times obituaries.  Artists Without Walls’ member Connie Roberts sent them her “Banister” poem that she wrote in memory of Mary, which they happily posted.  The poem was inspired by Mary’s fond memory of climbing the stairs as a young child and falling into her father’s open arms.

 

 

 

Banister

 

i.m. Mary Raftery

 

Oh, give me a little girl

happy to rise to the occasion

 

and a smiling father

who waits with open arms

 

at the bottom of the stairs

to catch, to catch, to catch her,

 

and I’ll give you a woman,

solid as a granite banister,

 

with the nerve to change a nation.

 
 
The Mary Raftery Journalism Fund recently announced details of a series of screenings and panel discussions—sponsored by RTE, Ireland’s National Television and Radio Broadcaster, and the Irish Film Institute, that will take place on May 24th, to mark the 15-year anniversary of States of Fear.