For several years now, the Cultural Center of Lyçée Français de New York has partnered with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) to celebrate the launch of “Printemps de la Francophonie” in New York City with a concert. This year, it will take place on Thursday, March 21.
There are 321 million French speakers in the world, many of whom live on the continent of Africa. In the United States, 2.1 million people speak French at home, including about 81,000 people in New York.
The idea of this concert is to bridge our two continents with the fabulous music of Nkumu Katalay, an artist born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and now based in New York, and of Louisiana group Sweet Crude.
A multi-talented musician with his group The Life Long Project band, and a defender of Congolese culture with his organization “Afro Congolese Dance”, Nkumu Katalay music blends the richness of his country’s traditional music with percussion, Afro Beat rhythms, and dance. Musicians and dancers will come together on the Lycée stage for the joy of all of us.
To start the evening, we’ll be listening to Sam Craft and Alexis Marceaux’s rock band, Sweet Crude. These two young Americans sing in “Louisiana French”, a dialect of French still spoken by some 200,000 people in Louisiana. Their music is a blend of rock-pop and Cajun. Discover it here and love it.
Concert de la Francophonie: de la Louisiane à Kinshasa
Thursday, March 21 at 7pm
Tickets here.
20 USD
Free for students 18 and under
This event takes place under the high patronage of Ambassador Ifigeneia Kontoleontos, Representative of the OIF to the United Nations, Ambassador Zénon Mukongo Ngay, Permanent Representative of the DRC to the United Nations, President of the Group of Francophone Ambassadors and the Ambassador of France to the United Nations, Nicolas de Rivière.
About the Author :
Pascale Richard joined the Lycée as director of the Cultural Center in 2011, where she aims to bring the best of French and American cultures through conferences, concerts, films and various events. In the fall of 2012, she launched the school’s Artist-in-Residence program. Pascale was previously Vice President of External Affairs at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF). Her background is in journalism and writing with a focus on lifestyle and fashion. She is a graduate of Sciences-po and holds a master’s in journalism from New York University.