Hermitage Announces New January Programs

November 21, 2022 – Osprey

The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) today announced the first several programs for the new calendar year. These events will be presented on the Hermitage’s historic beachfront campus on Manasota Key and throughout Sarasota County. Hermitage programs introduce world-renowned artists to Florida’s Gulf Coast community for candid and engaging conversations, musical performances, play readings, work-in-process showings, and educational opportunities for students and adults.   

Newly announced January programs include ongoing partnerships with Bookstore1 and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, among others.  Featured artists and performers sharing their work include author of Breath Better Spent: Living Black Girlhood DaMaris B. Hill, composer and performer Molly Joyce, interdisciplinary visual artist Kenneth Tam, soloing violinist in pop superstar Beyoncé’s band Lady Jess, playwright Terry Guest returning to the Hermitage after an extended run at Urbanite Theater and a sold-out showing in a previous “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” appearance, author of critically acclaimed story collections and novels Diane Cook, playwright and director Kareem Fahmy, and 2022 Hermitage Major Theater Award-winner Shariffa Ali.  

The aforementioned artists coming in January join previously announced Hermitage programs in November and December. Next up is a celebration of the recently launched initiative to support Sarasota performers carving out a generative creator role – the Hermitage Cross Arts Collaborative – made possible with generous support from the Koski Family Foundation. This year’s institutional partners, Westcoast Black Theater Troupe and Florida Studio Theater, are represented by Derric Gobourne Jr. and Tsebiyah Mishael Derry, respectively. These talented performers will share excerpts of worked developed while in residence at the Hermitage this summer in “Cross Arts Collaborative: New Voices and New Work,” presented on the rooftop terrace of Westcoast Black Theater Troupe’s performing arts campus on Wednesday, November 30^th starting at 5pm.

December programming on the Hermitage’s Manasota Key campus launches with “Multihyphenate Multimedia: Music, Visual Art, and Theater” an exploration of interdisciplinary work featuring Hermitage Fellows Raquel Acevedo Klein and Guadalís Del Carmen on Friday, December 2^nd at 5pm on the Hermitage Beach. The following Friday, December 9^th at 5pm will see Puerto Rican-born composer and 2022 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner Angélica Negrón in “Angélica Negrón: Playing a Plant,” in which this celebrated composer and multi-instrumentalist showcases the non-traditional instruments that inspire her work; presented on the Hermitage Great Lawn in partnership with ensembleNew SRQ, UnidosNOW, CreArte Latino, and New Music New College; made possible with support from the Greenfield Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. And the final program of 2022 “Notes: On Writing and Music” featuring Hermitage Fellows Chigozie Obioma and Levy Lorenzo presented in partnership with the Johann Fust Library Foundation on the Hermitage Beach, Thursday, December 15^th at 5pm. 

“We have been working around the clock since Hurricane Ian to bring the Hermitage campus back to life and resume operations, and we’ve been truly overwhelmed by the generous support from our extraordinary artists, audiences, donors, partners, and neighbors,” said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “We are incredibly proud of our mission and the work we are doing to serve artists and our community. We are excited to be resuming live programming on the Hermitage Beach and our historic campus – two of the most beautiful venues in all of Florida – in addition to the live and virtual events we continue to offer throughout Sarasota County.”

The newly announced programs in the Hermitage’s 20^th Anniversary Season pick up on Friday, January 6^th, 2023 at 5pm on the Hermitage Beach with “Distinction and Unity.” Featuring three inventive artists working in three different fields, this cross disciplinary conversation spans literature, music, and visual art. Visual artist Kenneth Tam’s work focuses on ritual and reframing masculinity with a self-described “strain of absurdity and awkward humor.” Author DaMaris B. Hill’s latest work has been called “urgent” and “luminous” by Publisher’s Weekly, while composer and performer Molly Joyce has been described as one of the “most versatile, prolific, and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome” by The Washington Post.

On Thursday, January 12^th at 5pm, the previously announced “Violin and Voice,” cancelled in October due to Hurricane Ian, will be reborn on the Hermitage Beach. Combining the music of Lady Jess, violinist, arts leader, and frequent Beyoncé collaborator with the poignant and humorous words of award-winning playwright Terry Guest, this program paints a picture of the experience these two leading artists have living and making work in the United States and around the world. Presented as the sun sets on the Hermitage Beach, don’t miss the chance to meet these two remarkable artists as they create the works of tomorrow. 

The Hermitage returns to Bookstore1 on Friday, January 20^th at 6pm where Hermitage Fellow Diane Cook presents a program focused on her collection of stories, Man V. Nature. The author’s debut work garnered substantial critical attention, making the short list for the Guardian First Book Award, the Believer Book Award, the PEN/Hemingway award, and the Los Angeles Times Award for First Fiction. Hear the author read selections of the work and discuss the different considerations when creating a story collection versus a novel, which she has since published to critical acclaim (shortlisted for the Booker Prize in Fiction).

This season of the Hermitage’s “Artists and Thinkers” online series begins with “Kareem Fahmy’s Distinct Society” on Monday, January 23^rd at 5pm ET. In the lead-up to its world premiere with Pioneer Theater in Salt Lake City, Fahmy’s play tells the story of a sleepy library that straddles the U.S.-Canada border as it becomes an unlikely crucible for five people all grappling with the “Muslim ban” in various ways. Dive into the literary, historical, and cultural considerations that influenced the writer as well as the characters and what examining their actions reveals about our own humanity.

The popular “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” series continues on Thursday, January 26^th at 5pm with 2022 Hermitage Major Theater Award Winner Shariffa Ali. This incredible theater maker hailing from South Africa is joined by singer, collaborator, and Ali’s dear friend Vuyo Sotashe to share insights into the plan for her new commission. Still in progress, the work is centered on small-town South Africa where a middle school choir, their principal, and their parents conspire to disguise the town’s most beloved singer as a girl in order to have him sing as a female soloist in a national competition. Learn about the origin for this commission in its early stages, hear text and songs that could influence the story, and get to know the theater-makers creating the work. The Hermitage Major Theater Award is made possible with generous support from Flora Major and the Kutya Major Foundation.

Nearly all Hermitage programs are free and open to the public (with a $5/person registration fee), offering Gulf Coast audiences a rare chance to engage and interact with some of the world’s leading talent. Due to capacity limitations and social distancing, registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where diverse artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, dance, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free community programs, offering audiences in the region a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world’s leading artists and to get an authentic “sneak peek” into extraordinary projects and artistic minds before their works go on to major galleries, concert halls, theaters, and museums around the world. These free and innovative programs include performances, lectures, readings, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.