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Event Program
FRI, JUN 14
READINGS
Joan Baez
Patti Smith
DISCUSSION
Joan Baez, Amanda Petrusich, and Patti Smith
A CONVERSATION WITH THE AUDIENCE
Ask Joan or Patti a Question!
Do you have a question you've been dying to ask Joan or Patti?
Submit it here, and they just might answer live, onstage at Symphony Space!
There will not be a book signing at this event.
Produced in collaboration with Strand Bookstore
Joan Baez is a dynamic force of nature. Her commitment to music and social activism has earned global recognition, ranging from induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to the Ambassador of Conscience Award, Amnesty International’s highest honor. Retired from active performing since 2019, she has devoted much of her time to the “Mischief Makers” series of paintings, portraits that immortalize risk-taking visionaries she has known, who have brought about social change through history, from Dr. Martin Luther King and Bob Dylan to the Dalai Lama and Patti Smith. In 2023, Baez appeared in the documentary Joan Baez: I Am A Noise, which premiered at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. That same year, Baez’s acclaimed book of drawings, Am I Pretty When I Fly?, was published by Godine.
Joan Baez is a dynamic force of nature. Her commitment to music and social activism has earned global recognition, ranging from induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to the Ambassador of Conscience Award, Amnesty International’s highest honor. Retired from active performing since 2019, she has devoted much of her time to the “Mischief Makers” series of paintings, portraits that immortalize risk-taking visionaries she has known, who have brought about social change through history, from Dr. Martin Luther King and Bob Dylan to the Dalai Lama and Patti Smith. In 2023, Baez appeared in the documentary Joan Baez: I Am A Noise, which premiered at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. That same year, Baez’s acclaimed book of drawings, Am I Pretty When I Fly?, was published by Godine.
Amanda Petrusich is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of three books about music. Her work has been nominated for a GRAMMY award, and she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction. She is currently a writer-in-residence at New York University.
Amanda Petrusich is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of three books about music. Her work has been nominated for a GRAMMY award, and she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction. She is currently a writer-in-residence at New York University.
Patti Smith is a writer, performer, and visual artist. She gained recognition in the 1970s for her revolutionary merging of poetry and rock. She has released twelve albums, including Horses, which has been hailed as one of the top one hundred debut albums of all time by Rolling Stone. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Smith’s books include Just Kids, winner of the National Book Award in 2010, Wītt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, and Auguries of Innocence. Her most recent book, A Book of Days, has just been released in paperback. In 2005, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Smith the title of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, the highest honor given to an artist by the French Republic. In 1980, she married the musician Fred Sonic Smith in Detroit. They had a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Jesse.
Patti Smith is a writer, performer, and visual artist. She gained recognition in the 1970s for her revolutionary merging of poetry and rock. She has released twelve albums, including Horses, which has been hailed as one of the top one hundred debut albums of all time by Rolling Stone. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Smith’s books include Just Kids, winner of the National Book Award in 2010, Wītt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, and Auguries of Innocence. Her most recent book, A Book of Days, has just been released in paperback. In 2005, the French Ministry of Culture awarded Smith the title of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, the highest honor given to an artist by the French Republic. In 1980, she married the musician Fred Sonic Smith in Detroit. They had a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Jesse.
This program is made possible thanks to the generous support of Susan Bay Nimoy, Estate of Douglas M. Matheson, Seedlings Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Charina Endowment Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, PECO Foundation, Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, Mustang Foundation, Michael Tuch Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, and The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America.
This program is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Artistic Director (1990-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Producer of Literary Programs
Mary Shimkin Director of Broadcast & Literary Initiatives
Matthew Love Consultant for Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Literary Assistant
*in memoriam