Indie music stars coming out for Artists for Aid: Gaza & Sudan at Newark Symphony Hall
The underground indie music and arts world, with an international flare, is coming out for Gaza and Sudan.
“Artists for Aid: Gaza & Sudan” is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 4, at Newark Symphony Hall on Broad Street in Newark. Clairo, Faye Webster, Charlotte Day Wilson, Daniel Caesar, Omar Apollo, Rutherford comedian Ramy Youssef, star of "Ramy," and more will perform.
Toronto singer-songwriter Mustafa Ahmed is the organizer of the event, which will benefit the Canada-based Human Concern International.
“We worked tirelessly to bring this to you, but our fatigue is not even a splinter of what we’ll be singing for,” Mustafa said on social media. “In the last few years I visited both my homeland, Sudan and Palestine. My visit to both had a principal intention, to connect with artist communities, with young organizers -- for parallels of sorrow and hope and faith.
“The violence in both nations seized the dream.
“Here it is revived for me in some way. The intention remains, on this evening we give our voices to make room for theirs.”
Sudan is gripped by a war between two fractions of its military government, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces. Hamas forces attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israeli forces subsequently invaded the Gaza Strip. Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by United States and European Union, won power in Gaza after elections in 2006.
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Mohammed El Kurd, Nick Hakim, Stormzy, 070 Shake, 6LACK, Mustafa, and more will also perform on Jan. 4. Tickets, $150, are on sale through www.eventbrite.com.
Newark Symphony Hall was opened in 1925 as the Salaam Temple and it became known as the Mosque. Many greats of music and arts have performed there, including Aretha Franklin, Judy Garland and the Rolling Stones.
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Indie music stars playing Artists for Aid: Gaza & Sudan in Newark
