2021 Archive
In June 2021, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Cambridge Arts turned its annual River Festival into a virtual Stream Festival for a second time. Below is an archive of the event.
Cambridge Stream Festival Showcases Jazz And River Festival History
Thank you for Joining Cambridge Arts for our 2021
Stream Festival on Saturday, June 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. It was the City’s annual
River Festival reimagined for the second pandemic year as an online showcase of jazz and a retrospective of the festival’s history. It was produced in partnership with the Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge Jazz Foundation, JazzBoston, Cambridge Community Television and Studio@550.
On Saturday, June 5, 2021, Cambridge Arts River Festival – Not the River but the Stream – a virtual festival filled with outstanding music took place via the internet.
The Jazz, Blues and R & B Stage, curated by Producer/Creative Director Shelley Neill teamed up with Director of Video Production Callie Chapman, in capturing five solo piano concerts by some of the area's most respected jazz musicians: Tim Ray, Kevin Harris, Rebecca Cline, Bob Toabe, and Yoko Miwa and includes an interview with each artist after their performance.
The five piano concerts were recorded, during the day, at the Jazz Club in the Multicultural Arts Center’s Studio/Theater, providing both an acoustically excellent and visually beautiful setting, in keeping with the jazz, blues and R & B concerts that are intrinsic part of each year’s Cambridge Arts River Festival.
This presentation also featured six short videos of: Billie Holiday, Terri Lyne Carrington, Shirley Horn, Art Tatum, Chick Webb and Nina Simone. They are part of a library of jazz musicians that are in the process of being assembled by the Cambridge Jazz Foundation.
Scenes from the Virtual River Festival: (left to right) Kevin Harris, Yoko Miwa, Bob Toabe, Tim Ray and Rebecca Cline. (Montage by Callie Chapman)
The Stream Festival program also offered highlights of the River Festival all the way back to 1988, assembled from CCTV’s archives, with a special feature on the 1990 festival. Revisit the festival’s performances, places and foods, while keeping an eye out for familiar faces.