Ami Yares

Tulpehocken Street has provided space and place for BuildaBridge to thrive, and it's time to celebrate and reconnect with the neighborhood. For over twenty years, youth and their communities facing adversity have joined BuildaBridge programming to experience art-making's healing and hope-raising power. You might remember BuildaBridge co-founders (now retired), Drs. Vivian Nix-Early and Nathan Corbitt. Vivian and Nathan dedicated their lives to BuildaBridge and have supported urban youth for years. On October 18th, Karen Stevens & Tom Schwartz will open their incredible backyard to BuildaBridge and the community, and we will have a chance to connect and/or reconnect with BuildaBridge. The event will feature experiential art-making facilitated by BuildaBridge Teaching Artists and performances from Meghan Cary & Ami Yares. Meghan & Ami's stories and songs of healing and hope-raising are deeply infused with BuildaBridge's mission. You will recognize Meghan as a pillar of the Philadelphia folk music scene and Ami as the executive director of BuildaBridge. BuildaBridge offers programming across the city and, in particular, maintains a strong presence in Northwest Philadelphia. Lonnie Young Recreation Center has hosted BuildaBridge as an afterschool, school-year vacation, and summer camp programming provider for the last few years. This summer, BuildaBridge offered summer camp programming at Mount Airy Playground, Lonnie Young Recreation Center, and Salvation Army's New Day New Home, a shelter for sex-trafficking survivors. Programming is also being planned for Wister and Pastorious Elementary Schools! As a neighbor, community member and stakeholder in our city's future, your presence is greatly needed. Help BuildaBridge transform lives through art-making. Some additional details: - Doors open at 12:30 PM. - Food will be available for purchase (vegetarian and vegan options available) - Any alcohol-based drinks are strictly BYO. - Children and families are encouraged to attend. Please be sure to keep a watchful eye on them :) - We recommend you bring your own blankets and beach chairs for the concert. - Please consider bringing a dessert to share with the other guests. We look forward to celebrating with you! About our performers: MEGHAN CARY Meghan Cary didn’t mean to be a musician. But when her fiancé unexpectedly died, she picked up his guitar, figured out how to play it, and wrote her debut record, earning her Billboard Magazine’s esteemed Critic’s Choice Award. “I wrote my grief into music and sang my way out of the abyss.I keep making music to help others connect with their own stories and find their joy.” Her album, SING LOUDER, debuted in the top 10 on the US/International Folk DJ Chart, and John Platt of WFUV extols, "These times require songs of compassion and commitment. Meghan has several which inspire us to reach our higher selves, and she sings them with such infectious joy you can’t resist joining in." With masterful storytelling and award-winning songs, Cary creates a live music experience that is healing, inspiring, and outrageously joyful. Her message of unity and the power of raising our voices together infuses every show, and her song, “Sing Louder”, has become an anthem for the music-loving community. www.meghancary.com AMI YARES Ami Yares is the offspring of the Jersey suburbs, raised in the echo of the Liberty Bell, only to find his voice on the shores of the Mediterranean and the Mid-Atlantic. He’s the still, small, soulful voice, picking and singing across the room, bearing his soul to make it sound for you to do the same. Singing songs of pain, perseverance and hope, Ami’s music journeys in and out of the human soul, searching for meaning amid the world’s worries and wonder. You hear traces of Jim Croce, Bill Withers and Robbie Robertson pass through Ami’s songs. “Yares wields his 12-string guitar as if it were an entire orchestra, backing his vocals with a dense, rich cascade of sound " (AXS). Ami has also been featured at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and Haverford Music Festival and played at breweries, bars and small venues across the Mid-Atlantic and New England. Over the last two years, Ami has become a staple of the Northeast Folk Alliance and has built a following from DC to Maine. For Ami, it is both a privilege and a responsibility to follow the muse of music and justice, together. www.amiyares.com