SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO “A Love Letter to The Bay Area”
SAT, May 2 · 3PM & 7:30PM MINER AUDITORIUM
GRAMMY-winning bassist, singer, and songwriter performs covers and compositions that speak to American protest
GRAMMY-winning bassist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello is an uncompromising trailblazer whose deliriously funky, soulful work doubles as potent commentary on race, gender, and LGBTQ+ rights.
For the family-friendly matinee and evening shows on Saturday, May 2, Meshell and her ensemble will be joined by some of the Bay Area’s most groundbreaking poets, including Aja Monet, Genny Lim, Tongo Eisen-Martin and Mimi Tempestt for two concerts that bring together jazz, soul, and spoken word.
2025 Leonard Cohen Festival photo by Jon Bauer and Static & Blur
CONSPIRACY OF BEARDS, THE CRUX & SF Poet Laureate GENNY LIM
November 7, 2025, 7:30PM Blue Shield Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
The San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival, founded in 2018, is an annual celebration dedicated to honoring the poetry, music, and spirit of the legendary songwriter, poet, and author. Presented each November by Conspiracy of Beards—San Francisco’s renowned 30-member male choir devoted to Cohen’s work—the festival has grown from its early beginnings into a multi-day, multi-venue event that draws poets, musicians, artists, and audiences from across the Bay Area and beyond.
The festival emphasizes fresh interpretations of Cohen’s work, encouraging artists to reshape his words and melodies through their own creative lenses. This open, inventive approach results in a diverse program of performances, readings, and collaborations that keep Cohen’s timeless themes of love, longing, humor, and spirituality alive for new generations.
Together, the festival and the choir invite audiences to conspire in celebration of one of the 20th century’s most enduring and influential voices. The result is a vibrant gathering that honors Cohen’s legacy with creativity, reverence, and joy.
San Francisco Poet Laureate Genny Lim will open the evening, accompanied by cellist Kathryn Bates.
San Francisco’s Conspiracy of Beards perform their new show, The Unified Heart of Leonard Cohen, celebrating Cohen’s words, music, and contemplations on “The Order of the Unified Heart,” the symbol of two hearts intertwined that appears on the cover of the 1984 poetry collection Book of Mercy. This book inspired the 1985 album Various Positions, which includes some of Cohen’s most iconic songs, including “If It Be Your Will,” “Dance Me to the End of Love,” and “Hallelujah.”
The Crux is a mad scientist’s music laboratory, where songs are presented as theatrical experiments with odd and beautiful intensity: lullabies to drink your morning coffee to, gospel songs for the faithless, pirate shanties for people who get seasick, and swing music for the graceless. The Crux has appeared as chain-rattling klezmer folk punks, an unhinged revival service, a theatrical film-noir jazz combo, and more. This band is a true North Bay institution with a revolving cast of musicians assembled and coaxed into action by regional impresario Josh Windmiller. The Crux will present Cohen’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony and other favorites.
2025 Leonard Cohen Festival photos by Jon Bauer and Static & Blur
Genny Lim is the ninth San Francisco Poet Laureate and recipient of two lifetime achievement awards from PEN Oakland and the city of Berkeley. She has also served as a former SF Arts Commissioner. Lim’s award-winning play, Paper Angels, the first Asian American play to air on PBS’s American Playhouse in 1985, has been performed throughout the U.S., Canada and China. She is author of five poetry collections, Winter Place, Child of War, Paper Gods and Rebels, KRA!, La Morte Del Tempo, and co-author and translator of Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, winner of the American Book Award. Lim has worked with past Jazz legends, such as Max Roach and long-time collaborators, Jon Jang, John Santos, Francis Wong and Del Sol Quartet. Their recent show, Facing the Moon: Songs of the Diaspora recently premiered at the Presidio Theater in San Francisco. This marks Genny’s second appearance at the Leonard Cohen Festival.
Cellist Kathryn Bates’ boundless energy for sharing musical experiences has shaped a career that continues to explore the intersections of tradition and innovation. Praised for her “beautifully rounded sound” by the New York Times, Kathryn’s performances are hailed as “electrifying” (Boston Globe), characterized by a dancer’s sense of rhythm and captivating theatricality. As the New Fromm cellist of the Tanglewood Music Center from 2008-2010, she was called the “revelation” (Sequenza 21) of the Elliott Carter 100th Birthday anniversary celebration. In 2010, Kathryn joined the renowned San Francisco-based Del Sol String Quartet.
SF Poet Laureate Genny Lim and cellist Kathryn Bates
Genny Lim, Poet Laureate, accompanied by J. Raoul Brody
Fri., August 8, 2025, 7PM Mile High Theater 7024 Crable Street Frazier Park, CA 9322
Genny Lim accompanied by J. Raoul Brody. Genevieve (Genny) Lim is an American Poet, playwright, and performer. She is the ninth poet laureate of San Francisco.
Fringe of the Woods Festival features a diverse lineup of acts and performances every year, over the course of 3 days.
“Not In Our Name / No En Nuestro Nombre” A Collaboration between Muralist Juana Alicia with Poetry by Genny Lim
Program Highlights
Francis Wong – composer, saxophonist, activist, and educator
Alexandro Murguía & devorah major – former San Francisco Poets Laureates
Chun Yu – Chinese/American poet and translator (reading in Chinese)
Mo Sati – Palestinian American poet
On-site Activation: The San Francisco Poster Syndicate will live-print and distribute free political posters, facilitating community engagement through art as activism.
This inaugural event unites poetry, mural art, and community solidarity into a powerful public statement. Not in Our Name / No en nuestro nombre calls on individuals to witness, engage, and amplify a message for peace, justice, and human dignity.
Our mural and poem, Not in Our Name, is an urgent call to demand a permanent Cease Fire to end the genocide in Palestine. The large scale poetic mural (15 feet by 25 feet) by internationally renowned muralist Juana Alicia and Genny Lim, SF Poet Laureate, is mounted in San Francisco’s celebrated Mission District’s Clarion Mural Alley Project in Clarion Alley at the Valencia corridor between 17th and 19th Streets. The mural stands alongside a length of vibrant, global social justice murals, created by artist activists. Since the October 7th attack on the Nova Music Festival almost two years ago, there has been no let‑up in the bombardment of Gaza and the West Bank, with over 60,000 Palestinians killed, more than half of whom were children and women. With hospitals and schools destroyed, starvation looming without any sufficient food or medical supplies allowed access, famine and disease, is inevitable. To date, there is no significant movement towards a cease fire and, in fact, the war threatens to spread with Israel’s attacks on Iran, Syria and Lebanon, which elicited retaliatory attacks.
As artists and poets, we use the tools of our craft to help raise social consciousness. Our crew of dedicated volunteers, led by activist, David Solnit, former SF Supervisor, Eric Mar, peace activist, Catherine Cusic and Tirso Araiza, among others, with the generous moral and material support support by CAMP, is a labor of love in tribute to all the victims of this horrific genocide. We believe that all war is an aberration, an abomination and a sign of moral decay. We believe that dialogue and honest cooperation are the only way to achieve true and lasting peace. Not in Our Name is a plea for peace and hope. It is a call to action. A message to all individuals with a moral conscience to defend the human rights and dignity of all human beings and the sovereignty of all nations by speaking truth to power and injustice.
Installation Team
The mural was installed by volunteers under the leadership of David Solnit, with support from Eric Mar, Catherine Cusic, Tirso González Araiza, Jade Mar, Yasmin Madriz, Yano Rivera, Denisse Ogata, Christopher Statton, Megan Wilson, and others. Poetry translations were provided by Carmen Hynds May & Alan Hynds (Spanish) and Carol Khoury (Arabic). Graphic design and video documentation by Andi Wong.
About Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP)
The Mission of Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) is to support and produce socially engaged and aesthetically innovative public art, locally and globally as a grassroots artist-run organization based in San Francisco’s Mission District. CAMP is a community, a public space, and an organizing force that uses public art (murals, street art, performance art, dance, poster projects, literary events) as a means for supporting social, economic, racial, and environmental justice messaging and storytelling. Over the past 30 years CAMP has produced over 900 murals and worked with many talented artists and community-based organizations and activists. In addition to its overall mural programming, CAMP’s projects/programming has included 1) the Redstone Labor Temple Project, highlighting San Francisco’s labor history (1997); 2) international exchange & residency projects with Yogykarata, Indonesia – Sama-Sama/Together (2003-2006) in collaboration with Intersection for the Arts and Bangkit/Arise (2018-present) in collaboration with the Asian Art Museum; 3) In Honor Of …, drawing attention to political prisoners in Iran in collaboration with Artists’ Television Access (2019); 4) Wall + Response, featuring 16 Bay Area poets responding to the social, political, and racial justice narratives of four mural projects on Clarion Alley (2020-22); and Manifest Differently, working with 38 artists & poets to interrogate the doctrine of ‘Manifest Destiny’(2023).
Reading by Genny Lim & Nellie Wong, with Hyeyung Sol Yoon
Weds., April 19, 2025, 2pm – 3:30pm Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room Main Library, 100 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94102
SFPL’s Humanities Center celebrates National Poetry Month with a reading by Genny Lim, San Francisco’s 9th Poet Laureate. Cherry blossoms have long been a symbol of life’s brevity. Lim, together with poet Nellie Wong, will address themes of life, death and renewal in the historical and personal contexts of their poems, accompanied by Del Sol String Quartet violinist Hyeyung Sol Yoon.
Sunday, February 2, 2025 3:00pm – 5:00pm Koret Auditorium
San Francisco Main Library 100 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94102
An afternoon of poetry, youth performances and music to mark the inauguration of San Francisco’s 9th Poet Laureate, Genny Lim, at the San Francisco Main Library.
Hosted by City Librarian Michael Lambert, the event featured performances by youth poets from Youth Speaks, a youth chorus from Clarion Children’s Theater, past San Francisco poets laureates Kim Shuck, devorah major and Alejandro Murguía with live art by Adrian Arias, and a reading by writer Kevin Simmonds.
Genny Lim, Poet Laureate of San Francisco. Photo: Kit Castagne
Lim was appointed as the city’s poet laureate in September 2024 by then Mayor London Breed. As part of her required duties as laureate, she will host an inaugural event to celebrate her poetic vision for San Francisco.
Lim is the first Chinese American appointed to the city’s three-year poet laureate position. She was born and raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown and North Beach neighborhoods and is a graduate of San Francisco State University and Columbia University. Her writing has been widely awarded and published.
Wednesday, January 8, 2025 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM Grant Avenue (between Sacramento & Jackson, Ross Alley & Commercial Street) FREE and open to the public
San Francisco, the oldest Chinatown in the United States, celebrates with an evening of food, culture, and community at the Chinatown Night Market & Community Festival, held in honor of Daniel Lurie’s inauguration as the 46th mayor of San Francisco on Wednesday, January 8.
Web Gallery
2025 Mayoral Inauguration Celebration in Chinatown: Francis Wong and Genny Lim perform at Edge on the Square
2025 Mayoral Inauguration Celebration in Chinatown: Francis Wong and Genny Lim perform at Edge on the Square
2025 Mayoral Inauguration Celebration in Chinatown: Francis Wong and Genny Lim perform at Edge on the Square
In Your Ear is a cool fusion of jazz and Latin music, giving voice to musicians deserving wider recognition, and showing that jazz and Afro-Caribbean music are separate, but “branches of the same tree” as the late Afro-jazz pioneer Mario Bauza used to stress. Hosted by Art Sato.
Passing Through: An Evening of Poetry and Music Inspired by, Loved by, and Left Behind by Leonard Cohen November 8, 2024, 7:30PM Swedish American Hall
A November celebration of the words, music, and spirit of Leonard Cohen in San Francisco. Hosted by San Francisco’s Conspiracy of Beards, a choir of men that sing the songs of Leonard Cohen, the SF Leonard Cohen Festival is a multi-artist, multi-event celebration of the poetry, literature, and music of the late singer, songwriter, author, and poet.
The three-night festival began on November 8th with works inspired by, loved by, and left behind by Cohen and performed by the city’s poets, including 2024 Poet Laureate Genny Lim, Alejandro Murguía, Tess Taylor, and Gregory Pond, and local musicians Middle Harbor Songbirds, Ruby Lee Hill, Josh “Yosh” Warren, and the female choir, Conspiracy of Venus.
“What makes him so special, his songs are like journals of his life. And because they’re so deeply personal and intimate, they become universal, because everyone can identify with his struggles, his conflicts, his love affairs, his heartbreaks, his grappling with his spirituality, and his self-criticism as a human being.”
— GENNY LIM on LEONARD COHEN
Genny Lim at the 2024 San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival. Photo by Jon Bauer
Genny was among the artists featured in this piece by PBS News Hour special correspondent Mike Cerre, who went to the annual Leonard Cohen Festival in San Francisco to hear why Leonard Cohen’s music and poetry is celebrated by older and younger generations.
Join us for an evening of beautiful music and cultural performances as we raise funds for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund.
Today, the situation in Haiti could not be more dire. Government backed paramilitary groups continue to terrorize opposition neighborhoods. Six hundred thousand people have had to flee their homes in the wake of this violence. Food insecurity now threatens nearly 5 million people, including 2.4 million children, in a country of 12 million.
Donations to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund go directly to grassroots organizations in Haiti that are the hope for Haiti’s future. Your funds support internal refugees who have been driven from their homes as well as those fleeing Haiti. They help sustain grassroots women’s organizations, mobile health clinics and literacy programs in Haiti’s poorest communities. Your donations will help support the University of the Dr. Aristide Foundation (UNIFA), which has opened a new teaching hospital under the most challenging conditions. And your funds will aid the growth of independent community-based media, so critical in a society where the rich control almost all sources of information.
