Immigrant Nation: Making Home in Song and Story

Migration and music go hand in hand. From Victrolas to tapes to TikTok, in clubs and record stores, through changing attitudes to immigration, people have used sound to express the trials and sorrows, hopes and humor of risking the journey to a new life. Join us for an evening of discussion and archival music recordings as David Goren and Maria Margaronis explore how immigrants to America have used songs, skits and recorded messages from the founding of Ellis Island to the present to connect with home, to find their way, and to feel less alone. Maria Margaroni s and David Goren have collaborated on ten BBC radio documentaries since 2017. Their first piece, “ America’s Ottoman Diaspora ,” drew inspiration from the Ellis Island National Immigration Museum and its oral history & discography projects. Other work by David and Maria, like “ The Black Cantor ,” reflects on the migrant experience and relationships between communities in a new home. David has also created The Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map , an interactive website with sonic essays showing how pirate radio serves local West Indian neighborhoods. "Immigrant Nation: Making Home in Song and Story" is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature through a Support for Artists Grant, fiscally sponsored by Wave Farm.