Below are a few samples of some of Moon31's work producing, executing, moderating and curating conversations and podcasts:
Hosted by Neal Ludevig and Amer Jandali, Leave Looking Up is a podcast that humanizes heroes through uplifting conversations about the somewhat tumultuous and often challenging state of the world.
Leave Looking Up interviews a diverse roster of guests from Grammy Award-winning musicians, to Emmy Award-winning producers, to internationally recognized activists and influencers, educators, innovators, and more.
This conversation series is designed to inspire. Through demystification, orientation and inspiration, this podcast is here to have thoughtful conversations to uncover the models, concepts, and language used by today’s changemakers to help us all keep looking up.
It's 1st season includes such notable guests as 2x Grammy Nominee, Emmy Award Winning Councilman, author, artist and activist Pierce Freelon, Author, Influencer, and Mental Health Advocate Shelah Marie, Acclaimed Bassist, Producer and cancer survivor Brady Watt, Sustainability and education artists advocates Hila the Killa and Nathanology, Ladies Get Paid founder, author, and women's rights activist Claire Wasserman, award-winning designer, TED Speaker, social scientist and UN Earth Champion Leyla Acaroglu, among others.
For more information on the episodes, where to subscribe and listen to the podcast, visit www.leavelookingup.com.
Poetry for the Planet:
In partnership with New York City's iconic Nuyorican Poet's Cafe, Moon31 programmed a special Earth Day event with acclaimed Artist-Activists Taina Asili, Celia Aguilar, and Caridad de la Luz, each who performed works to honor and inspire attendees on the occasion of Earth Week. Guiding and and encouraging audience members to bring their own poems honoring the planet to share and discuss, they also performed new and original works.
A video recap can be found below, as well as a flyer on Moon31's Youtube Page .
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Poetry for the Planet
winter jazz fest '20: talk series
In a continued effort to engage artists and audiences in conversations around relevant and impactful issues facing the music community and our broader cultural ecosystem, Moon31 partnered with NYC's largest jazz festival Winter Jazzfest, in order to deconstruct and de-stigmatize subjects often considered too taboo to speak about: wellness in the music industry, addiction, recovery, substance abuse, mental health, along with social justice, gender, environmentalism, and overall health.
The festival, for its 16th year, attracted more than 17,000 attendees, spanned 10 days and took over 20+ venues across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Moon31 more than quintupled the amount of conversations from previous years, massively expanding its focus and the range of topics discussed during the festival. The event featured speakers, owners, and collaborators from such iconic institutions as The Mayor's Office, House of Yes, the David Lynch Foundation, Grammy Musicares, Summerstage, and many others, as well as had its first ever benefit concert hosted by Robert Glasper entitled "Revive Yo Feelings". As a result, all of this combined received major coverage from outlets like The New York Times, Downbeat, Jazziz, and many more.
More information and the concert details can be found at https://www.winterjazzfest.com/talks-2020. Full talks can be seen on Moon31's Youtube Page .
Winter Jazz Fest Conversations
black woodstock conversations
As part of the Future x Sounds Concert Series in 2019, Moon31 and Neal Ludevig produced powerful conversations rooted in activism, history, and community. Taking place in Harlem, these conversations used the 50th Anniversary of the Harlem Cultural Festival (aka Black Woodstock) in Harlem as a catalyst for discussion.
Hosted at the Schomburg Center in Harlem and at Harlem Stage, and curated by Neal Ludevig of Moon31, these conversations brought together leaders, changemakers, and activists in the community, culture and arts space that included Michael Dinwiddie (NYU), Academy Award Nominated director, producer, writer and former Black Panther Jamal Joseph, 2x Emmy Award Winner journalist, poet, activist Felipe Luciano, 27th Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Black Panther Cyril "Bullwhip" Innis, Jr., Freddie Stone (of Sly & the Family Stone) and Award-Winning Producer and Former NYPD Detective Voza Rivers, notable emcee and activist Talib Kweli, multi-grammy award winning artist Keyon Harrold, Musical Director and acclaimed musician Igmar Thomas, Victoria Fortune (Director of Partnerships at Global Citizen), CEO of Moon31 Neal Ludevig, Global Hip-Hop Ambassador for the U.N. Toni Blackman and Juma Sultan of the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience. These conversations were listed as events in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, TimeOut New York, Fusicology, NBC, Vibe, Billboard, Thrillist, among others.
More information and the conversations can be found at https://www.futurexsounds.com/new-york-city. Full talks can be seen on Moon31's Youtube Page .
