Ep 48: ft. Ari Afsar on Activism and The Artist's Responsibility - a podcast by Leya Van Doren

Ari Afsar is a singer/songwriter with placements on ABC, Disney, and Amazon. A graduate of Ethnomusicology from UCLA, Afsar just released her Concept Album distributed by Sony Masterworks, "We Won’t Sleep" She is the composer of Broadway-bound We Won’t Sleep the Musical, as named by Playbill. It was developed at the O'Neill NMTC where Afsar won the Lyricist Award. She has been commissioned for her compositions at the La Jolla Playhouse, Warren Miller Performing Arts, and The Berkshire Theater Group. Afsar has opened for Michelle Obama, Gloria Steinhem, Jane Fonda, Madeleine Albright, Misty Copeland, Michelle Kwan, Ani DiFranco and opened at the ACLU national conference with Bryan Stevenson as the keynote speaker. Her credits include starring in the Netflix original movie, “Wedding Season”, originating Eliza in Chicago's Hamilton, Miss California 2010, top 10 at Miss America 2011, and top 36 American Idol Alum. She is the co-founder of "Until We Do It" which provided masks to communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

In this episode, we talk about activism and the role and responsibility of the artist, how to find your collaborators and mentors, cultural representation in the arts, the making of her new musical, being a multi-hyphenate artist and the power of art to affect cultural & political change.

Creative Resources Mentioned:

• Democracy Now
• Broadway for Racial Justice
• Broadway Advocacy Coalition
• Industry Standard Group

Connect with Ari:

@ariannaafsar

@wewontsleepmusical

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/album/4VLwAYBfhNy8YtgNkGLI29

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