Step inside the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, behind the rugged brick facade of a century-old former sawdust factory, to explore what might be the most technologically advanced auditory playground in the world. This September, National Sawdust will host the premiere of We Were Fridays, a deeply personal, interdisciplinary masterpiece by visionary cellist and former Kronos Quartet member Jeffrey Zeigler. Commissioned and produced by VisionIntoArt, the project is a sweeping exploration of cultural memory, tracing a lineage from West African Griot traditions through the transatlantic slave trade to South Carolina, and eventually as far as Vietnam and Japan.
Attendees will experience an exclusive preview of the performance scoring, where Zeigler’s cello and electronics bring heritage to life. This session will dive into the story of the Gullah community and Zeigler’s own lineage, tracing back to his ancestor George Washington Friday, to show how immersive tech is the structural narrative engine for modern storytelling.