Protestra 2025: Presidential Transition Protest (presented by Protesta)

PROTESTRA will hold a concert on March 1, 2025 to stand up for human rights, protest government overreach, and fundraise for The New York Immigration Coalition, an organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York.

Program:
Dmitri Shostakovich | Symphony No. 5
J.E. Hernández | Desert Shelter
Edgar F. Girtain IV | Unidad de Fuerza

In a callback to their inaugural 2017 concert, #NoBan, this upcoming performance takes a stand against the Trump administration’s revival of anti-immigrant sentiment and attacks on individual liberties.

Named Protestra 2025: Presidential Transition Protest, the concert is a critical response to the onslaught of executive orders and policy proposals since President Trump’s inauguration that threaten individual rights and intentionally target marginalized groups. The title satirizes the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025: Presidential Transition Project,” a primary influence for many of these discriminatory policies.

PROTESTRA is deeply concerned by government overreach that will deprive people of their civil rights, such as restricted access to gender-affirming care for trans people, a basic disregard for the importance of diversity, government censorship of educational materials, and eliminating birthright citizenship. They have therefore chosen to perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, written in 1937 during the USSR’s totalitarian regime, and whose subversive messaging alongside hope for rebirth remains ever relevant today.

This concert specifically aims to support those most urgently threatened by the federal administration’s recent executive orders: immigrants and migrant groups. In protest of mass deportations that separate families and threaten the safety of tens of millions of people, the concert will feature Desert Shelter by J.E. Hernández. This chamber work is a reflection on the difficulties many migrants face in search of a better life.

The third piece on the program will be Unidad de Fuerza (Unity of Strength) by Edgar F. Girtain IV, which was originally written for our inaugural performance and will now receive its New York City premiere. It is a celebration of the joy and strength that comes from solidarity, a message we hope will reach our elected officials.

Advance tickets are $30, and PROTESTRA will donate a portion of ticket proceeds directly to the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC). Those unable to attend can still make an impact by donating to PROTESTRA’s ongoing crowdfunding campaign for NYIC. For those who want to learn more about the works and composers featured in this concert, PROTESTRA co-founders Michelle Rofrano and Ian Vlahović will host a pre-concert Zoom lecture on Thursday, February 27 at 7:30 PM ET, with additional tickets available for purchase. Links to purchase tickets and donate can be found at www.protestra.org/upcoming-events.

About PROTESTRA: 

First assembled in 2017 and formally incorporated in 2020, PROTESTRA (protest + orchestra) is a musician-run orchestra and 501(c)(3) organization that bridges the divide between advocacy and classical music. PROTESTRA’s grassroots orchestral benefit concerts inspire activism by contextualizing classical music performance through multimedia education, and turn voluntary audience donations into targeted support for mission- and policy-driven groups related to the concerts’ themes. To learn more about PROTESTRA, visit www.protestra.org.