The registration is now closed. If you would like to join the concert, please email gallery@fordfoundation.org and a Zoom link will be shared.

Virtual Program 4:00 - 5:15 PM EST

Please join us in celebrating the art of song at a concert featuring performances by Lynn Drury, Sarah Quintana, Spirit McIntyre, Margie Perez, and Keith Porteous.

Held in conjunction with the exhibition Per(Sister): Incarcerated Women of Louisiana, Per(Sister) in Song is an invitation to dive deeper into the stories behind the music and celebrate the incredible resilience displayed in the community featured. From rock to Americana, blues to jazz, and folk to pop, the concert is a small sample of the unique sounds of Louisiana and the intimate stories of the women incarcerated by the state.

Join us online to celebrate the power of storytelling through music and the PerSisters in their drive for the integral survival of their mind, body and soul!

You will be emailed a link with instruction to join the concert 24-hours before the event.

We will be recording the event to post later online and will only be showcasing the speakers + any questions raised by the audience. This means your likeness will be minimized but still may be recorded. If you do not want to be recorded, let us know prior to the event starting.

We invite you online to see the exhibition and download the catalogue at www.fordfoundation.org/gallery. Interviews with the PerSisters and the musical works may be found at www.persister.info.

About the Artists

Lynn Drury
Songs: Safe Space; St Tammany
Based in New Orleans since the mid 90’s, singer-songwriter Lynn Drury was raised in Mississippi and has been a performer since childhood. Over the past two decades, she has cultivated her own unique style of roots rock music, a style she calls “Nolamericana”, music rooted in the groove. Her catalogue includes “Crossing Frequencies” (2001), “Blackberry Winter” (2002 with Bad Mayo), “Spun” (2003 with Bad Mayo), “All You Need” (2006), “Dal Vivo (2009), “Sugar on the Floor “ (2011), “Come to My House” (2014), and 2017’s critically acclaimed “Rise of the Fall.” She has earned multiple nominations and awards from New Orleans’ most prominent publications. She currently hosts her own “Nolamericana” Music radio show on WHIVfm, Mondays 3-5pm.

Spirit McIntyre
Song: Protect & Serve
Spirit McIntyre (Pronouns: spirit/they/them) is a Cellist, Vocalist, Lyricist, Wellness Advocate, Sound Healer, Reiki Practitioner, and Compassionate Facilitator -- promoting empowerment and healing by any medium necessary. Spirit believes in the power of breath, creating healing and reciprocitous relationships, honoring lovability, being seen/seeing, and growing compassionately through tight places to find authentic connection. As a Gender-Non-Conforming Transgender person they use their identity and community building practices to intentionally uplift TGNCNBI2-S (Trans, Gender-Non-Conforming, Non-Binary, Intersex, Two-Spirit) Black, Indigenous, and POC communities. Healing affirmations, meticulous storytelling, and metaphor saturate their lyrics.

Margie Perez
Song: Keep Ya Head Up
Margie Perez is a singer and songwriter specializing in blues, pop, and Latin with a New Orleans funky touch. Dubbed by Offbeat Magazine as “One of the hardest working musicians in New Orleans”, she leads her own band which performs her original music. She is co-leader of Muevelo, a hot Latin Big Band with which Margie celebrates her Cuban roots. Perez also sings for the Afro-Cuban Sacred music band Moyuba and with West African percussionist Seguenon Kone in Ensemble Fatien, among many other notable groups–including two vocalist collectives, The Honeypots and The New Orleans Nightingales.

Keith Porteous
Song: My Life Has Value
Keith Porteous is a New Orleans based musician, teacher, and healer with an advanced yoga training and background in music. Her practice is grounded at intersection of movement, song, humor and stories in her public classes at Swan River Yoga, which bring people together. As a singer, Porteous has performed in New Orleans on WWOZ, WTUL, at Bayou Boogaloo and as a choir member at Christ Church Cathedral. A graduate of Princeton University and New York University, she also recently started Loyola University’s Music Therapy program.

Sarah Quintana
Song: This Could Be You
New Orleans native Sarah Quintana is a singer-songwriter with a background rich in jazz, folk and popular music. The recipient of a 2012 artist residency at A Studio in the Woods, Quintana has also performed with the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, at Lincoln Center with swing band The New Orleans Moonshiners, and on the streets of Provence with a traveling circus. Quintana attended The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and received a CODOFIL heritage scholarship. She is also a member of Pantheatre (Linda Wise and Enrique Pardo) as well as a hatha yoga instructor.

Find out more about all the Per(Sister) in Song artists here.

How can we help you fully participate?

The Ford Foundation is committed to hosting accessible, inclusive events. If you require an accommodation or service—such as ASL; CART; digital, large-print or Braille materials—or if you are experiencing any accessibility issues with the registration site, please contact Tara Romig (t.romig@fordfoundation.org) as soon as possible.

If you have any questions at all for the event organizers please email t.romig@fordfoundation.org and we will do our best to respond within 48-hours. If you require an accommodation not listed above to fully participate, please email us ASAP so we can ensure this event is as accessible as possible.

Accepting this invitation means you agree to receive communications from Ford about this event.

Let’s keep in touch!

Sign up for our email list to learn about the latest Ford Foundation events, news, and ideas. If you’re already on our list, hello! We hope you’ll take a moment to update your preferences, so that we can send you invitations and content that reflect your interests.

Your privacy matters to us: Please read our privacy policy here. By joining our list you agree to receive emails from the Ford Foundation, and grant us the right to collect and use behavioral cookie and demographic data for our own future marketing purposes.

Virtual Event: Per(Sister) in Song