Big Worlds, huge impact
Zumix fosters a fresh generation of local artists
Watching Dawry Ruiz rock a rhyme onstage with the Boston hip-hop collective Project Method, you can’t picture a time when the young MC didn’t feel comfortable behind a mic and in front of a crowd. But Ruiz said before he connected with the music education nonprofit Zumix, he never imagined himself as a performer.
“When I began, I was shy and reserved,” said the 17-year-old Roxbury High School senior. “After taking programs (at Zumix), I made more friends, found my voice and explored different mediums of art. Without Zumix, I truly wouldn’t be the person I am today because they have done more than just help me become an artist. They have helped me become a more ambitious and forward-thinking person.”
Zumix provided Ruiz with direction and, maybe more importantly, a place to actually play. Zumix’s East Boston campus is known for its free and low-cost after-school programs in everything from songwriting to engineering and production. But the organization also has one of the city’s rare all-ages performance spaces.
On Saturday, Zumix launches the Big Worlds concert series in an effort to raise money and bring attention to its venue and small army of teenage, in-house artists. The first show features a cross section of hip-hop, R&B and soul with performances from both Zumixbred acts and established local artists Oompa, Optic Bloom, Lilah and Ruiz’s Project Method. Concerts focusing on indie rock and Latin music follow on March 9 and April 13 respectively.
“The concert series is about creating a time and space for our young artists to emerge while pairing them with more established artists in the community,” Zumix events coordinator Jake Gilman said. “It’s important for our kids to see artists out there who have the values and intentions that we find important, things like unity, speaking truth, a connection to community.”
For each event, Gilman has curated an entire experience from music to food that provides a window into the culture surrounding each genre.
“We will feature restaurants, record shop pop-ups, performing arts and more that represent different aspects of each genre, each culture and community,” he said. “I want this to be a bridge between communities and between youth and professional acts, a chance for everyone to learn from each other.”
For Ruiz and his crew, it represents a chance to hone their craft and prove they belong on the stage with Boston’s best talents.
“In our careers, we have been dismissed multiple times because of our age,” he said. “(But) Zumix understands the amount of hard work that is put into our music.”
For more on Zumix programs and tickets to the Big Worlds concerts, go to zumix.org.