Danny Rivera prioritizes art as a tool for social change
Description of video contents: Danny Rivera prioritizes Art as a tool for social change. He seeks community with similar-minded people. He is excited about working with Symphony NH and Wynton Marsalis’s A Fiddler’s Tale and can’t wait to share this incredible story. He is grounded in the work of Art

Description of video contents: Danny Rivera prioritizes Art as a tool for social change. He seeks community with similar-minded people. He is excited about working with Symphony NH and Wynton Marsalis’s A Fiddler’s Tale and can’t wait to share this incredible story. He is grounded in the work of Art for social change, finding ways to connect the local community with artists and their work as a way to project the future.The stories of Good people doing Great Things. #KeithSpiroCommunicast
MANCHESTER, NH – In advance of next weekend’s “three cities, three shows” presentation of “A Fiddler’s Tale” (Nov. 10-12 in Derry, Manchester and Concord). I had a conversation recently with show narrator Danny Rivera to highlight the collaborative efforts of the Ink Link and Symphony New Hampshire in creating new ways to connect artists and audiences; this is another note along the path of Art as the Authoritative Voice for these times.
Danny Rivera prioritizes art as a tool for social change. Excited to be working with Symphony NH for Wynton Marsalis’s “A Fiddler’s Tale,” he says he can’t wait to share this incredible story. But just what is this story?

An expanding group of us see the arts as a conduit for connection and change when words alone fail. Rivera’s interwoven story is about stewardship and making space for his life and art. He constantly seeks out ways that connect community and resonate with his rising generation. At 22 years of age, he is grounded in the work of art for social change. He is finding ways to connect the local community with artists and their work as a way to project and protect the future. He seeks community with similar-minded people.
Rivera says he is “excited to be connected with New Hampshire as a whole.” Living just across the border in Massachusetts, he certainly has that opportunity to get to see what is offered in Derry, Manchester, and Concord, places where the three performances of A Fiddler’s Tale will take place this week.
Artists Initiative for Revolution
Danny Rivera is CEO of Artists Initiative for Revolution (AIR). While I know it as an acronym for Artist in Residence, to Danny it is truly air, as in oxygen, the air we breathe. He describes the Artists Initiative for Revolution as a service to grassroots movements. They prioritize artists who are taking a stand in their neighborhoods, locally. This organization helps bring to light social issues and find ways to address those issues through the arts.
THE GENESIS OF THIS COLLABORATION WITH SYMPHONY NH

Graduating from the Longy School of Music, he had just finished his senior recital. The exhibition, “Songs of Free Men,” debuted at the first African Meeting House in the country located on Beacon Hill in Boston. A combination of spirituals rearranged, the work drew wide attention. Shortly thereafter, he received an email from Deanna Hoying, the Executive Director of Symphony NH, She offered him the opportunity to retell The Fiddler’s Tale for a new generation. Danny Rivera frequently used the words “steward” and “stewardship” in our conversation. So very appropriate for a modern-day connector who is bridging cultures and generations as he navigates his own career in music. He is another individual who believes we need the arts and music more than ever. So, too, does the Manchester Ink Link, as it elevates truly local news and highlights the rich cultural diversity that is our community.
THE FIDDLER’S TALE REMAINS RELEVANT TODAY
In reading the script, Rivera has found many connections and parallels to his own life and sees it relevant to any young person setting out in the world right now. He believes this is a story that everyone can connect with regardless of where they are on life’s journey. His view emphasizes integrity and character, and he sees fresh values that can help younger folks “really navigate through life.” He is quick to point out that the character, the devil, is no less active, and remains relevant today.
“Mr. Marsalis has done an incredible job at demonstrating what it means to retell the story – and to tell the story in a way that resonates with generations to come,” says Danny Rivera
WHAT’S THE MESSAGE
Rivera delivers his personal interpretation of the piece revealing that “the friction and tension in finding ways to resolve (choices)…really takes place within ourselves.”
Open yourself up to new ways of thinking. Find the appropriate space where you can step out of the onslaught of streaming, scrolling and reacting. Danny Rivera believes utilizing this space, this performance of music and narrative, is an appropriate and safe space for each of us to really do that deep introspective work. This work can be more than just a concert to attend. Experience a doorway to introspection, a moment to find your own meaning and resolve. A Fiddler’s Tale might just be a bridge to communications.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis’s acclaimed A Fiddler’s Tale comes to New England as a Symphony NH premiere. A modernized version of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, an iconic tale of fame, fortune and the devil. Blues, Jazz, tangos, rags, waltzes, classical music – and more – are heard in this updated story of love, greed, and Faustian bargains. Guest Artist Danny Rivera will join Symphony NH in the role of the narrator.
This presentation of A Fiddler’s Tale will be a mix of jazz and classical music. You’ll hear the influence of folk music and feel big bands, small jazz bands, and clubs. All at a high standard of musical excellence. Music can support safe communications; a way to understand some of the passion that drives each of us.
Manchester Ink Link is the show sponsor.
Communication – community – connection.
