Project Troubador

SALISBURY— Project Troubador will host its 22nd annual Grove Festival at the town Grove on Saturday, June 25, from 5 to 10 p.m. Project Troubador is “music without borders,” according to Louise Lindenmyer, executive director.“Music is a universal language,” she said. “It is very person to person.” Lindenmyer and her husband, Eliot Osborn, Project Troubador’s artistic director, started the nonprofit in 1978 to bring performance art to underdeveloped nations. Through song and dance, the artists of Project Troubador educate local populations about the region’s specific concerns. In its 33 years, the members of Project Troubador have hired approximately 150 artists who have traveled to more than 15 countries. They have also hosted events in America. Project Troubador artists have used song to address issues ranging from physical disabilities and clean water to literacy and HIV awareness.These artists aim to increase cross-cultural education and provide a unique view of America to foreign audiences.Lindenmeyr explained that the concerts take place only in public arenas, bringing the music to the people rather than making the people come to the music. It’s this informal setup that “makes this magic happen,” she said.In America, Project Troubador seeks to broaden Americans’ knowledge of other cultures. While the annual Grove Festival acts as a gesture of thanks to its family of supporters locally, it also aims to promote diversity awareness in America.This year, the festival will open with Jonathan Grusauskas, local musician and music teacher, who will perform with his band, The Millerton Knights. The Millerton Knights, taught by Grusauskas, are a group of local 6- to 11-year-olds who nurse their developing love for music every Tuesday and Friday behind the walls of The Music Cellar in Millerton. “They can do things I could never do at their age,” Grusauskas said about his troupe. “They really are amazing.”The Millerton Knights will play from 5 to 6 p.m., with a menu of classic pop hits such as Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” in addition to a few Afrobeat songs.Following The Millerton Knights, three artists from overseas will perform.First up will be Jose Conde, a Cuban Afro-Latin musician and winner of the Best Latin Album in the 2008 Independent Music Awards. Next will be Henry the Juggler, who participated in Project Troubador’s 2011 undertaking to raise money for deaf students in the Dominican Republic. The festival will close with Kakande, a musician who uses traditional Guinean instruments and storytelling to meld his music’s 13th-century roots with the present. Admission to the festival is $15 for adults and $5 for children. For more information on the festival, call 860-435-0561. For more information regarding Project Troubador, visit www.projecttroubador.org.