The UBC Phil Lind Initiative Presents: Jon Batiste & Suleika Jaouad

Suleika Jaouad and musician Jon Batiste gave the world an intimate look into their life in the recent 2023 Netflix documentary American Symphony which has been hailed as “a moving ode to love, creativity, and the art of survival” (Rolling Stone). Chronicling the year that Batiste was nominated for 11 Grammy awards and Jaouad’s leukemia returned after almost a decade of remission, the two artists never stop creating as they move through extraordinary tribulations and triumphs together.

Their Phil Lind Initiative talk will offer a wide-ranging exploration of art and creative expression as an act of survival and connection—be that the meaningful connection that author Jaouad forged with Quintin Jones, an inmate looking for clemency who was ultimately executed in 2021, or the foundational philosophy behind Batiste’s latest album World Music Radio, which challenges the borders we draw between musical genres, artistic disciplines, and communities of people themselves.