Oakland’s “Ghost Ship Symphony” Tribute + Community Gathering

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Join Vital Arts for Art in Movements: a Community Gathering with the Ghost Ship Symphony and RUPTURE, on Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 7 pm at Bandaloop Studios in Oakland. Come together for an evening of performance and creative advocacy. The event will feature performances by the Ghost Ship Symphony, a symphonic group formed to honor the passing of the 36 victims of the Ghost Ship Fire, and RUPTURE, a multidisciplinary performance experiment centering the improvisatory nature of Black life as a technique of future crafting and culture bearing. In the midst of these cultural creations, Vital Arts will introduce the Bay Area Artist Census Fellows. Not to mention, there will be beverages, snacks, and good music.

The Ghost Ship Symphony performance will feature a work-in-progress preview of Movements 1 and 2 of Symphony No. 1 …And No One Died, Thus We Began to See in the Dark, composed by Two-Spirit Mestiza composer Alexandrea Archuleta. This piece was commissioned in honor of the approaching 10-year anniversary of the Ghost Ship Fire, and the final performance will take place on December 4, 2026, at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. After the performance there will be a Q&A with the composer. Instrumentalists include Peekaboo Salinas, Arick Wong, Stanly Quiros, Anju Goto, Emily Sayavong, Tre Carter, with Franklin Cole conducting.

In addition to the Ghost Ship Symphony performance, RUPTURE will debut a never before seen untitled performance. Acclaimed Bay Area dance group RUPTURE is what happens when five emerging queer Black Bay Area-based performance artists—jose e. abad, Gabriele Christian, Stephanie Hewett, Clarissa Rivera Dyas, and Styles Alexander—immerse themselves in practices of play, togetherness, and collaboration as strategies for survival and world building. They draw from diverse creative practices and personal cultural lineages including Afrolatinidad, AfroIndigenous, AfroFilipinx, and AfroCaribbean, informed by African-Americanisms rooted in Harlem, the Bronx, Oakland, Los Angeles, and the Deep South.

Vital Arts is proud to officially introduce the Bay Area Artist Census (BAAC) recently selected fellows during Art in Movements. BAAC is a first-of-its-kind, artist-led initiative that will collect and utilize data on the needs and challenges faced by Bay Area artists. The goal? To advocate for better policies, resources, and support—from affordable housing to fair wages—using real stories and data. Join us for this community gathering, not only to experience powerful performances, but also to engage with the newly announced BAAC Fellows – the local artists and creatives who will work over the next two years to build a broader understanding of the Bay Area arts landscape and the needs of local artists.

The aftermath of the Ghost Ship fire necessitated that the underground artist community build a movement of mutual aid and support, largely unsupported by institutional bodies. Art in Movements aims to connect the threads between this symphonic piece of grief and transformation, RUPTURE’s exploration of collective building through movement, and BAAC’s goal of centering the voices of artists who have been historically and systematically overlooked. This night is a reminder that artists have always and will continue to survive and thrive primarily through community building and mutual aid.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.