From left to right: Jonathan Borca, Gabby Horlick, Bennett Roth, Miguel “Frunkyman” Leyva, Mark Arroyo, Jill Hirsh, and Tshaka Campbell. Courtesy of the artists.
Join us for the finale of our three-part residency with Francis Experience Quintet. Blending rap, poetry and storytelling, this unique performance series is broken into distinct hues and themes to use various artistic mediums and storytelling as a vehicle to engage and bring together disparate audiences with one shared experience. Projected digital imagery from Illuminate SJ Now! provides an immersive visual backdrop to the performance.
The Francis Experience Quintet includes Jonathan Borca and co-founder Gabby Horlick (drums), and standout musicians Bennett Roth (keys and vocals), Miguel “Frunkyman” Leyva (bass), and Mark Arroyo (guitar) with a special guest appearance by cellist Jill Hirsh.
Featured poet: Tshaka Campbell
This project is made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit calhum.org.
Dr. Jerry Hiura Next Gen Visual Artist Award
6pm • Lobby
The evening also includes a special reception announcing the winner of the Dr. Jerry Hiura Next Gen Visual Artist Award, a scholarship that celebrates young visionary artists and supports their artistic practice and goals as they pursue higher education.
Art lovers at First Fridays enjoy a lounge-like atmosphere with music, drinks, and open galleries from 6–9pm.
- Free admission after 6pm
- Late-night bites and cash bar at El Cafecito, by Mezcal Restaurant
- Shop local! The Museum Store is also open late
Francis experience quintet
Jonathan Borca (emcee, poet) is an advocate, storyteller, and performing artist who is also an Arts Commissioner for the City of San José. By passion, he is an emcee and poet who performs with a variety of jazz ensembles ranging from a quartet to a big band. Borca, who is Mexican-Filipino, was raised in Eastside San José. His work experience includes over a decade of developing and scaling programs for nonprofits and public entities. He also directed all efforts for the California Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellowship (CAC ACF), a statewide initiative aiming to uplift an inclusive workforce. Most recently, Borca has produced a music and art series, "Colour Me GOLD," which celebrates BIPOC creatives, small businesses, and producers through creative community building.
Gabby Horlick (drummer) of East San José is a professional drummer who has been playing professionally in the South Bay for over a decade. As a classically trained musician, she was often the only female drummer, paid musician, or instrumentalist in music circles. This disparity would become an important aside when pursuing her dream of starting a nontraditional jazz orchestra. As founder of 7th Street Big Band, this intention couldn’t be truer in the gender-balanced, mostly Millennial, Bay Area group of musicians with a sound that draws as much influence from pop, funk, and hip-hop as it does jazz. Gabby is also the co-founder of Francis Experience. 7th Street Big Band’s debut album, “Off Cinderella Lane” (2018), and their sophomore album, “Post Hang!” are available on all streaming platforms.
Bennett Roth (keys) is a pianist/keyboardist, composer/arranger, emcee, producer, and multi-genre music educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bennett began piano lessons when he was 7 years old and by age 10 became fascinated with the music of jazz. After playing mostly classical music during his first few years of studying piano, Bennett set off on a path of learning jazz standards and immersed himself in the music of the jazz giants—especially of legendary jazz pianists Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, and Bill Evans—while practicing determinedly to develop his sound on the piano as an improviser. Jazz gave way to hip-hop as soon as he became a teenager, and Bennett soon found himself writing rhymes and crafting beats. His lyrical pursuits, piano chops, and production ambitions have made him a frequent contributor to numerous hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and soul albums as an emcee, pianist, composer, writer, and arranger. His discography includes his most recent single, “No Hay Corona” (2023); his solo debut album, “Grown” (2022); the duo album “After You” (2015) alongside guitarist Mason Razavi; “The Bad Ones” self-titled debut (2016), with 6 credited compositions; and “Put It Out” (2019), a 4-song hip-hop and jazz-influenced EP.
Miguel “Frunkyman” Leyva (bass) is a Bay Area-based bassist and composer who recently graduated from SJSU’s Jazz Studies Masters program. He spends his time working as a session musician, arranger, and composer for different media outlets, mostly cinematic projects in Los Angeles, where he obtained an undergraduate degree in media composition at CSUN. His passion for jazz and funk has compelled him to create and hone the Frunkyman sound concept /experience for the past year. The cosmically eccentric sound adorned with elaborate funk convolutions and electronic elements has been a new sound in the Bay Area, with notable performances at Blues and Brews Festival, San José Museum of Art, and San Jose Jazz Summer Fest. Projects he’s been involved in include Genius: Picasso, FIFA 2018, Drifting Dragons, and the Video Game Awards 2018. Frunkyman released two singles, “Friendzone” and “Fank Musique,” in 2023 available on all streaming platforms.
Mark Arroyo is a guitarist who mixes his love of jazz, funk, rock, hip-hop, dub, and electronic music to create a sound both foreign and familiar. His musical curiosity is on display in original compositions performed by The Mark Arroyo Trio, with a sensibility bridging modern jazz and the indie-rock underground. Arroyo is a Grantee of the 2021 SJZ Jazz Aid Fund, an excerpt from the commissioned piece "Pulse in Isolation" is available at youtu.be/5RM_YvEII3c.
Special Guest Appearance
Jill Hirsh is a graduate of San José State University (SJSU), where she earned her BM in Music Performance. Jill is a versatile multi-instrumentalist; having performed in various ensembles on multiple instruments, she is fluent in cello, plays violin and viola, and is learning bass. She performed with SJSU’s Symphony Orchestra as principal cellist and on viola, with Disrupt New Music Ensemble on violin and cello, and with Mariachi Oro Azul on violin while also playing local gigs and events. Recently, Jill has performed with Smokey Robinson, Symphony San Jose, Fresno Philharmonic, the Dirty Cello, and the Renegade Orchestra. Originally from Southern California, she had performed in multiple countries before age 13. For the past eight years, Jill has been actively teaching strings throughout the South Bay; during the summers, she works as cello faculty at Cazadero Music Camp, where she instructs cello masterclasses, orchestra sectionals, and the cello choir and mariachi ensembles. For the past two years, she has been a lead orchestra teacher, leading beginning orchestras at all nine of the elementary schools in the Mountain View Whisman Unified School District. Additionally, Jill regularly provides string sectionals and coachings at local middle and high schools, including Homestead High School, Palo Alto High School, Saratoga High School, Los Gatos High School, Cupertino High School, Graham Middle School, and Peterson Middle School. Jill’s extensive knowledge of string pedagogy and experience teaching all ages uniquely qualify her to be a string educator.
Illuminate SJ now!
Illuminate SJ Now!'s mission is to transform downtown San José into a global epicenter of artistic innovation and creativity. Through pioneering immersive public art, Illuminate SJ Now! showcases large-scale illuminated, animated and projection-mapped murals and landmarks that pay homage to our city's heritage while pushing the limits of creative expression.
By seamlessly blending art with urban spaces, Illuminate SJ Now! strives to ignite the imagination of both residents and visitors alike, fostering an inclusive and vibrant community that celebrates the profound power of artistic storytelling. Together, they aspire to establish downtown San José as an inspiring destination that not only connects people, but leave an indelible and transformative impact on all who encounter its extraordinary art scene.
Tshaka Campbell
Originally from London, England, Tshaka Campbell was raised on his father’s teachings of solidarity and brought up on orators the likes of Garvey's ‘Pan-Africanism’ to William Churchill; as such, he adopted his father’s intense love of language. Tshaka began writing poetry long before performing it in an attempt to find his own voice and point of view within the art form.
As a performer, he is recognized as an accomplished artist internationally, and performance accolades include being a member of the Nuyorican National Poetry slam team, the Da Poetry Lounge (DPL) slam team, and he earned the Grand Champion title in San Francisco and Hollywood. He was honored with the UK Unsigned Artist award in poetry.
Campbell is the first Black Santa Clara County Poet Laureate and has authored three books of poetry titled “TARMAN,” “MUTED WHISPERS,” “STUFF, I will write more,” and “TUNNEL VISION." He is currently working on “LETTERS TO MY DAUGHTER.” His work has been featured in Bridges Review, BBC UK, Content Magazine, Speakeasy vol 1, Liminal Animals, Rigorous magazine, among others. Campbell is a recipient of commendations in the arts from the City of Milpitas and the City of Sunnyvale. He also collaborated on projects with the World Health Organization (WHO), the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the New Museum of Los Gatos (NUMU), and Triton Museum. He also sits on the Board of Directors for Silicon Valley Creates Arts Council and Poetry Center San José. He has partnered with the Silicon Valley Transit Authority and community members to deliver youth programs centered around expanding poetry and literature. He has four spoken word albums entitled "ONE," “BLOODLINES,” "SKIN vol.1," and his most recent release, "NKISI," is currently available on all streaming platforms.