The NYC Musical Saw Festival was established by founder/director Natalia ‘Saw Lady’ Paruz in 2002.
The NYC Musical Saw Festival is held in Astoria (Queens), NYC. It was an annual event until 2011 when it changed to every other year. The festival brings together musical saw players from all over NYC, the US and abroad and aims to preserve the past, honor the present and help shape the future of the 300 year old art form of making music with a carpenter’s handsaw. Astoria has become a pilgrimage place for saw players from such far away countries as China, Japan, India, Germany, Sweden and Canada.
The festival enables saw players to meet other saw players and hear them play, perform solos and jam with others, learn about different types of saws and discover different techniques of playing – all in a friendly, supportive atmosphere.
The festival is open to the public at large who can learn about the musical saw and enjoy a unique concert featuring the angelic sounds of the musical saw.
Another part of the festival is an art exhibit featuring the musical saw.
There is also a workshop for musical saw players.