by Jisu Sheen The New Haven independent
Adam Christoferson, ten years after first getting the Temple Street studio’s keys.
Keys to a Dream: Temple Street Studio 10-Year Showcase Celebration
Musical Intervention
Toad’s Place
New Haven
Dec. 17, 2025
Swedish pancakes and poetry saved Adam Christoferson’s life.
A child of two parents with schizophrenia, he was in the foster care system when his grandmother took him in. He remembers the smell of pancakes from the kitchen as his grandma shared poems, solidifying early connections between artistic expression and vital nourishment.
Christoferson told that story on stage Wednesday night at Toad’s Place, speaking in between songs as a headliner for nonprofit community music organization Musical Intervention’s birthday extravaganza. The sober studio, which has sat between Crown and George Streets in Downtown New Haven for the last 10 years, is known for its weekly drum circles and open mics at its Temple Street studio space; the celebration at Toad’s was a combination of both.
When I entered the venue a little early for the show, the drum circle was already going. In front of the stage, right in the middle of the floor, hands activated tambourines, maracas, and a variety of drums led by Musical Intervention’s Moises Vasquez. The sound was hypnotic, with no beginning or end, just an endless flow of rhythm.
Wilhelmina McNeill, also known as Aphroditee, slipped out from the drum circle and made her way on stage. As the instruments quieted down, she prepared to show the crowd exactly why she was named after the Goddess of Love.
She backed up Christoferson on vocals before stepping into her star power as a solo singer. Musicians still near their drums added light percussion as McNeill leaned into a moody power ballad calling out to a lover. “Just come to me/ It’ll be okay,” she sang, hitting edgy high notes that accented the controlled vibrato of her melodic lines. She exuded cool in her long black jacket and red hat.
“Saved my life” is a phrase I heard many times that evening, not just about pancakes and poetry but about Musical Intervention itself. Jeremiah Brown, another headliner with a gorgeous voice, was an adolescent who had just lost his mother and was shuffled back and forth between homes when he met Christoferson, who taught him guitar. Music became “a coping skill that I can say literally saved me,” Brown said.
Christoferson told the story in his own way, saying he just “taught him a couple chords” before Brown started writing songs, letting natural talent lead. On stage, the two performed an original song they wrote together centered around the message: “The world needs you.” Brown hit ethereal high pitches, his clear voice ringing out and carrying the audience on every shimmering word.
Then Brown dived into the most dramatic of Christmas songs: “Mary Did You Know?”
I had forgotten how deep that song goes, with lyrics like: “This child that you’ve delivered/ Will soon deliver you.” Brown brought all the emotion and glam the tune needed, tapping into Christianity’s more suspenseful tendencies and making the stage feel like a production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Brown ended his set with a crowd-pleaser: U2’s 1987 “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The audience was lively, dancing along to Brown’s powerful voice and the house band’s generous instrumental breaks.
Ten years ago, in December of 2015, Elinor Slomba’s Project Storefronts handed Christoferson the keys to 2,300 square feet of space at 23 Temple Street in Downtown New Haven. Over the following decade, Christoferson and his growing band of friends created what board member Grady Bohen described as “safe, sober, and inclusive environments” for the celebration of music.
Another thing to celebrate? Each other. Woven within the pre-song banter and lyrics of each original track were repeated reminders to give others grace and acknowledge the accomplishment of being alive.
Christoferson took a treble-clef-shaped object out of a brown mailer bag. It was Musical Intervention’s own Inspiration Award. The crowd, well-equipped with its circle of percussive instruments, provided a drum roll. Christoferson looked to his left; the award went to Kevin “11” O’Brien, who had been on guitar, keys, and bass this whole time.
Before bringing O’Brien onto the Musical Intervention team, Christoferson was, in his words, “running on fumes.” He was trying to do it all at once. Then (he turned to O’Brien), “you came along with your talent, your kindness—”
“My tart attitude,” O’Brien supplied.
The house musician got his turn in the spotlight as he teared up, accepted his award, and made sure to shout out the hard work of everyone on the Musical Intervention team.
Headliners gave way to a collection of supporting acts for the rest of the evening, crossing genre lines but staying on theme. “Are you ready to thrive?” one performer, Dom DeGennaro, asked the crowd.
As if one night of music and raucous fun wasn’t enough, the musicians invited the audience to Musical Interventions’ Temple Street studio the following day (Thursday, Dec. 18) for their weekly open mic.
Attendees in their tinsel, Santa hats, and thick sweaters clapped along to the beat. Performer Patrick Escandon, who goes by Flow Like Water, walked around offering tambourines and maracas to the crowd. It was a thoughtfully crafted event, emerging from a tight-knit community with roots reaching even farther back than the decade the studio has been open. I could almost smell the pancakes.
Musical Intervention holds songwriting sessions on Tuesdays from 2-4 p.m., open jam Wednesdays 1-3 p.m., drum circle Thursdays 5-6 p.m., and open mic Thursdays 6-9:30 p.m.
Jeremiah Brown: Musical Intervention is an “environment where people get to be themselves.”
Billups on bass (left) and the night’s Inspiration Award honoree, Kevin “11” O’Brien (right).