Community MusicWorks Season Nineteen: Musicians at Work
In this nineteenth season, we are launching an ambitious strategic plan that recommits to this vision, and sets many exciting goals for the coming five years. But as we look ahead, we also look back at the important traditions that precede our work. In the 1930s, for instance, the United States implemented various programs to pull the country out of the Great Depression. Because of the familiar plaques that still adorn sidewalks, park buildings, and post offices, it’s easy to remember that the Works Progress Administration (WPA), as one of these initiatives, accomplished a great number of infrastructure improvements in that decade. But less visible eighty years later are the arts projects funded through the WPA: iconic public murals, orchestras, theaters and community arts centers aimed to make arts experiences an integral part of American life, and accessible to everyone. The administrators of the WPA programs promoted the belief that art and artists were central to a healthy country. In this spirit, President Roosevelt expressed the belief that the American dream relied both on economic and social justice, and on people having access to cultural enrichment. Fundamentally, he thought, the country could not be whole without people—and not just the rich—having access to arts and culture. At CMW, like in the WPA, we employ musicians to make their work in the context of a community, with the clear goal of building an inclusive society that comes together around experiences in the arts. This season we celebrate this tradition through music and discussions. We explore themes of social justice with our students, our community members and our city. We feature our musicians’ solo and collective voices through the Sonata Series, fall concerts of Vivaldi and Piazzolla concertos, a spring performance of a twentieth century cello masterpiece, and sonatas and partitas in our Bach Around Town performances. Also this season we celebrate artistic collaborations, including a first with Festival Ballet in the company’s “Up Close on Hope” series; with the Rhode Island Black Storytellers for a reprise performance of the new “Twelve Moods” by Jessie Montgomery; and a return of the Bach to the Future overnight Bach marathon, curated by Sakiko Mori. We continue our collaboration with the RISD Museum to present a multimedia experience combining the sculpture of British artist Martin Boyce with music that traces themes in popular music from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries. And these concerts are just a few among a rich season of musical voices from Haydn to Brahms to the Polish composer Wojciech Kilar. Thank you for joining us, for participating in the ongoing experiment to bring together artistry and community, to expand access and to ensure all people can participate in the joy of making this a thriving community. –Sebastian Ruth Click here to view our Season 19 calendar Photo by Stephanie Alvarez Ewens |
