CMW Cellist Receives Composition Grant
The Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship Fund, established at the Foundation in 2003, is awarded to Rhode Island artists whose work demonstrates exceptional creativity, rigorous dedication and consistent artistic practice, and significant artistic merit. We’re pleased to share that cellist and CMW Resident Musician Adrienne Taylor is one of three recipients of this year’s award. I feel honored and grateful to be a recipient of the 2021 Margaret and Robert MacColl Johnson Fellowship for composition. The fellowship will give me the opportunity to continue writing music inspired by natural spaces and to expand my writing beyond the cello to include other instruments. My solo cello album, SoLa, came out of a very solitary time in my life, and the cello as a singular voice fit the expression of what I was experiencing then. Now, during the pandemic, I’ve been thinking about how much I value the relationships I share with people and the connection I feel with my musical colleagues and friends. I’m yearning for a time when I can make music together with other people again, and I’m feeling inspired to write music that I hope to be able to play one day with the musicians in my life who I care deeply about. It gives me something to dream about for the future. The hardest part for me is finding the time and space to write. I plan to start writing next month during my practice retreat, an opportunity Community MusicWorks gives to Resident Musicians to take a week away from our regular work in order to focus on a project we’re feeling inspired about. It’s such a rare thing to be part of an organization that values people’s personal musical development in this way. I continue to be grateful to CMW for all of the ways the organization supports its musicians. –Adrienne Taylor Learn more about Adrienne on our staff info page. Read Adrienne’s interview in the Providence Journal. Photo by Erin X. Smithers |
