Traces - Community MusicWorks

As we look to the future, it is important to remember those who came before us.

On a recent warm spring afternoon, friends gathered at the site of CMW’s future home to honor the past, present, and future of the land and celebrate the world premiere performance of a commissioned piece: Traces.

Traces is a sonic collaboration between Community MusicWorks, composer Shaw Pong Liu, the Rhode Island Historical Society, and numerous individuals from our community and neighborhood with the aim of tracing, acknowledging, and celebrating the history of what is now called 1326 Westminster Street, Providence.

Watch the world premiere of Traces in this multi-media live-recorded event.

The Traces concert event, as captured in the video above, is a celebration and blessing of the land, and features music by the Eastern Medicine Singers and Kia Yang, with a premiere performance of Shaw Pong Liu’s commissioned piece, Traces, as performed by the MusicWorks Collective with CMW students and storytellers. With compelling readings by poet Rudy Cabrera, April Brown, and Rabbi Michelle Dardashti, this is a concert experience you won’t want to miss.

The Traces project began with an exploration of the history of 1326 Westminster Street through photographs, research, and interviews. Embedded in the Traces piece are the voices of community members sharing stories of life in the West End of Providence. You can listen to the full interviews below.

_{Click here to learn more about Traces composer Shaw Pong Liu.}

Many people contributed to the Traces project. We are grateful for the thoughtful and skilled support, conception, and interview efforts by Joann Ayuso, Qwin Cute, Marieme Diallo, Dahlia Flores, Shaw Pong Liu, Micah Salkind, and Taylor Polities, and the storytellers featured below.

Special thanks to the following funders for their generous support in making this project possible: The Map Fund, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, New Music USA, The Rhode Island Foundation Community Grants Program, The Lewis Prize for Music, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, and Ray Bourcier.

Traces is an ongoing exploration, celebration, and search for better understanding of the land and neighborhood of 1326 Westminster Street, and we invite you to share your own stories of the history and culture of the West End by contacting Liz Cox at lcox@communitymusicworks.org.