Cellist Holly Dyer recalls her first impression of Prokofiev’s piece in anticipation of her performance at Thursday’s Sonata Series Event. Photo by Erin X. Smithers.

I remember the first time I heard Sergei Prokofiev’s Sonata in C Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 119 in a student master class during my freshman undergraduate year at Boston University. I was immediately drawn into the sonorous opening solo cello line played in the rich lower register of the instrument. The entrance of the piano a few measures later, also in a middle-lower register of the instrument, sublimely complimented the cello as the pair began the journey of this sonata. The cello then introduced a contrasting childlike second theme played in canon with the piano, followed by a contrasting theme of energetic runs as if a parent were nagging that childlike theme. At the end of the movement, the cello launched into a fury of runs in the higher register that juxtaposed with the piano’s grandiose chords. This rather quickly dissolved into an airy, almost haunting swirl of harmonics in the cello, which, considering the touch of post-War themes, has been considered to echo Prokofiev’s violin sonata as a “wind over the graveyard,” as if the fury that precedes it touches on the terrors of the fatality of the war.

Prokofiev wrote the sonata in 1949 and it premiered shortly afterward at the Moscow Conservatory. This piece was written toward the end of the Russian composer’s life–he died in 1953–and he was in ill health and could not be present for the performance. The piece was written for and premiered by Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007) a musician considered to be one of the greatest and most prominent cellists of the 20th century, and who inspired and commissioned a number of works for cello that have been added to the standard cello repertoire.

The intense post-WWII political climate had an effect on this piece, in both reflecting on the horrors that the war brought and having being written during the time of Stalin’s regime in Soviet Russia, where any piece of art that showed disobedience to the Russian government could have resulted in death.

The themes, sounds, and sonority in the first movement of Prokofiev’s sonata are mesmerizing just as the motives in the second and third movements are perplexing. In the second movement a light-hearted, witty, almost satirical main theme is interrupted by a warm, and beautiful second theme that almost seems like it should exist in the first movement. The third movement shows a variety of themes in contrasting colors where it’s difficult to see the line between what is ironic and what is genuine. This final movement would also be considered the most virtuosic and musically-complex of the three, and the finale of the piece ends in a flourish that shows positivity in response to the wit and horror that one experiences throughout the sonata.

When the opportunity came to present for this year’s Sonata Series, I knew that I wanted to explore Sergei Prokofiev’s Sonata in C Major for Cello and Piano. I love this piece, and it is one of my favorite sonatas of all-time. I look forward to sharing it with all of you this Thursday, where I am joined by pianist Jeff Louie and my colleague, violinist Sarah Kim, who’ll perform Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2.

Holly Dyer is a cellist and CMW Fellow.

Join us Thursday, February 20 at 7pm at RISD Museum’s Grand Gallery, 20 North. Main Street, Providence. Admission to the Museum and concert is free as part of the Museum’s Third Thursday series.

 

 

Community MusicWorks has been selected as one of three organizations to receive an “Accelerator Award” from The Lewis Prize for Music, a newly established philanthropy that’s ambitiously investing in music leaders to facilitate positive change and increase access to music education.

A total of nearly $2 million is being awarded to leaders of music programs and organizations across the country. Each of the 2020 Lewis Prize for Music awardees is doing extraordinary work to ensure every young person has access to high-quality music learning, performance, and creation opportunities by building community, fostering engaged citizens and supporting the holistic growth of young people.

“My vision is to ensure opportunities to learn, perform and create music are available to all young people,” said Daniel R. Lewis, Founder and Chairman of The Lewis Prize for Music. “Ideally, this would be happening in every school, but that isn’t the case, especially in low-income and historically marginalized communities. It’s inspiring to see smart, focused, motivated leaders of community organizations addressing this gap by collaborating with schools and other youth services, such as foster youth, juvenile justice, and other arts organizations.”

Lewis, whose father co-founded Progressive insurance company, spent most of his career there before retiring over 19 years ago and becoming an active philanthropist in the musical arts field. With this year’s launch of The Lewis Prize for Music, Lewis has committed to awarding at least $15 million over the next five years.

The Lewis Prize for Music has established an innovative three-tier awarding approach in announcing its inaugural awards of the following amounts:

Accelerator Awards – $500,000 each

Accelerator Awards provide multi-year support to enable leaders and organizations to make sustained progress toward ambitious community change initiatives that align with The Lewis Prize for Music’s values and vision.

• Sebastian Ruth and Community MusicWorks (Providence, RI) are identifying and rethinking the euro-centric norms of classical music to foster more egalitarian and inclusive musical practices.
• Brandon Steppe and The David’s Harp Foundation (San Diego, CA) have developed “Beats Behind the Wall” as a pathway for incarcerated young men and women to develop job skills through music and “Beats Beyond the Wall” for their further development and employment as instructors and audio engineers upon release.
• Ian Mouser and My Voice Music (Portland, OR) bring songwriting, recording and performance to lockdown facilities, such as mental health treatment and detention centers, to help young people heal. My Voice Music counters the effects of trauma by engaging young people as artists and poets with powerful stories to share.

Infusion Awards – $50,000 each

Infusion Awards provide single year support to leaders and programs creating new musical platforms and pathways in their communities.

• Clare Hoffman and Grand Canyon Music Festival’s Native American Composer Apprentice Project (Grand Canyon, AZ) inspire the next generation of Native music educators and composers.
• Michael Reyes, Liz Stone and We Are Culture Creators (Detroit, MI) train and open employment pathways for 18 to 24-year-old music creatives.
• Eugene Rodriguez and Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy (San Pablo, CA) ensure children of immigrants feel pride, value their roots, and share their culture through the study of traditional Mexican music.
• Derrick Tabb and The Roots of Music (New Orleans, LA) support and instruct the next generation of New Orleans brass band musicians.

Finalist Awards – $25,000 each

Finalist Awards provide single year support to leaders and programs with impressive impact and reach.

• Joseph Conyers and Project 440 (Philadelphia, PA) provide teen musicians with entrepreneurial training so they develop the competencies to thrive as individuals and collectively.
• Kasandra VerBrugghen and Spy Hop Productions (Salt Lake City, UT) mentor young people in musical and digital media arts to help them find their voice and tell their stories to affect positive change.

The Lewis Prize for Music received a total of 188 applications from 32 states and the District of Columbia. Awardees were chosen through a rigorous process that incorporated input from diverse music leaders and young people involved in creative youth development. Additional information about the process and profiles of The Lewis Prize awardees can be found at: https://www.thelewisprize.org/finalists-2020.

About The Lewis Prize for Music

The Lewis Prize for Music believes that music in the lives of young people is a catalytic force to drive positive change in our society. It partners with leaders in diverse and vibrant communities who invest in young people by providing access to safe, inclusive spaces where they can build powerful relationships through music.

The organization is the brainchild of philanthropist Daniel R. Lewis, who has spent the last 19 years focusing on philanthropic efforts in the social and musical arts field, including founding the Miami Music Access Fellowship, serving as the founding chairman of The Cleveland Orchestra Miami Residency/Miami Music Association, chairman of the Spring For Music Festival and chairman of The Management Center. Learn more at www.thelewisprize.org.

Marconi Hernandez was in the original class of CMW students and now serves as Vice President of the Board. Sebastian Ruth talks with Marconi about the early days, his return to CMW, and his passion for facilitating inspirational experiences for the next generation of young musicians.

Sebastian Ruth: We met when CMW was in its first year, and I was exploring partnerships with different community organizations to get CMW programs off the ground. I had just started talking to CItyArts about what I was trying to do. Eventually, we worked out that they would publicize the violin program in their course offerings, but also let it be known that it was CMW, although at the time, we called it the South Providence Community Music Program. How did your mom decide to enroll you and your sister in CityArts, and do you remember how you wound up in the violin program?

Marconi Hernandez: My mom had somewhat of a connection to CityArts because of church. At St. Michael’s, one of the nuns there was part of the CityArts program.

SR: Sister Ann Keefe, right? She was actually the founder of CityArts.

MH: Yes, Sister Ann, who has since unfortunately passed. At the time, my family was very involved in the church. My mom needed something for my sister and me to do after school, and she worked right across the street from CityArts. But it was actually my idea that I wanted to get into your program, and my mom made my sister come along for the ride.

SR: Do you remember why you decided to opt in?

MH: I always enjoyed playing an instrument, because prior to the violin, and later viola, I was playing the flute at school. But because it was a school program, they were having their ups and downs, so there was no real stability there. I stuck to sports, because that was way more stable than the music programs. So the violin program piqued my interest as a way of continuing to play music.

SR: What memories do you have from CMW in the very first years?

MH: One of the biggest things that stuck with me was just how much fun we had. We always took things seriously, but we still had fun doing it. You mentioned the workshops. One that I will always remember was when we had a clown come in. People dressed up like clowns, just clowning around. I will always remember that. 

SR: Something important that we followed back then was the idea that there shouldn’t be a sense of formality around workshops.  It was not curricular or linear. So, if it’s a circus school or if it’s string players coming to play Ferdinand the Bull or a breakdance teacher, we’re going to try all of these different things, and whoever leads the workshop should just have young people feel that it’s about connecting with something inspiring. 

MH: It truly gives you a good idea of the arts in general. Art doesn’t always have to be music or painting; you could say that art is a clown making you laugh. If that is inspires someone to continue in the arts in whatever fashion, then you’ve done a good job. I also remember some of the retreat stuff we did as a way to bond in the early days.

SR: I remember the very first overnight retreat we did. We had a colleague at the time who said, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? You’re responsible for all these teenagers!” And I thought ‘it will be great, no problem!’ But that evening, I spent half the night sitting in the hallway, because you all kept coming out and trying to sneak out. Every 10 minutes, you would open the door to see if I was still there, and I kept saying, “Please! Go to sleep.” [laughs] I think about this incident because of the specialness and spirit of the early years, when we were all figuring it out together. 

MH: Exactly. Looking back, we were off on this ride, and we didn’t know where it was going, but we had a good time while we were doing it. And over time, we became a family, and started to rely on each other. 

Some other things that will always be embedded in my memory are the regular day-to-day stuff, like the practices that we had once a week and the times when you would chastise my sister and me for not practicing that week. [laughs] The fun that we had and the conversations from those practices have now essentially manifested in initiatives and values within CMW. There are a lot of positive memories when it comes to CMW.

SR: Do you remember why you switched to viola?

MH: I think it was because you played it, so I was like ‘hey, let’s give that a shot’. At the time remember they weren’t any other viola students. So it was kind of a way of expanding my horizons as well as just doing something different than everybody else.

SR: You’ve always liked that, doing something a little different from everybody else.

 MH: Yeah, you know, it’s more fun that way.

SR: Let’s go on to the college piece. I remember that fall you and I were talking a lot about the college application process and at a certain point, we just didn’t pick up the viola for three or four weeks in a row because we spent your lesson time going over college essays. 

MH: At the time I would have been the first person in the family to go to college so it’s not like that experience is ingrained in my family. When you go to a public school there’s only so much the school is going to do. I do remember spending a lot of time going over all that stuff because it’s a big step. It’s a very scary moment to go through and I do appreciate the support you provided. And it’s nice to hear that support is now top of mind with CMW kids who are graduating.

SR: I remember feeling that it was really urgent to devote our energy that way because it didn’t sound like you were getting enough support from college advisors at school. Shortly after you went through that experience Simon Moore started this organization College Visions, trying to support first generation low-income kids to navigate the college process. At that time he was charging the nonprofit a certain amount per high school junior to participate and we decided to raise that money because it is so important.

MH: It’s crazy to think that was, what? 15 years ago? I had a great experience when I was at University of Bridgeport. I was doing the pre-med track but then my mom got sick. So, I came back to Rhode Island and I was living at home, taking care of her, with my sister helping out. It took several years for my mom to get back to a point where she could rejoin the workforce. 

Because of that, I needed to get a job that would help me financially support the situation. I got a call from a friend saying ‘Hey, you want this job? You can start Monday in Human Resources for CVS.’ If you were to ask me when I started the job if I ever pictured myself still at CVS 12 years later, I’d be like ‘you are out of your mind.’

But after I started, I was able to leverage some of the math that I learned in high school and college. A lot of my work is analysis and forecasting and working with numbers as well as IT stuff, and has engaged me to the point where I’m managing an entire team. The work has shifted, but it’s also become more involved and more impactful, which is something I appreciate.

SR: Before you came back to the board you would show up at CMW events: the Sonata series, the Fantasia con Guayaba Habanera performance at John Hope. And then you mentioned recently you’ve gone back to hear the Boston Philharmonic. How what has it been for you to keep tabs on CMW over the years and go to other classical music concerts? 

MH: I’ve always kept CMW in the back of my mind. Sometimes because of everything else that I have going on, scheduling-wise it was just difficult to make events but there were times when I wanted to go see something and I’d make an effort to make sure that I’m there to see it. When it comes to outside of CMW, it goes back to “I enjoy it,” right? It’s nice to go to see people who are that talented performing something they’re very passionate about. That passion comes out through the music, and it is a beautiful thing to hear. 

When I travel, I sometimes like to go out of my way to see if there are any performances that I could go to. One of the concerts that I will always remember was in St. Louis a couple of years ago:  it was the weirdest, most experimental music I had ever heard in my life. I loved every minute of it.

SR: We invited you to come back and join the Board. Why did that feel like the right thing for you to do? 

MH: I felt like it was the right thing to do because this organization is very near and dear to my heart. It was a very big inspiration for me, and it changed a lot in my life. Being able to come back to the Board and facilitate that for the next generation is something that really speaks to me because I know that the child that you’re teaching every week will have a similar, if not much better, experience based on the work that we do on the Board. 

It also keeps me more tied to the organization. Because of it, I’m able to go to more performances and do more with the organization. It allows me to brag more about CMW. It’s one thing to talk to people about it: “Hey, check it out,” but as being part of the board, it allows me to be even more engaged in those conversations and to say, “Hey, if you want to support it, here’s what you can do.” 

SR: You’ve been on the Board now for two years. What do you think now that you’re on this side of it? What do you think the challenges are for CMW and what things do you think need attention?

MH: I think one of the challenges is getting the community to know we exist. When you look at it, people do know Community MusicWorks because if they didn’t, then this organization wouldn’t be 23 years old, right? However, if we look at the broader community, are they aware of Community MusicWorks? It’s very important that the community knows who we are, especially the local community and the broader community knows that “Hey, that’s Community MusicWorks. This is what they do. I may not actively participate or engage with the organization, but I know they’re there.” 

When it comes to the organization as a whole, a positive thing is what CMW stands for and what it does. It may not necessarily be a big impact on the broader community but to the community that is Community MusicWorks, it has a tremendous impact.

SR: It goes back to the broad versus deep conversation we’ve had here over the years. I remember Liz Hollander when she was the Board chair asked that question a lot, “Is it depth, or is it breadth?” And we continue to choose depth. We’re trying to go deeper with the students, families, audience members, musicians who are deeply involved.

MH: That’s really valuable. 

SR: Yeah, I think in some ways, it’s never really been the agenda to do broad and wide. The agenda has always been about the kind of relationships that you and I had and have. Actually, music facilitates these deep, long-lasting bonds between human beings, and in some cases across differences. I didn’t grow up in the same place and with the same background, but music facilitates those deep connections.

MH:  And that’s one thing I really like about the organization. It brings people together from all walks of life because there are certain individuals that these students would never ever get a chance to have a conversation with, let alone engage with them. But because the organization has so many connections to so many different people, it gives them that opportunity. Going back to the workshops, that’s a good example of how I didn’t know you could make a living and be happy and live a great life doing whatever that may be…

SR: Like being a clown.

MH: [Laughs] Right. Like being a clown.

Because of the longevity that I have with the organization I’m able to look back and reminisce about the early days, and one thing that I love seeing is how much CMW has grown over time and how much it’s matured. And even with that maturity you still have those same values, if not stronger, than back when the organization started. It’s seeing that and seeing the impact that it has, and always knowing that it’s a collaborative effort across the board. No matter what, this is a collaborative effort. 

One of the things, too, that I’ve learned through Community MusicWorks is that you should always go into situations with your best intentions, to try not to be cynical about things. Because when you look at some communities, that’s what they instill in people, those types of values of not trusting individuals and always doing it for yourself. So being part of this community that was Community MusicWorks gave me a different side of it. That’s one reason why I say it changed my life and how I view things and how I handle situations.  It’s just how I live my life.

SR: Can you give some advice to our young students?

MH: For the students, it’s: Put in the work and enjoy it. That’s kind of what it comes down to. Just truly enjoy it, because if you enjoy what you’re doing, it frees you up to build those relationships because now you’re all having a good time. You’re not stressed about it. 

There’s always going to be another practice. You’re always going to miss that note when you’re performing in front of people. It happens. So Sebastian, you just smiled, so it obviously happens to you, too. There’s no need to stress over every single thing; just enjoy the moment. When you look back on it, you can look at it fondly if you do. 

Marconi Hernandez is a CMW alum from the first class of CMW students and the Vice President of the CMW Board. He was a student board member and was the first CMW student to go to Apple Hill. Marconi attended University of Bridgeport before starting work at CVS Health corporate headquarters, where he is an Advisor, HRSS Absence Management. He has continued to attend CMW performances and stays connected to the CMW community.

The MusicWorks Collective is joined by storyteller Valerie Tutson for a performance celebrating the winter solstice with a reading of The Longest Night by Marion Dane Bauer and more. In Bauer’s award-winning children’s book, various woodland creatures attempt to bring back the sun on the longest night of the year. But it’s the chickadee’s gentle song that persuades the light to return, demonstrating the power of music.

Join us for this interactive hour-long musical celebration that includes costumes, dancing, a hot chocolate and cider reception, and goodie bags for the kids!

Songs of Darkness and Light: A Family Holiday Concert
Sunday, December 8, 2pm
Metcalf Auditorium, RISD Museum
Adults $15, Children 4 and over $5, Children under 4 free
CMW Student Rate: $10 per family
Purchase Tickets Online Here

CLICK HERE TO WATCH SEBASTIAN’S TALK.

What happens when we take a leap of faith to disrupt a mainstream idea? What are the possibilities in combining unlike things?
 
CMW’s Founder & Artistic Director Sebastian Ruth asked these questions recently as he took the stage at a TEDx Providence gathering to share the philosophical foundations of Community MusicWorks in “Music, Community, and Creating Space for Unexpected Possibilities.”

WATCH PHASE III’S PERFORMANCE HERE.

One of the highlights of the day-long event at the VETS Memorial Auditorium was the appearance of our own Phase III String Quartet, featuring violinists Marieme Diallo and Dayana Read, cellist Jay Nunez, and violist Zoe Cute, who performed David Stone’s Miniature Quartet No. 1, Mvt. 3.


The TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) community began in 1984 as a conference dedicated to sharing ideas and soon grew into an online phenomenon of short, powerful “Ted Talk” videos featuring the world’s most inspiring speakers. Community MusicWorks was honored to be represented at the Providence TEDx, which featured some of Rhode Island’s best minds and performers.

Learn More about TED/TEDx here.

Photos by Cat Laine / Painted Foot Photography
CMW image by Stephanie Alvarez Ewens

Bach Around Town: Monday, November 4 – Thursday, November 7.

Community MusicWorks’ annual celebration of J. S. Bach includes MusicWorks Collective musicians in free pop-up concerts around Providence.

Join us for these events:

Monday, November 4, 12pm: Seven Stars Bakery, 342 Broadway

Tuesday, November 5, 12pm: Pan-a-Day Take Away, 7 Parade Street

Wednesday, November 6, 1pm: Cafe la France, Amtrak Station, 100 Gaspee Street

Thursday, November 7, 11am: RISD Museum Cafe, 224 Benefit Street

Thursday, November 7, 12pm: RI Foundation, One Union Station

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm: Grace Episcopal Church, 300 Westminster Street

The don’t-miss finale in our tribute to the composer: Bach to the Future VII: All-Night Bach Marathon.

Classical and non-traditional/experimental musicians, including members of the MusicWorks Collective, pass the baton of Bach from dusk ’til dawn in this annual event.  Bring a blanket and pillow, and come and go as you please. Coffee will be brewing!

Bach to the Future: All-Night Bach Marathon
Friday, November 8, 7pm – Saturday, November 9, 7am
Manning Chapel, Brown University
Admission is free

Performer Timeline (subject to change!):

7:00 PM Introduction
7:15 PM Sara Stalnaker
7:20 PM Jesse Holstein & Andrei Baumann
7:35 PM Enigmatica
7:45 PM Lara Madden
7:50 PM Ashley Frith & Eric Peterson
7:55 PM Heath Marlow & Juliana Katzenstein
8:15 PM Joe DeGeorge
8:35 PM Youth Alliance
8:40 PM Andrei Baumann
9:00 PM Zan Berry & Armand Aromin
9:15 PM Kelly Reed & Kristen Watson
9:20 PM Minna Choi
9:30 PM Assembly of Light
9:40 PM Adrienne Taylor
9:50 PM Laurie Amat
10:10 PM Holly Dyer
10:20 PM Bob Asprinio & Matt McLaren
10:35 PM Holly Dyer & Malcolm Dyer
10:45 PM Keith Fullerton Whitman
11:10 PM Sebastian Ruth
11:25 PM House Red
11:40 PM Thighs
11:55 PM Naomi Morey & Sarah Kim
12:00 AM Florence Wallis & Orion Dommisse
12:15 AM Sarah Kim
12:40 AM Vic Rawlings
1:05 AM Zoe Cute
1:15 AM Roseminna Watson
1:25 AM Glockabelle
1:45 AM Hanging Out is Spending Money
1:55 AM Desmond Bratton
2:15 AM The Providence Research Ensemble
2:45 AM Ashley Frith
3:05 AM visibilities
3:20 AM David Rubin
3:50 AM Mariko Tamegai
4:10 AM domestique
4:25 AM Rebecca Miller
4:55 AM Shane Bray Kerr
5:10 AM Hank Mason
5:25 AM Holly Waxwing
5:45 AM Laura Gully & Sakiko Mori
5:55 AM family money
6:10 AM Jacob Berendes
6:25 AM Anne Athema
6:40 AM Jeff Louie
6:55 AM Evan Raczynski

October is coming to a close, and CMW students and teachers are settling into a comfortable rhythm (no pun intended) with lessons and classes. More of our classes are happening in our office this year, which lends a great energy to the afternoons at 1392 Westminster Street!

Depending on the day of the week, you might find students gathering in the main office to examine and design their own graphic scores in Sound Lab, learn about music from a new country (and stamp their musical passports) in the Adventurers Club, write their own music in theory lab, or tackle challenging new repertoire in Advanced Orchestra.

And meanwhile, individual lessons are crammed into every available office space, Youth Alliance meets daily in our third-floor space, the BAM! BOO! Puppet Time! class is designing puppets in the library space, and Fiddle Lab students are learning new tunes in the quartet studio! It’s been busy, productive, and FUN – an excellent start to the teaching year. 

–Chloe Kline, Education Director

Photos by Liz Cox

by Jill Pearlman

Jonathan Biss has a surplus of brio, charm, and passion.  If things come easily, the world-renowned pianist ups the game, looking for wider horizons to expand and spill that nerve and talent.  As a young musician, he gravitated to the infinitely complex works of Beethoven and has become known as one of the composer’s great interpreters on the contemporary scene.

Alongside that surplus: a surplus of generosity.  Biss recently performed a benefit concert in Providence, his sixth for CMW.  Boyish at 39, he sat at the baby grand, flicked the flaps of his coat jacket and smoothed his thick hair.  Then he immersed himself in the great rollicking energies of Beethoven, playing with great intensity from memory.  The pieces seemed to contain all the things of this world – and the world after.  Emotionally, physically, it required utmost concentration to keep from being overthrown by the power unlocked by the work.  “These are the most difficult and challenging pieces for any musician, but I couldn’t live without them,” he said.

At the same time, Biss brings this unwavering intensity and commitment, his passion and brio for what we do at CMW.  As a shaper of phrases, his language is to the point: “I love this organization,” he said. “It’s one of the  few things these days that makes me feel hopeful.” 

And “I can’t imagine musicians NOT bringing their commitment to the community the way the country is these days!” 

If that’s not enough: “The model that they’ve established is so right-headed and inspired.  The best thing I could hope for would be if it were replicated in every community across the U.S.!” 

Biss doesn’t waver: “When I first learned of CMW, I instantly thought it was a fantastic idea,” he said.  “I was attracted to the idea of thinking about the role of the musician in the community….CMW musicians play on such a high caliber.  They have impact on the communities which they’ve chosen.   What they do is different than outreach, a word I hate.  They have chosen a life’s work through music.”

With his big-picture outlook, Biss seized on the urgent crisis of classical music in the early 2000s.  He was convinced of the need for musicians to radically rethink the way they engaged with the world.  Audiences were shrinking; concert halls found themselves chasing audiences with less than challenging crowdpleasers. 

His approach has taken several turns.  As a means of engaging with an engaged audience, Biss thought deeply about the possibilities of online reach, and in response developed a massive online course on Coursera, which has reached more than 150,00 people.

That public project supported an even more ambitious artistic project of recording all of Beethoven’s 32 sonatas on nine disks over nine years.  Along with practicing those immensely challenging musical sonatas, with the international concerts and recording, he generously offered to make a pilgrimage to Providence to perform for the benefit of CMW’s teaching and programming.  

The crisis Biss felt has intensified since he began thinking about the role of music.  Culture and civil society are on the line.  Art can go by the wayside, be seen as largely irrelevant, or it can step in, improve the quality of our interactions and the fullness of our humanity. Biss understood years ago that CMW’s teaching expands both student and teacher, giver and receiver.  It’s not enough to be cloistered artist; it shrinks the world.  Jonathan Biss lives by the wide horizon. 

Jill Pearlman is a Providence-based poet and arts journalist and a CMW board member. She writes a blog about art, politics, and aesthetics at jillpearlman.com.

Jonathan Biss‘ concert calendar, Coursera, and recording information can be found at www.jonathanbiss.com.

Photo by Alexandra O’Connor.

MusicWorks Collective member Holly Dyer proposed the repertoire featured in this week’s Season Opening concerts. CMW’s Founder & Artistic Director Sebastian Ruth talks with Holly about how she came to this program, what inspired it, and how reflections on identity have been part of her experience in playing this music. 

Sebastian Ruth: Last year you went to a conference and came back with an armful of ideas about MusicWorks Collective programming. Can you share a little bit about what inspired you?

Holly Dyer: I went to the National Guild for Community Arts Education conference and sat in on a breakout session with an organization in Baltimore called Wide Angle Youth Media. In Baltimore racial tension was really high and they really felt the need to address it with their kids and in their mission and their organization, and one way that they addressed it was by creating a year-long unit called Why Black Lives Matter. They talked about a lot of things like ‘what is racism?’ ‘what is white supremacy?’ and the historical imbalance of wealth, a lot of the topics that we talked about at the MusicWorks Network Summer Institute.

What came out of those talks were these short media projects that they made and I watched a few of them and some are emotionally moving. It was around the same time that when we were getting ready to propose ideas for the upcoming season at CMW and it just really resonated with me to follow along that line of Why Black Lives Matter, not necessarily to have a token program, but as a response of ‘hey, this is still a big issue in our country in our society.’ 

At CMW we have a goal of trying to promote and include more composers of diverse backgrounds that aren’t traditionally in the Western classical tradition and my feeling was just well, how about let’s just do a showcase of all African-American composers because you don’t see that very often…sometimes around Martin Luther King Day or Black History Month but how about just  ‘this is how we’re going to start our season.’

Sebastian: You just mentioned the problem of programming one token program of black composers. Sometimes there’s this critique that if you have a show that’s like: this is the black composer show, in some way that’s like segregating them to a featured theme. One of the things that drew me to your proposal was it seemed deeper than that. 

How do you reconcile those two ideas: Why Black Lives Matter versus showcasing African-American composers in just a part of the season?

Holly: I was considering the arc of the whole season. This is just one program in the collection of the whole. We see so many programs with all-white composers and no one says anything, right? But then if we do a program by black composers then it’s time to say something.

This is just a start for me. Why Black Lives Matter in this context is just that I feel like these three pieces are really enjoyable pieces of music that don’t get showcased often enough and mainly just to show that yeah, anyone can write really great music. It shouldn’t have to matter what race you are or what kind of background you have. But these are three composers [whose identities] are just underrepresented in the classical tradition. There’s some jazzy elements throughout all three pieces, especially in the Florence Price piece where you also hear some spiritual tunes.

It’s very interesting as I’ve been going through the process of rehearsing this music, you’ll hear very distinct things like, ‘Oh, I don’t usually hear that’  but then you also hear moments that sound like Bach, for instance. In the first movement of the Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson piece, I feel he pays a lot of homage to Bach, and he says that Bach is one of his favorite composers. Also with the Florence Price Five Folksongs in Counterpoint there is a very interesting dichotomy of traditional folk tunes, with very distinguishable melodies, but done in a contrapuntal way, which is something that’s very much like Baroque Western Bach tradition. But she still adds her own kind of a spin with harmonies and voicing and so it’s not like I’m listening to Bach again. It’s okay to have that blend of the Western tradition and other sounds. There’s room for that too.

So it has been enlightening for me as I’m considering, in classical music this kind of showcasing African-American composers that there can still be an homage to the Western tradition, a twist and that kind of blend, or you could say integration, is okay and it’s good. It could be another thing to consider when we are programming music by composers that are more representative of the communities that we serve that there could also just be a theme of diversity.

Sebastian: My teacher talked about studying music in Europe in the 1920’s and 30’s in Europe. Whenever would be playing chamber music, he would talk about the distinctions between a Hungarian tune in a piece of Brahms versus a German tune and or a Viennese and for him those were culturally specific pieces of music, and one of the things that Brahms would do is pull from these different traditions.

In talking about classical music we tend to call all of that ‘the canon’, but really that’s what composers have always done: draw from multiple influences, some of them reflective of their own cultures, sometimes drawing from others like the French impressionist folks who drew from hearing the pentatonic scales from East Asia. And so that sense of combining cultural voice with lots of different voices and the technique of counterpoint is actually the musical tradition, right? So it’s an element of racism that keeps people, black people, women, out of that mainstream, that makes that music stand out, sit outside of the norm. But in fact all the things you’re describing are what the norm has always been: drawing multiple themes, multiple influences, and not trying to sound like everybody else. Trying to sound like your own voice.

Another part of this is that you brought this forward in a moment of exploring these issues of racism and exploring your own identity. I don’t know what, if any, reflections you’d have about how this ties into personal reflection and explorations of blackness, and what this means to you personally. 

Holly: [Laughs] This is my introverted side coming out and being like, ‘Oh, I need to talk about how I feel?’

Well, maybe just one thing. Earlier, I was attempting to articulate that I was fascinated with seeing the diversity coming out in each of these pieces, and as CMW has been addressing this programming and what kind of repertoire we’re having our students play, knowing that I was personally having kind of a divide. I’m racially expressed one way, but I still really like classical music. I come from a mixed background, from parents of two different races and two completely different family backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds and societal backgrounds. And just for me personally, I’ve been thinking more about, then what does that make me? I feel like I can’t really swing one way or the other, you know, and I’ve been recently just trying to embrace that.

The mixture is okay because that’s just what I am. I feel like if I stress too much on one side then I neglect the other half of my life, that both sides need to be acknowledged. For me just exploring these pieces and seeing that yeah, Perkinson also really liked Bach, and Florence Price also had influences, for instance I hear a lot of Dvorak in her music as well as other white composers. I guess for me that has been a time to come to peace for me, to be like, yeah this mixture is okay and it’s okay for me to also like classical music. Because in a way couldn’t it also be racism if we think that black people aren’t going to like classical music? 

And I was also kind of thinking about: why am I defining for my students that they don’t want to play Bach but they would rather play salsa music? Isn’t that racism too?

 
Sebastian: At some point a couple of years ago we debated among the musicians the issues of programming for representation and saying well, that’s exactly what we should be doing, that reflects the social justice ideals we hold as a group and we should make noise about it. Like, this is what we’re doing, right? We should say we’re trying to have a program of 50% women composers and program Black and Latino voices and others that are underrepresented in the typical canon and make noise about it because that’s the change we’re looking to make. 

And the opposing side is that we should play all that music but we should play it for its own artistic merits and if we make too much noise about it then it risks looking like tokenism. We should just play it because we think it’s great music and stand behind it. 

And I brought that question to my student Marieme and she said, “Well it’s the CMW way to do things and talk about it. So why wouldn’t we talk about it?” 

Both sides of that debate are interesting to me.

Holly: I also see both sides and feel like it’s a very fine line. If we leave it as it is, we’re missing an opportunity to have some more conversations, even to hear the opposing side.

Sebastian: Maybe it’s a stronger statement not to point it out, as in ‘this is what we did because it’s the way the world should look’ but we risk not having any message about it. And we are trying to send a message. The difference is that we’re making noise not because we deserve the noise for programming the music, but because this music deserves the noise. 

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The MusicWorks Collective performs Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Sinfonietta No. 1, and Five Folksongs in Counterpoint by Florence Price in three concert events this week:

Thursday, September 12, 7pm
Mixed Magic Theatre
560 Mineral Spring Avenue, Pawtucket
Admission is $20 and tickets are available here.
Directions here.

Saturday, September 14, 4pm
Southside Cultural Center, SouthLight Pavilion
393 Broad Street, Providence
Admission is free to the concert and potluck picnic
Directions here.

Sunday, September 15, 2pm
RISD Museum, Grand Gallery
20 North Main Street, Providence
Admission is free
Directions here. 

Recently, students from music education non-profits Music Haven, Neighborhood Strings, My Cincinnati, and Community MusicWorks came together for the Youth Institute, a weekend of discussion and workshops on the topics of racism, social justice, and the participating music programs.

Natasha Rosario co-led the session with fellow CMW alum Liam Hopkins at Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center in North Andover, Massachusetts, and gave us her reflection on the gathering:

There was a spirited dynamic between the leaders and participants over the weekend. The first session walked through the structures in society which have enabled and supported racism after slavery. Next, we listened to a personal account involving racial profiling and considered the assumptions we have made based on limited information about another person and reflected on them. 

In a session on Our Music Programs we asked participants to consider a present need in their community and to brainstorm an organization that would address this need. There was brilliant engagement; we were moved to hear about the issues our peers proposed to address in their hometowns: a transition program for ex-inmates, a space for students outside of school as an academic supplement where students could have meaningful discussions about issues in their communities, a visual arts program, and more. 

We worked through some hands-on visual arts exercises with charcoal in the session A Creative Practice, and challenged our creative thinking with awkward and unfamiliar drawing exercises on newsprint – this stretched our creative minds, encouraged us to be loose and left no time to be perfectionists. We talked about the many creative things we do in our lives besides the music programs we participate in and pondered the different things (i.e. specific skills, life lessons, personal experiences) we take with us after graduating. 

There was of course time for music-making! We enjoyed jam sessions on Saturday night reading music, improvising, and learning songs by ear. The students particularly appreciated getting to know participants from similar-minded programs, seeing old friends they met last year, and discussing program ideas together. 

On our last day we watched a documentary about the protests for the life of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri. Crimes of this nature – where excessive force by police officers used in black communities results in the physical abuse and sometimes death of the citizens – are of the most viscerally upsetting reminders that to be a second-class citizen means to be worth less in every capacity. This session was emotionally distressing because of how close to home it is for all of us; it feels like a personal attack. The event in Ferguson – with no consequential action for the officer who killed a non-threatening citizen – demonstrates the inconsistency in the expectations for, and the exceptions to the law. 

In the afternoon, we focused on our mental and physical awareness in a session dedicated to movement and meditation. This session was meant to address the physical experience of life – everything from trauma through joy – and listen to the way our bodies track our experiences. The students welcomed the curative properties of this hour. After such heavy – albeit meaningful – discussions, it can be difficult to trudge forward with the acknowledged weight we all carry. 

The space we shared in discussion as alumni and students from the MusicWorks Network programs felt intimate because we shared certain qualities and experiences in common. It would be particularly worthwhile for this group of students to see what the other programs in the Network are working on at different points throughout the year: it’s inspiring to see other people doing what you do! I was about 15 years old when I went to a summer music camp and met a cellist from a program in Dallas. It was the first time I realized there were other music programs doing similar things as Community MusicWorks, and it was validating. In that same way, the MusicWorks Network and Youth Institute bring people from similar programs together to share and learn with and from each other in a meaningful way.

Natasha Rosario is a cellist and Community MusicWorks and Brown University alum who begins a Master’s Program in Performance at Longy School of Music this fall.

Learn more about the MusicWorks Network and the Summer Institute.