Shows
The Choral CommonsEngender Finale // Nicky Manlove, Bradford Dumont, Emilie Amrein, & André de Quadros2021-06-2839 min
The Choral CommonsEnvision 2021 Roundtable // Catherine Dehoney, Maria Guinand, Mackie Spradley, Elizabeth Swanson, & Andre ThomasIn January, The Choral Commons hosted a round table discussion on justice-centered choral advocacy, accountability, and strategic planning for the new year with panelists: Catherine Dehoney, President & CEO, Chorus America; Maria Guinand, Vice President, IFCM; Mackie Spradley, President, NAfME; Elizabeth Swanson, Vice President, NCCO; and Andre Thomas, Vice-President, ACDA.2021-06-201h 25
The Choral CommonsForced Migration Roundtable // Emilie Amrein, Dzaya Castillo, Con Fullam, Erin Guinup, Maurice Lekea, Thierry Ruboneka, & Elise WittAndré de Quadros facilitates a roundtable with guests from the Here, There, and Everywhere series: Emilie Amrein, Dzaya Castillo, Con Fullam, Erin Guinup, Maurice Lekea, Thierry Ruboneka, & Elise Witt2021-06-161h 35
The Choral CommonsHere, There, and Everywhere, part 4 // Erin Guinup, Maurice Lekea, & Thierry RubonekaThe Tacoma Refugee Choir began as a pilot project in August 2016 in partnership with Tacoma Community House with a group of 22 refugees and community members. The program was well received and quickly grew to create a welcoming and affirmative learning experience for over 600 participants from 52 nations along with diverse members from the U.S. The group's primary objective is to create space where meaningful relationships can develop and members can uplift one another, using music as a tool to engage members and open the door for authentic expression, interconnection, and healing. Erin Gu...2021-06-031h 01
The Choral CommonsHere, There, and Everywhere, part 3 // Emilie Amrein, Dzaya Castillo, & John TekouCommon Ground Voices / La Frontera brings together a diverse group of artists in community music and peace-building projects situated at the border of Mexico and the United States. Through its signature programs, weeklong residencies and two-day encuentros, Common Ground Voices / La Frontera considers forced migration, identity, place, belonging, and shared humanity in this politically charged and historically contested region.CGV La Frontera aims to generate meaningful collaboration through music, explore and create music of shared human values and aspirations, contribute to community music as an exercise of non-violence, and utilize music as a springboard for a meaningful...2021-05-301h 06
The Choral CommonsWe Sing the Great Turning // Kyle LemleToday on The Choral Commons, we take a deep dive into place-based practice, eco-justice, and our relationship with the land in a conversation with Kyle Lemle. Kyle Lemle works to catalyze the impact of organizations that work at the intersection of environmental justice, forest restoration, and spiritual ecology. Kyle is a climate organizer, a lover and protector of forests, a spiritual practitioner, and a choral activist with the Thrive Choir. Based in Oakland, California, the Thrive choir is a diverse group of vocalists, artists, activists, educators, healers, and community organizers who join together in, what the...2021-05-2345 min
The Choral CommonsHere, There, and Everywhere, part 2 // Con Fullam & Fatimah LamloomWelcoming immigrant children from around the globe, The Pihcintu Multicultural Chorus helps restart young lives. War-torn villages, bloodshed, refugee camps, famine, and political turmoil were devastating realities for many of these young singers before being embraced by the warmth, companionship and harmony that Pihcintu provides.Con Fullam is an award-winning producer, musician, and songwriter, who combined his passion for music with a deep concern for the effect of world issues on children in founding The Pihcintu Chorus. This unique chorus of young women from Cambodia, China, Congo, El Salvador, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan...2021-05-201h 01
The Choral CommonsHere, There, and Everywhere, part 1 // Elise Witt, Khatera Barati, & Meh Sod PawElise Witt is Artist-in-Residence at Global Village Project (GVP), a school for teenage refugee girls in Decatur, GA. GVP is a special purpose middle school for teenage refugee girls from Afghanistan, Burma, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, and Central African Republic. GVP serves girls whose formal education has been interrupted by war and refugee camp experiences. 2021-05-131h 05
The Choral CommonsMaking, Keeping, Knowing // Rukhsana NezamRukhsana Nezam is the founder and director of Justice & Joy, a consulting practice that focuses on the intersection of community development, socially-engaged art and urban planning. She works with governments, artists and grassroots cultural organizations to bring creativity and imagination into community planning and to de-silo the way we run cities. Rukhsana currently collaborates on creative placemaking projects throughout the country, including the ambitious Chouteau Greenway in St. Louis, a project designed to connect 17 city neighborhoods linking parks, business and arts districts, transit corridors, and cultural/educational institutions in a rich and inclusive celebration of art, c...2021-05-0942 min
The Choral CommonsEngender Roundtable // Abdullah Hall, Erik Peregrine, Jace Kaholokula Saplan, Lindsey Deaton, Logan Bradford, Mari Esabel Valverde, & Michael Bussewitz-QuarmNicky Manlove and Bradford Dumont facilitate a roundtable with guests from the Engender series: Abdullah Hall, Erik Peregrine, Jace Kaholokula Saplan, Lindsey Deaton, Logan Bradford, Mari Esabel Valverde, and Michael Bussewitz-Quarm. 2021-05-071h 26
The Choral CommonsThe Only Honest Option // Mari Esabel ValverdeOn this episode of Engender, Nicky and Brad interview composer Mari Esabel Valverde and speak about the honesty of gender diversity, the humanizing power of representation, and expansive notions of choral excellence. We loved this conversation. Mari Esabel Valverde is an award-winning composer and singer in steady demand across the United States and Canada. Based in North Texas, she sings in multiple professional ensembles and teaches singing and transgender voice training with TruVoice Lessons. She holds degrees from St. Olaf College, the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.2021-04-3037 min
The Choral CommonsSinging on the Street Roundtable // Marilyn Irizarry, Jonathan Pallant, & Leeav SoferIn the finale of our second Gather series, Emilie and André interview Jonathan Pallant (from the Dallas Street Choir), Marilyn Irizarry and Leeav Sofer (from LA's Urban Voices Project.) 2021-04-291h 26
The Choral CommonsSinging Freedom Futures // OnRaé LaTealOnRaé LaTeal is a musician, producer, activist, and educator based in Washington, DC. She has held a variety of roles at the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Smithsonian’s contemporary art museum on the National Mall. She recently managed ARTLAB, the Hirschhorn’s digital art studio for teens, which offers racially inclusive and diverse educational experiences for youth. She is currently serving as Education Coordinator of the Smithsonian’s new community engagement initiative “Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past.” She is also the founder of two DC-based grassroots programs rooted in the arts, technology, and racial and gender...2021-04-2546 min
The Choral CommonsSinging on the Street, Part 3 // Jonathan Palant and London AlexanderOn Wednesday, Emilie and André spoke with Jonathan Palant and London Alexander about how the Dallas Street Choir is responding to poverty, housing insecurity, addiction recovery, trauma healing, and homelessness in Dallas, Texas.2021-04-221h 07
The Choral CommonsTrans Existence is Resistance // Abdullah HallOn this episode, Nicky and Brad have a conversation with Abdullah Hall from the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles about the intersections of race and gender, as well as their experiences with singing and advocacy. The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles is one of the first all Trans-Identified Chorus in America, consisting of Transgender, Non-Binary, Intersex, Gender-Non-Conforming and Gender-Fluid individuals.2021-04-1545 min
The Choral CommonsSinging on the Street, Part 2 // Leeav Sofer and Marilyn IrizarryEmilie and André speak with Leeav Sofer and Marilyn Irizarry about how the organization Urban Voices Project is responding to poverty, housing insecurity, addiction recovery, trauma healing, and homelessness in Los Angeles.2021-04-1500 min
The Choral CommonsThe Choir as Dreamspace // Aisha ShillingfordAisha Shillingford is an artist, writer, and strategist originally from Trinidad & Tobago. She has been a spiritual and cultural organizer and network weaver for social movements. Aisha has earned a BA in Environmental Analysis and Policy, a Masters of Social Work with a focus on Community Organizing, and a Masters of Business Administration with a focus on Innovation, Creativity and Social Entrepreneurship. She is the artistic director of Intelligent Mischief, a creative studio and design lab unleashing Black imagination to shape the future. In this conversation, Aisha offers us a provocation to dream expansively about the fu...2021-04-1134 min
The Choral CommonsIn Pursuit of Healing // Michael Bussewitz-QuarmThis week's episode of Engender features Michael Bussewitz-Quarm, who speaks with Nicky and Brad about her experiences as a composer and advocate for the transgender community. Michael is passionate about effecting change through choral music on topics ranging from the health of the world’s coral reefs and the epidemic of gun violence in the United States to the global refugee crisis.For more information about Michael, please visit her website: https://www.mbqstudio.com/2021-04-0936 min
The Choral CommonsGather: Singing on the Street, Part 1 // Javier Rodríguez, Sophie Wingland, & Ron YokelyOn this episode of the Gather series, Emilie and André speak with Javier Rodríguez, Sophie Wingland, and Ron Yokely about how they are using music to respond to poverty, housing insecurity, addiction, trauma, and homelessness in Chicago. Harmony, Hope & Healing supports adults and children as they heal from traumas associated with homelessness, incarceration, addiction, and isolation. The organization provides on-site music classes and workshops in shelters, residential programs, drug treatment centers, community centers and Cook County Jail. You can learn more about Harmony, Hope, and Healing at the organization's website: https://ww...2021-04-081h 05
The Choral CommonsEngender: Trans*forming Choral Communities // Logan BradfordThis week's episode of Engender features singer Logan Bradford who speaks with Nicky and Brad about their experiences navigating choral spaces as a trans person. Logan speaks honestly and incisively about their search for a musical and creative home in choral communities designed for cis-gender singers, the notion of birthing a not-yet-imagined reality into existence, and the painful act of walking away from people and communities that continue to harm trans singers. Logan is a Tucson-based musician and alum of THEM Youth Ensemble. 2021-04-0219 min
The Choral CommonsGather: Building the Beloved Community Roundtable // Alexander Lloyd Blake, Arreon Harley-Emerson, Alysia Lee, Zanaida Robles, & Tesfa WondemagegnehuThe Choral Commons hosts a timely conversation with Black choral leaders on the liberatory potential of the ensemble as a site of radical imagining.Panelists:Alexander Lloyd Blake, Tonality/Los Angeles County High School for the ArtsArreon Harley-Emerson, Choir School of Delaware/Equity SingsAlysia Lee, Sister Cities Girlchoir/Maryland State Department of EducationDr. Zanaida Robles, Harvard-Westlake School/Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist ChurchTesfa Wondemagegnehu, St. Olaf College/Justice Choir2021-04-011h 29
The Choral CommonsSurge: Cultural Strategy and the Choral Imaginary // Sage CrumpCommunal singing has often been a driver of positive, justice-focused social change, from the history of protest songs in the US Labor Movement to the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, from the Civil Rights Movement to the Baltic Singing Revolution. Yet just as often, music has been used to affirm and reinforce the status quo in ways that have been harmful and violent to many. Here at The Choral Commons, we wonder how we might harness the power of song across non-violent movements in order to build a road map for a just and equitable future for us all. 2021-03-2845 min
The Choral CommonsEngender: Decolonizing Gender // Jace Kaholokula SaplanToday’s episode looks at the intersection of colonialism, queerness, community, choral music, and more as a space of plurality to find our authentic selves in artistic, academic, personal, and professional settings led by Dr. Saplan.2021-03-1846 min
The Choral CommonsGather: Singing in Prisons Roundtable // Mary Cohen, Jody Kerchner, Cathy Roma, Amanda Weber, and Wayland ColemanIn this episode, The Choral Commons shared the audio of a live roundtable conversation on Singing in Prison with some of the guests from our winter gather series: Mary Cohen, Jody Kerchner, Cathy Roma, Amanda Weber, and special guest Wayland Coleman. You won't want to miss this essential conversation about the communal singing in prison contexts2021-03-181h 29
The Choral CommonsSurge: Collective Imagination for Healing // Michael RohdOn this episode of Surge, Emilie and André welcome Michael Rohd to a conversation exploring the intersections of culture, story, and community transformation. Michael is a co-founder of Center for Performance and Civic Practice, where he holds the position Lead Artist for Civic Imagination. He is also founding artistic director of the 20 year old national ensemble-based Sojourn Theatre. In 2015, he received an Otto Rene Castillo award for Political Theater and The Robert Gard Foundation Award for Excellence. He is an Institute Professor at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design & Art and is is author of the...2021-03-1442 min
The Choral CommonsEngender: World-Opening // Erik PeregrineOn this episode of Engender, Nicky and Brad are joined by Erik Peregrine to talk about a choral world where trans singers, conductors, and administrators can thrive. Erik (they/them or he/him) enjoys an active career as a conductor and educator, currently serving as music director for the University of Arizona’s Collegium Musicum and as the artistic director of Ensemble Companio, an award-winning Northeastern chamber choir. Peregrine has previously held a wide variety of conducting and teaching positions across North America, including with the Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Woodbury Chorus & Orchestra, One Voice Mixed Chorus (MN), S...2021-03-1125 min
The Choral CommonsGather: Singing in Prisons, Part 4 // Jody Kerchner and Jerome ThompsonIn part four of this series, Emilie and André talk with Jody Kerchner and Jerome Thompson about the power of communal singing in prison contexts. Jody Kerchner is Professor of Music Education and Director of PACE (Pedagogy, Advocacy, & Community Music Engagement) at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She teaches courses in community engagement, music psychology, choral conducting, creativity, and principles of education. She is also the founder and director of The Oberlin Music at Grafton (OMAG) Choir in Grafton, Ohio. Born and raised in Cleveland, OH, Jerome Thompson now lives again with his wife, Victoria. T...2021-03-111h 01
The Choral CommonsEngender: "Do I Belong Here?"This week on Engender, Nicky and Brad are joined by Bex Bagnato. Bex is a singer with Anna Crusis Women's Choir in Philadelphia as well as being a clinical care manager in Philadelphia. They speak to us this week with a focus on individual language in our choral spaces as well as the cultural language of our choral communities. Bex is on the board for Anna Crusis as well as a member of the choir's Trans Inclusion Committee2021-03-0437 min
The Choral CommonsGather: Singing in Prisons, Part 3 // Amanda Weber & Natalie PollardEmilie Amrein and André de Quadros host the third of five conversations about choral and community arts programs in prisons featuring Amanda Weber and Natalie Pollard. Amanda Weber is passionate about uniting music, art and community through her work as a conductor, teacher, performer, artist and social activist. She completed her DMA in conducting from the University of Minnesota in 2018 and now serves as Minister of Music and Arts at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. Natalie Pollard is a formerly incarcerated participant of Voices of Hope, a women’s prison choir at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Shakopee, MN. The...2021-03-0458 min
Diversify the StandEpisode 5 - Dr. Jace SaplanEpisode 5 features Dr. Jace Kaholokula Saplan, choral conductor, educator, advocate, and researcher based in Hawai’i. We talk with Jace about his upbringing in music, gender identities and gender expressions, the Nā Wai Chamber Choir, and how to have conversations with students and ensembles to talk about the controversial past of ensembles while moving to be culturally responsible. Transcripts to all podcast episodes are available for free on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/diversify_the_standTo learn more about Jace and the resources and organizations he recommended, check out the links below!Jac...2021-03-0335 min
The Choral CommonsSurge: Taking Up Space for Peace // Monica CurcaThis spring, we are taking a deep dive into the work of cultural strategy, organizing, and activism, talking with folks doing this work every day in our communities. On Sunday, we are delighted to continue this series in a conversation with Monica Curca, who speaks about the role of culture and art making in the practice of "taking up space for peace."Monica Curca is a cultural organizer, peacebuilder, communications strategist, designer, and facilitator, leveraging the power of storytelling and human-centered design to create communities where everyone belongs. Based in Washington, DC, Monica’s passion is activating an...2021-02-2843 min
The Choral CommonsEngender: Trans Vision and Voice // Lindsey DeatonThis week’s episode of engender features Lindsey Deaton, the director of the San Diego Queer Youth Chorus and founder of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles - TCLA. Lindsey brings years of experience as a trans leader of trans-serving organizations, and demonstrates a clear and resolute vision for empowering trans voices to improve the world around us.For more information about Lindsey and her work, visit her website: https://lindseydeaton.com/2021-02-2532 min
The Choral CommonsGather: A Conversation with Mary Cohen, Simone Frierson, and Karletta WhiteIn this conversation, André and Emilie speak with Dr Mary Cohen and special guests from the Oakdale Choir. Mary L. Cohen is associate professor of music education at the University of Iowa. She researches music-making and well-being, songwriting, and collaborative communities. In 2009, she founded the Oakdale Prison Community Choir, comprised of men incarcerated in the Oakdale Prison and people from the community. Mary's research centers around how music education can be a tool for abolishing the prison industrial complex. You can learn more about the Oakdale Choir here: http://oakdalechoir.lib.uiowa.edu/2021-02-2558 min
The Choral CommonsEngender: Gender LoveThe engender podcast is a special project of The Choral Commons. In this twelve week series, Nicky Manlove and Bradford Dumont consider singing and the wisdom of gender diversity. Each episode will highlight stories of resilience, imagination, and brilliance from gender-diverse choral artists. In the first episode, we hear Lindsey Deaton, Bex Bagnato, Erik Peregrine, Jace Kaholokula Saplan, Logan Bradford, Michael Bussewitz Quarm, Abdullah Hall, Mari Esabel Valverde, and Nicky Manlove describing what they love about their experience of gender. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from trans and gender expansive choral artists about their work!2021-02-1833 min
The Choral CommonsGather: A Conversation with Catherine Roma and Michael PowellThe Choral Commons begins our spring gather series on incarceration by welcoming Dr Catherine Roma, professor emerita of Wilmington College, and one of the foremost figures in prison choral music. Her work in Ohio has attracted admiration and attention nationwide. To this gathering, she has invited Michael Powell, an artist with whom she worked in the Marion Correctional Facility’s KUJI Men’s Chorus. An accomplished percussionist, Michael, recently released, starred in the production of Hamilton while incarcerated.This session will undoubtedly shed light on the perennial question of how to begin and build a prison chor...2021-02-1857 min
The Choral CommonsSurge: A Conversation with Arlene GoldbardEmilie and André speak with Arlene Goldbard about the role of culture in forging equitable futures in our communities.Arlene Goldbard is a writer, speaker, consultant and cultural activist whose focus is the intersection of culture, politics, and spirituality. Her two books on art’s public purpose—The Wave and The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & The Future were published in spring 2013. Prior books include New Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development, Community, Culture and Globalization, an anthology published by the Rockefeller Foundation, Crossroads: Reflections on the Politics of Culture, and Clarity, a novel.Arl...2021-02-1441 min
The Choral CommonsEngender: TrailerNicky Manlove and Bradford Dumont introduce the engender podcast, where they will interview gender diverse choral practitioners in a special twelve week series this spring. New episodes are released on Thursdays.2021-02-1112 min
The Choral CommonsSurge TrailerEmilie Amrein and André de Quadros interview cultural strategists, organizers, and activists in an edited podcast format. New episodes are released biweekly on Sundays.2021-02-0715 min
The Choral CommonsLiberation Theology, Poverty, and the Choir / Yara Allen and Charon HribarIn 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others called for a “revolution of values” in America. They sought to build a broad, fusion movement that could unite poor and impacted communities across the country. Today, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up this unfinished work. From Alaska to Arkansas, the Bronx to the border, people are coming together to confront the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy. Yara Allen and Chiron Hribar are Co-Directors of Theomusicology and Movement Arts for th...2020-09-0542 min
The Choral CommonsIntercultural Understanding and the Choir / Micah HendlerPalestinians and Israelis are deeply divided by borders, religion, and political orientation. This is partly caused by the asymmetrical power dynamic resulting from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. This hotly contested landscape presents enormous challenges for those who seek to build choral bridges, and to create communities between groups who do not typically interact. While there have been numerous choral and musical peacebuilding efforts, fundamental questions remain about whether and how to create choral music that is focused on justice and peace.Micah Hendler is a musical changemaker and organizer, working to harness the power of...2020-08-2941 min
The Choral CommonsBorders, Bridges, and the Choir / Ahmed AnzaldúaIn her book, Borderlands/La Frontera, the great Chicana poet, author, and activist, Gloria Anzaldúa writes, “Borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe, to distinguish us from them. A border is a dividing line…The prohibited and forbidden are its inhabitants.” Recently, the field of choral music has begun to extend the work of social justice to borders and the harm they cause. As we struggle for ways to understand the lives of refugees, immigrants, and the displaced through music, we find ourselves seeking to engage deeply with the prohibited and the forbidd...2020-08-2240 min
The Choral CommonsMulticulturalism, Authenticity, and the Choir / Patty Cuyler and Mollie StoneSince late last century, choral musicians and music educators have been deeply invested in multiculturalism as a pedagogical tool for bridging cultural divides and building empathy. Multiculturalism’s great potential has been accompanied by a host of related problems, from cultural sensitivity and questions of authenticity, to the ethical transmission of cultural practices. More recently, the discourse has centered around cultural appropriation, coloniality, and fairness. In the center of this tangled and slippery conversation, choral musicians are struggling to find an equity-centered way of global and non-Eurocentric music-making.Patty Cuyler is workshop leader and choral director known fo...2020-08-1544 min
The Choral CommonsRacial Justice, Activism, and the Choir / Tesfa WondemagegnehuTesfa Wondemagegnehu is a conductor, educator, and activist. He teaches at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he conducts two choirs and teaches courses on the intersection of Music & Social Justice movements. Through the love and dedication of music teachers with whom he has studied, and an abundance of grit and determination, Tesfa has risen to be one of the most sought-after conductors and educators in the country and is on the cutting edge of music-related social justice movements throughout the United States. He is the co-founder of the Justice Choir movement, a grassroots movement that aspires...2020-08-0842 min
The Choral CommonsIndigeneity and Decolonial Choral Practice / Jace Kaholokula SaplanIndigenous people have been subjected to colonization for centuries. However, by contrast with several other settler nations, the genocide of indigenous people in the United States has rarely entered the mainstream narrative. Recently, some in our profession are interrogating the colonial nature of the Euro paradigm of choral music while searching for more expressive and authentic expressions of indigenous culture.Conductor, educator, and scholar, Dr. Jace Kaholokula Saplan is known for his work in celebrating the intersection between Hawaiian music and choral performance. He is director of choral activities and assistant professor of music at the University...2020-08-0149 min
The Choral CommonsGirl Power, Creative Youth Development, and the Choir / Alysia LeeAlysia Lee is the Founder and Artistic Director of Sister Cities Girlchoir, the El Sistema-inspired, girl empowerment, choral academy in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey. She is the education program supervisor for Fine Arts education for the Maryland State Department of Education where she shares her vision of statewide equity and excellence across five arts disciplines: music, dance, visual arts, theatre, and media arts. In today’s episode, Emilie and André speak with Alysia Lee about her work with the Sister Cities Girlchoir and about creating opportunities for girls to collectively narrate their own past and pre...2020-07-2546 min
The Choral CommonsReimagining the Choir: Chorus America Virtual Conference 2020 / Emilie Amrein and André de QuadrosBlack activist and poet, Sonya Renee Taylor, writes, “We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was never normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return, My friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.”This week, instead of a long form interview, we’re sharing a portion of the presentation Emilie and André gave to Chorus America this past June, three weeks after the brutal...2020-07-1832 min
The Choral CommonsEmpowering Song, Incarceration, and the Choir / Emily Howe and Bobby IacovielloThe Empowering Song approach was originally developed in Massachusetts prisons by André de Quadros, Emily Howe, and Jamie Hillman to create an artistic interdisciplinarity that, while rooted in music, stretches into different arts areas. This approach which traverses improvisation and storytelling through poetry, songwriting, visual arts, movement, and theatre, has been used in multiple choral settings and missions, including community choruses, reconciliation and peace-building projects, mental health programs, and displacement contexts.Emily Howe is an ethnomusicologist, music educator, and conductor based in Boston. In 2012, Emily started co-teaching in Boston University's Prison Education Program, where she has worked t...2020-07-1242 min
The Choral CommonsRace, Mass Incarceration, and the Choir / Halim FlowersHALIM A. FLOWERS was arrested at the age of sixteen and sentenced as an adult to two life sentences in the District of Columbia. His experiences as a child in the adult prison system were filmed in the Emmy award-winning documentary “Thug Life In DC.” In 2005, he started his own publishing company, SATO Communications, through which he has published eleven books. On March 21, 2019, Halim was released from prison after serving twenty-two years. Halim Flowers is an artist, poet, and performer. His fashion line “Ideallionaires” is a social justice brand that incorporates his poetry into apparel...2020-07-0449 min
The Choral CommonsDisability Justice, Radical Inclusion, and the Choir / Andrew Clark and Kristina GillisKRISTINA GILLIS is a graduate of the threshold program at Lesley University and a member of Cambridge Common Voices. ANDY CLARK teaches at Harvard University and is director of Cambridge Common Voices, a choral organization that strives to create an inclusive musical space and practice and explore innovative approaches to music making.CAMBRIDGE COMMON VOICES is a community chorus established in partnership between Harvard College and the threshold program at Lesley University. A transition program for young adults with diverse learning challenges. We spoke with the group's director Andy Clark and...2020-06-2748 min
The Choral CommonsRefugees, Forced Migration, and the Choir / Jeremy HanemanJEREMY HANEMAN is a conductor and musical director who specialises in choral and operatic repertoire. He is the Co-Director of Together Productions, a company that produces ground-breaking work using music and the arts to inspire social change.SINGING OUR LIVES is a ground-breaking project bringing refugee, migrant and local communities together with professional musicians to compose new music and perform together. Conceived and developed by Together Productions, the project has attracted partners including the Royal Opera House, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the International Organization for Migration, amongst...2020-06-2049 min
The Choral CommonsIntroducing The Choral Commons2020-06-1007 min
Compact Nation Podcast#CompactNationPod Goes WestCatch up with the Campus Compact Western Region Continuums of Service Conference as Marisol and Andrew revisit two notable keynotes. We learn about the work of Common Ground Voices/La Frontera, a group of musicians from across Mexico and the United States led by Emilie Amrein (University of San Diego) and André de Quadros (Boston University), who use song to start meaningful discussions about social and political change. Plus, a great discussion about mindfulness, self-care, and justice spurred by the keynote delivered by University of San Francisco law professor Rhonda Magee.
Resources:
L.O.V.E. Notes - compact.org/l...2019-03-2157 min