21CM, The National Outreach Program of DePauw School of Music

10/15/2020

Join us on YouTube for our Green Guest Artist Concert with Quince, including LIVE, ASYNCHRONOUS MUSIC! Tonight at 7:30 pm EST.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_A0wuO81hw

PROGRAM:
• Cassandra, IL (2018) - Eliza Brown (b. 1985)
• The Smallest Gap (2019) - Carrie Henneman Shaw (b. 1976) LIVE, ASYNCHRONOUS
• Guthrie Songs (2018) - Michael Miller (b. 1981)
• Stinging, Ringing Bells (2014) - Juhi Bansal LIVE, ASYNCHRONOUS
• Plenty (2018-19) - Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (b. 1985)
• Plane Wreck at Los Gatos/Deporteé (2018) - Martin Hoffman & Woody Guthrie, arr. Liz Pearse (b. 1983)

09/10/2020

Four/Ten Media, Tim Munro and Christopher Cerrone created the music video for "Liminal Highway" before the coronavirus pandemic — but it couldn't be more timely. Using a decommissioned ocean liner as the setting, Munro serenades himself in areas of the ship that once housed public celebrations. Learn more about how this mesmerizing collaboration came to be in our latest behind-the-scenes video.

Go behind the scenes of “Liminal Highway,” the latest music video from Four/Ten Media. A collaboration with Tim Munro and Christopher Cerrone, the video makes use of a decommissioned ocean liner to explore the loneliness and acoustics of abandoned places.

06/05/2020

21CM stands in solidarity with the protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor (whose 27th birthday would have been today), Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others whose names we will never know. We support those fighting for a just and equitable society, and we are heartened by some of the progress already made by the protests over the last week: the charges brought on all four officers who were present when Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck, the upgraded charge against Chauvin, the traction gained in discussions to redirect funding for law enforcement to effective community services. To anyone who has ever asked, “What’s the point of a protest?”, your answer lies in the developments of the last week. At the same time, this progress should only energize us. Our work has only just begun.

What do all of the events of the last week have to do with being a musician? Everything. Fighting for your place in the world as an artist also means fighting for a world that will welcome you in the first place — a world that wants you, at the most basic level, to live. At the same time, all practitioners of Western music must acknowledge and reckon with the ways in which our art has historically functioned as an instrument of white supremacy, how it has systemically excluded, co-opted, and suppressed the voices of black and brown artists — and how it is still doing so today.

How do we reckon with it? Where do we go from here? To paraphrase Angela Davis, how can our art be not just non-racist, but actively anti-racist? We begin by listening, learning, and educating ourselves. The Chicago Public Library has an excellent anti-racist reading list from Ibram X. Kendi (author of “How To Be An Antiracist”) available here: https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/204842963/1357692923. We can listen to, promote, and give proper historical credit to artists of color. We can initiate conversations with our music communities — our peers and colleagues, our students and teachers alike — about how important these issues are to us.

And at the same time, we can take care of ourselves: knowing when we need to close our eyes and just play — or listen. We can always go back to our craft as a source of energy and rejuvenation. No one knows this better than Tyshawn Sorey, virtuoso percussionist and composer of “Cycles of My Being.” We have an interview up with him today, and we hope that his insatiable curiosity and commitment to continual artistic growth can be an inspiration to all of us.

Sorey may be one of the most decorated and active musicians working today, but the engine of his creativity is internal: He’s driven by a relentless curiosity and a desire to both honor and develop his individual voice.

05/29/2020

Musicologists have increasingly called for academics to take up the mantle of “public musicology.” But what does it mean to convey the message of that research to a wider audience? As Will Robin reflects in this eloquent essay, "Public musicology is ultimately an act of translating scholarship for non-academic audiences." And while that translation can take a lot of work, it can have considerable effect in reaching new audiences.

Musicologists have increasingly called for academics to take up the mantle of “public musicology.” But what does it mean to convey the message of our research to a wider audience?

05/21/2020

Is there, in fact, a light at the end of the tunnel? For those who have been doubting this, Lara Pellegrinelli helps us gain perspective through conversations she had with four composers about past crises they faced as artists and as human beings: Sarah Kirkland Snider spoke on Hurricane Sandy, John Corigliano on the AIDS crisis, Vijay Iyer on the aftermath of 9/11, and Tania J. Leon on the upheaval of migration. We extend a deep and heartfelt thanks to all of you for sharing your stories.

For those of us who need a reminder that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel, I spoke with four composers about past crises they faced as artists and human beings: Sarah Kirkland Snider spoke on Hurricane Sandy, John Corigliano on the AIDS crisis, Vijay Iyer on 9/11 and Tania León on the...

05/15/2020

Liquid Music has established itself as a nationally regarded performance arts series and commissioning powerhouse. Now, as it realizes its new identity as an independent LLC, curator Kate Nordstrum reflects on the origins of Liquid Music and what she’s learned from its development.

05/11/2020

As COVID-19 has led to canceled performances and indefinite confinement, many musicians are facing an unprecedented psychological dilemma: How do you maintain your self-esteem when the opportunity to create meaningful work has been essentially eliminated? Musician and psychologist Julie Jaffee Nagel shares some thoughts on the subject here. If you’ve been struggling with a loss of identity, overwhelming feelings or with recreating a sense of purpose amidst so much uncertainty, you should know that you’re not alone — and that there are ways to cope and to feel better.

As COVID-19 has led to canceled performances and indefinite confinement, many musicians are facing an unprecedented psychological dilemma: How do you maintain self-esteem when the opportunity to create meaningful work has been essentially eliminated?

04/20/2020

Garrett McQueen started out as a classically-trained musician, but now he gets to amplify his voice as a black musician through his work as a radio personality for American Public Media and on the podcast Trilloquy. For POP Picks curator Quanice G. Floyd, McQueen is an impressive interviewer, able to pull stories from people that reflect the larger stories of classical music.

Garrett McQueen’s story is unique: He started out as a classically trained musician – most recently he was a bassoonist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra – but now he gets to amplify his voice as a black musician through his work as a radio personality on American Public Media and National...

04/19/2020

Sister Cities Girlchoir, founded and led by vocalist and educator Alysia Lee, is all about sisterhood and empowering girls to learn about who they are as young women. But they also have an impressive record as a performing ensemble, having performed at places like Carnegie Hall and the The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and collaborated with groups like Opera Philadelphia and Westminster Choir College.

Sister Cities Girlchoir (SCG) is an El Sistema-inspired program currently operating in Philadelphia, Camden and, most recently, Baltimore to empower girls through choral music.

04/18/2020

There’s a big gap in representation when it comes to arts administration in this country: As few as eight to 18 percent of administrative positions in the arts belong to people of color. Arts Connect International, based in Boston but with a global focus, is working to address that disparity.

Arts Connect International (ACI) is a Boston-based organization dedicated to changing the cultural landscape of the arts, specifically when it comes to arts administration.

04/17/2020

By day, the women of the string trio The String Queens are music educators in the Washington, D.C. area. Outside of their day jobs, the ensemble has found incredible success performing everything from jazz to hip-hop — all while helping to push the field forward in terms of what classical music is and what classical musicians look like. For POP Picks curator Quanice G. Floyd, who is also an educator, that means a lot.

The String Queens are a string trio made up three black women: violinist Kendall Isadore, violist Dawn Johnson and cellist Élise Sharp. By day, they are all music educators in the Washington, D.C. area. Outside of their day jobs, the ensemble has found incredible success.