Virtual Chamber Music Series

musician-curated video series

In April 2021, chatterbird launched a musician-curated Virtual Chamber Music Series, featuring multiple world premieres – including original works by chatterbird musicians. Chatterbird asked the performing musicians to curate each virtual concert as a healing outlet, giving them the latitude and funding to create performances that focus on themes, subject matter, and emotions experienced in the wake of the pandemic and social unrest.

Each livestream also brought awareness to a specific social cause, spotlighting both the contemporary works as well as a nonprofit organization that works within the addressed social cause. Highlighted causes ranged from civil rights to gender spectrum education to environmental justice. Featured partners included Nashville Public Library’s Civil Rights Center, Brooklyn Heights Community Garden, Oasis Center, Gender Spectrum, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, The F.I.N.D. Design, and Gideon’s Army.

The world premiere of "Come By Here," a new work by Nashville-based composer Dave Ragland, for clarinet and spoken word. The first movement features the words delivered in a prayer by Jerome Del Pino following the death of George Floyd (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFHIJFzGXaE), spoken by Adebiyi Ojutiku. Del Pino is a Nashvillian and a death row lawyer.

The second movement features the words and performance of Marie Shields, who is the Nashville Youth Poet Laureate for 2021. The Nashville Youth Poet Laureate is a joint program of the Office of the Mayor, Metro Arts: Nashville Office of Arts + Culture, Nashville Public Library, Nashville Public Library Foundation, Metro Human Relations Commission, Urban Word, and Southern Word. The Nashville Youth Poet Laureate program aims to identify young writers and leaders who are committed to civic and community engagement, diversity and inclusion, and youth voice across Nashville.

CREDITS
Come By Here by Dave Ragland
Commissioned by Emily Wasson Bowland and chatterbird ensemble
I.
Text by Jerome Curtis Del Pino; Speaker: Adebiyi Ojutiku

II.
Text by Marie Shields, 2021 Nashville Youth Poet Laureate
Speaker: Marie Shields
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet: Emily Wasson Bowland
Sound Engineering, Mixing, and Mastering: Kevin Edlin
Videography: Lauren Balthrop
Recorded at Eastwood Christian Church
Generous support provided by: Belmont United Methodist Church

"There is a deep need for the extensive psychological healing of Black Women on this earth. This is something that desperately needs to be addressed, acknowledged and tended to. Poetry and Music have been a very strong inclusion in the process of healing. The Negro Spiritual is a Black Musical Genre that continues to influence our souls and collective consciousness throughout the world. We have developed a set of Spirituals with a focus on Black Women’s Mental Health, within a general theme of Water. As two Black Women Creatives, we are continuing that process and example of creating, releasing and healing for ourselves, the city of Nashville and ultimately the world.

I am incredibly grateful to Stephanie Pruitt Gaines for joining me in this journey. Throughout the process, she has been an incredible collaborator and friend. As we tackled this challenging, deep and sometimes painful area of focus, our collaboration was an invaluable source of personal artistic growth, healing and connection.

As part of this project, we are happy to draw attention to The FIND Design, whose mission is 'to empower girls of color to fly and be the voice that shifts both internal and external narratives surrounding their identity and value, through cultural expressions, positive connections, curative training, and advocacy.' We invite you to explore and support this organization in their efforts to change the world."

- Maya Stone

Curator: Maya Stone
Collaborators: Maya Stone and Stephanie Pruitt Gaines
Sound Engineering, Mixing, and Mastering: Kevin Edlin
Videography: Lauren Balthrop
Recorded at Eastwood Christian Church
Poet/Spoken Word Artist: Stephanie Pruitt Gaines
Composer/Bassoonist: Maya Stone

Poems:
To Wade In This Water - music composed in response to poetry
I’ve Got Peace - music composed in response to poetry
I Will Wear This Hat - music/performance improvised
Based directly, loosely and abstractly on the Negro Spirituals "Wade In The Water," "Peace Like A River," and "Deep River."

World premiere of "The Froot Loops Effect," a marimba + vibraphone duet written by Jesse Strauss and performed by Jesse (vibraphone) and Sebastian Buhts (marimba).

Recorded at Eastwood Christian Church.
Sound/Engineering by Kevin Edlin.
Videography/Editing by Lauren Balthrop.

From the composer: "In 2018, I hiked a long section of the Appalachian Trail from Maryland to Maine. In preparing for this trip, I came across a blog from an Appalachian Trail 'thru-hiker' who described a ravenous craving for Froot Loops – you know, that cereal with Toucan Sam. Having already hiked 1,000 miles of the southern half, you would expect something more akin to a giant cheeseburger or an all-you-can-eat Golden Corral buffet. But no, for her, it was simply a nice dry bowl of sugary, colorful breakfast cereal. After sitting with this craving for three long weeks, she came to a trail crossing one morning where a nice man was stationed to hand out drinks and snacks to hikers. There in the back of his trunk was a Costco-sized variety pack of single-serving cereal boxes including, of course, her long-awaited box of Froot Loops. It was unequivocally the best meal she ever had. This feeling — of being withheld something plain, non-extravagant, ordinary and commonplace for so long, and then finally receiving it, tasting it, experiencing it — she dubbed the Froot Loops Effect.

In my 78 days on the trail, this was a common experience. The smallest cravings become all-consuming, and everyday commodities like showers and indoor A/C hit your body and psyche with an indescribable potency. I have thought about this a lot throughout the pandemic. I believe that whenever we begin our return to some semblance of 'everyday' life, whatever that means for you, that each of us will experience the Froot Loops Effect in our own right. For me, it will be standing in a crowded bar listening to some soulful live music. For someone else, maybe it will be sitting face-to-face with their grandparents just because they decided on a whim to visit them for the weekend – and they could. It is a grand feeling that I hope we can collectively hold onto for many years, if not decades."

This video was recorded to raise awareness and support for Brooklyn Heights Community Garden in Nashville, TN. To learn more about their work, visit www.brooklynheightscommunitygarden.org

Music by: Timbre
Sunrise
Sing Into The Dark

Musicians:
Harp & vocal - Timbre Cierpke
Violin- Camille Faulkner
Drums & bowed glockenspiel - Chris Leidhecker

Sound Recording, Engineering, and Mixing: Kevin Edlin
Videography: Lauren Balthrop

From the composer:

"Sing Into the Dark" serves as both a call to action and a confessional for me. I wrote it in a sort of desperate outpouring during the rash of violence and rhetoric against minorities throughout the country the day after the 2016 election was called. I was forced to realize that not only was racism and bigotry active in our culture, but that it was a daily reality for so many people. I knew that without intentional effort, I would continue on in my insulated life, unaware and unable to share in or alleviate the suffering of so many people around me.

This song is about that journey, of seeking out the stories of the oppressed, of building relationships with people different than myself. It starts as a sort of disjointed, dissonant place of realization, with an urgent pulse in the harp demonstrating urgency. The chorus' counter rhythms serve as an image of two seperate worlds, trying to line up, trying to connect to each other. When the chorus returns, it solidifies into one driving rhythm, racing ahead in solidarity to a powerful, unified declaration.

Most importantly, this piece is about changing the language from "me" and "them" to "us", of reclaiming people of different races, religions, sexual orientations, and gender expressions as my family. I know now that change will not happen passively through the arc of time. It has to be run after, called out, fought for.

"If the sun won't rise, we'll run to the horizon. We'll sing into the dark, until the darkness hears us."

Learn more about Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition [TIRRC] and support their work at TNimmigrant.org

We hope you enjoy the first 8 movements of “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," with poetry by Wallace Stevens and music by Lukas Foss. Performers include: Rebekah Alexander (Soprano), Molly Barth (Flute), Alessandra Volpi (Piano), and Jesse Strauss (Percussion, inside Piano).

Sound/Engineering by Kevin Edlin.
Videography/Editing by Lauren Balthrop and James Mitchell.

If you're interested in learning more about Nashville Public Library's Civil Rights Collection, which was Rebekah Alexander's collaborative inspiration for this project, you can click this link to visit: https://library.nashville.org/.../civil-rights-collection

Enjoy this presentation by chatterbird pianist Maeve Brophy! Featured works include: Drifting by Joshua Dent, Arabesque by Chrystanthe Tan, Cash in the Can Rag by Ahmed Alabaca, and Atwood Pastorale by brin solomon. We want to thank Gender Spectrum for their work advocating for gender non-conforming and gender non-binary youth. You can learn more about how you can promote gender understanding and inclusion by visiting www.genderspectrum.org

Mark Volker and John McMurtery perform Volker's own "Dragons of Memory" and Toru Takemitsu's "Toward the Sea" (I - The Night, II - Moby Dick, III - Cape Cod).

With this performance, we hope to bring attention to Tennessee groups that promote environmental protection. Specifically, the Tennessee Environmental Council and the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association. These groups do critical work for our culture and our world, and we hope our audience considers supporting them.

Mark Volker, about this recording: "John and I rehearsed and recorded the pieces remotely using the Soundjack software. This software “equalizes and stabilizes” the internet signals connecting individual performers to avoid the time delays typically experienced with more conventional signals. The performances you’ll see feature us performing and interacting together in real time, John in Las Vegas and me in Franklin."