folklore

Mason Artist-in-Residence Small Island Big Song Leads Events Across Campus and Community

Zoe Harr — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 20:41:10 +0000

Mason Artist-in-Residence Small Island Big Song Leads Events Across Campus and Community Zoe Harr Fri, 03/29/2024 - 16:41

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Learn About Mason's Artist-in-Residence Program

Mason Artist-in-Residence Small Island Big Song will perform at the Center on April 20. Photo taken by Gelée Lai, Tony Tsai, Samra Teague, and Kimmi Cranes.

Right before Earth Day, Small Island Big Song presents a "jaw-dropping" (Billboard) concert experience at the Center for the Arts on April 20, combining music, spoken word, and stunning projections to showcase unique oceanic grooves and soulful island ballads, while shining a light on the devastating effects of climate crisis on our world’s oceans. Indigenous artists from Pacific and Indian Ocean island nations mix their diverse styles to establish a contemporary musical dialogue between cultures as far afield as Madagascar, Taiwan, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, and Indonesia.

Co-Founder BaoBao Chen joins Small Island Big Song at the Center on April 20.

“For us, the goal of Small Island Big Song is to bring the audiences to some places that we might not have the courage of going alone, to celebrate, to confront, to inspire, to mourn, to feel hopeful. Our performance goes to all these emotions and shares the stories of ‘Our Island’, but ultimately, ‘Our Island’ is the one we all share,” notes BaoBao Chen, co-founder of Small Island Big Song.

Want to learn more about Small Island Big Song? Read more on the official website.

As a Mason Artist-in-Residence, Small Island Big Song will also deeply engage with the community through a series of education and engagement programs, detailed below:

Open-to-the-Public Residency Events

Climate Change: Our Response as Artivists on April 18 will explore ways in which artists can use their voices to expand global conversation on political, economic, social, and cultural questions at the root of the climate crisis. This event is co-presented with the Inclusive Collaborative Arts at Mason (ICAM) project with panelists BaoBao Chen, Co-Founder and Producer of Small Island Big Song; Mark Cooley, Associate Professor and Director of New Media Arts, Mason School of Art; founder of Green Studio; Moderated by Edward Maibach, distinguished professor at George Mason University and director of Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication; and is a part of the Artist-Activist Speaker Series, an initiative of the Inclusive Collaborative Arts at Mason (ICAM) project. This event is free, but registration is required.
Small Island Big Song artist Sammy from Madagascar hosts "Trash to Music" on April 20.
On April 19, Small Island Big Song invites local students to experience a schooltime performance that includes participatory dance and rhythmic activities, as well as an open Q&A with students. This performance is free, but registration is required.
Also on April 19 and in collaboration with Mason Dining, Small Island Big Song artists will introduce Mason community members to a traditional island dish, fish curry. Led by Emlyn from Mauritius, the Cooking a Traditional Meal with Local Twists workshop will include food samples and musical accompaniment. The event is free to Mason students, faculty, and staff, but registration is required.
Led by Small Island Big Song artist Sammy and hosted by UpCycle Creative Reuse Center, Trash to Music on April 20 is an inspiring hands-on workshop demonstrating how to make musical instruments from trash, commonly recycled, and/or reused materials. Participants will be making a Malagasy-style berimbau and shaker. Recommended for ages 10 and up, minors must be accompanied by an adult. Limit of 20 participants with waitlist to notify if spots become available.

Additional Residency Activities for Mason and Local Community

Co-presented by the City of Fairfax and Center for the Arts, Small Island Big Song hosted a Friends of the Center for the Arts Artists in Conversation event, Our Shared Seafaring Heritage, Alive in Rhythm and Song, on April 2 at the Stacey C. Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax, VA. This lecture-demonstration provided geographical and historical background about the great oceanic migrations that affected the featured island nations of Small Island Big Song, and included musical demonstrations and an interactive Q&A.
Small Island Big Song artists Sammy, Yuma, Mathieu, and Small Island Big Song Co-Founder Tim Cole will visit Mason’s Dewberry School of Music program’s “Music History in Society III” course taught by Professor Greg Robinson.
In this Dancing Mauritian Sega workshop, approximately 100 second grade students from Hunters Woods Elementary School are invited to learn the Sega dance from Mauritius, led by Mathieu Joseph (Mauritius) with support from Sam Roem (West Papua).
Small Island Big Song artists and co-founders BaoBao Chen and Tim Cole will lead a discussion on the topic of “Artivism in Action - Managing Cultural Initiatives” with students of Mason’s Arts Management and Folklore programs’ “Folklore and Festival Management” course.

In addition to these special residency events, a pre-performance discussion with Small Island Big Song Co-Founders BaoBao Chen and Tim Cole will take place in Monson Grand Tier prior to the performance on April 20. The discussion will be moderated by Center for the Arts Programming and Engagement Manager Vic Adebusola.

Buy tickets to Small Island Big Song on April 20 and be transported to the musical islands that are just around the corner.

This engagement of Small Island Big Song is made possible through the ArtsCONNECT program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Mason Artist-in-Residence program is supported in part by the Wendy Frieman and David Johnson Fund.

The Small Island Big Song residency is supported in part by Eloise Stinger.

Thank you to the City of Fairfax Parks and Recreation Everybody Plays Grant program for making free tickets possible for the schooltime matinee program. This grant was funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Topics

CFA

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) Arts Management Program

folklore

Center for the Arts

Friends of the Center for the Arts

Mason Artists-in-Residence

Mason Dining

Campus News

Sustainability

Silkroad Ensemble Inspires George Mason University and Local Community

Zoe Harr — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 21:43:26 +0000

Silkroad Ensemble Inspires George Mason University and Local Community Zoe Harr Wed, 11/29/2023 - 16:43

In This Story

Victor Adebusola

Learn About the Mason Artist-in-Residence Program

Interested in Silkroad Ensemble’s 2022/2023 Residency at the Center for the Arts?

Silkroad Ensemble debuted their 2023 program, Uplifted Voices, at the Center for the Arts on January 29 and launched their multi-year participation as a Mason Artist-in-Residence. Learn more about the year's residency activities and Uplifted Voices by reading more here.

Culminating its second of three years in residence at the Center for the Arts at George Mason University, Silkroad Ensemble engaged with George Mason University’s campus, as well as the local Fairfax community, as Mason Artist-in-Residence in conjunction with its November 5 performance of the world-premiere program American Railroad.

Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens joins Silkroad Ensemble at the Center on November 5.

Now led by Silkroad Ensemble’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens, the GRAMMY Award-winning group was conceived in 1998 by the critically acclaimed musician Yo-Yo Ma with the goal to expand musical collaborations across cultures and communities across the globe. In its most recent program American Railroad, the ensemble continues to emphasize its mission by highlighting the various communities involved in building the late-1800s Transcontinental Railroad and its connecting railways. Using a spectrum of instruments and voices, Indigenous and African Americans as well Irish, Chinese, Japanese, and other immigrant laborers are put in the spotlight. In a recent Financial Times article, Giddens notes that the American Railroad project is “the soundscape of this story of America, told from the point of view of the folks who are always left out of the photo.”

Prior to the November 5 performance, Silkroad Ensemble’s Strategic Partnerships and Impact Director Alicia Robinson joined moderator Victor Adebusola in a pre-performance discussion on the Dr. Linda Apple Monson Grand Tier. In addition to the pre-performance discussion, this year’s Silkroad performance featured robust lobby engagement, with an interactive visual-language activity that invited participants to create symbolic representations of their personal Railroad stories. In another area of the lobby was Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, which partnered with the Center to present an educational display highlighting the people, landmarks, and innovations of the Great American Rail-Trail®, giving patrons an opportunity to discover the impactful stories still emerging from the Transcontinental Railroad today. Patrons were delighted by the opportunities to further engage with the themes of the show, enthusiastically participating beforehand, afterwards, and during intermission.

Visual score by Oglala Lakota composer Kite, "Wíhaŋblapi Mázačhaŋku" ("Railroad Dreams").

The evening’s program included both commissioned and original works from various Silkroad Ensemble artists with represented communities including Native American, African American, Japanese, Irish, and Chinese. Among the handful of impressive pieces that premiered was the new score by Oglala Lakota composer Kite, "Wíhaŋblapi Mázačhaŋku" ("Railroad Dreams"), which was developed in collaboration with Silkroad Ensemble through workshops that employ a communal dreaming and visioning methodology. The Ensemble members documented their dreams and translated them to a graphic, using the Lakota Shape Kit by designer Sadie Red Wing (pictured right), which was combined into a full visual score. This mirrored design structure was then performed by the musicians, musically producing their dreams through improvisation, drone, and Lakota melody.

To learn more about the creative American Railroad setlist, visit the Silkroad Ensemble program.

In the Center's Monson Grand Tier, a reception with toasts by College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean Rick Davis, Silkroad Ensemble Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens, and Silkroad Executive Director Ben Hartley followed the world-premiere American Railroad program.

The residency activities commenced the following day on Monday, November 6 at Fairfax campus’s Harris Theater with more than 20 Osher Lifelong Learning Insitute (OLLI) participants and Silkroad artists Karen Ouzounian (cello), Shawn Conley (bass), and Kaoru Watanabe (Japanese flutes, drums). For this Musical Monday Morning session, each artist individually demonstrated his or her instrument, followed by a Q&A that provided an opportunity for audience members to learn more about Silkroad and the artists involved.

Photo Credit: Ayman Rashid/Creative Services/George Mason University.

Later that day, Mason students were invited to Beyond the Note: A BIPOC Roundtable where Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens and artist Mazz Swift (pictured right) joined BIPOC students from the College of the Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) to discuss the successes and challenges experienced by BIPOC musicians and artists. Students involved in the Roundtable were current CVPA students Darren Badley (Arts Management, M.A.), Telah Harper (Music Education B.A.), and Alyssa Cabassa (Viola Performance and Music Education B.A.).

Badley (pictured left) stresses the importance of the experience, stating, “Having the opportunity to connect and discuss such how we as marginalized artists are seen was so impactful. Rhiannon and Mazz not only had so much wisdom to share, but the connection of experiences that they faced made me feel seen and heard in that space. Having the space to simply just exist and be is why opportunities like these conversations are so important and why we need to continue to speak up."

Photo Credit: The School of Music welcomes guest artists at the Silk Road event. Photo by: Ayman Rashid/Creative Services/George Mason University.

In the last residency activity of the day, Silkroad Ensemble artist Kaoru Watanabe (Japanese flutes/percussion) and guest artists on the American Railroad program Pura Fé Crescioni (lap-steel guitar/vocals; pictured right) and Francesco Turrisi (frame drums/accordion) joined the Mason Folklore Program’s “Global Folklore” course. The class consists of roughly 100 students, individuals ranging from all fields of studies at Mason, and examines the ways in which folklore from all over the world affect everyday life. Professor Debra Lattanzi Shutika moderated a Q&A session following a musical demonstration from the artists.

In addition to the activities above, multiple Silkroad artists have taken part in a semester-long Mason Honors College course for fall 2023, “The Silk Road and the Railroad: An artistic exploration of the Transcontinental Railroad in American history and culture.” Taught by College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean Rick Davis, this academic course explores the many cultures, histories, music, and narratives of the Transcontinental Railroad, providing context to Silkroad’s newest initiative. Throughout the semester, Silkroad artists visited the class for discussions and in the days before the November 5 performance, students had the opportunity to watch a rehearsal session at the Hylton Performing Arts Center.

Professor Rick Davis teaching his "The Silk Road and the Railroad" students.

Professor Davis paints a picture of the rehearsal’s impact on his students, stating, “25 students from 17 different majors file silently into a rehearsal hall. At first, nothing much happens then the musicians and the sound engineer start checking microphones and monitors. Rhiannon Giddens starts building a song from the ground up, adding vocal lines and instrumental parts, experimenting and playing. In less than an hour, the song is almost ready to be performed. The students and I moved to a classroom for a discussion, and I could see eyes and minds opening, lives expanding. ‘I've never been in a room with so much talent,’ one student says. ‘I've never seen a rehearsal of any kind before and now I feel like I'm starting to understand how art gets created,’ offers another. For me, as an artist and teacher, I can't think of a better way to spend 90 minutes.”

Programming and Engagement Manager Victor Adebusola expands upon the impact of Silkroad’s residency, noting, “We’re so grateful to have had Silkroad Ensemble’s presence felt in the Mason community through various forms of engagement. This residency has allowed us to connect world-class Artists directly to our community and, for me, proves that the arts enhance our cultural understanding and make us all better global citizens. We’re looking forward to the evolution of this continued partnership!”

During the November 5 program, Pura Fé performed the Tutelo and Saponi “Mahk Jchi,” a song with lyrics in the Sioux nation’s Tutelo and Saponi. The words are translated as follows, with a sentiment that can be applied to Silkroad’s meaningful time at Mason and the surrounding community.

“Our hearts are full and our minds are good/
Our ancestors come and give us strength/
Stand tall, sing, dance and never forget who you are/
Or where you come from.”

Read more about the Center for the Arts Mason Artist-in-Residence program, including the upcoming 2023/2024 visiting artists: A.I.M by Kyle Abraham on February 17 and Small Island Big Song on April 20.

Silkroad Ensemble takes a bow at the Center's performance on November 5.

Silkroad Ensemble’s American Railroad performance at the Center for the Arts was sponsored by The Mather. The project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Topics

CFA

Center for the Arts

Mason Artists-in-Residence

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

folklore

Honors College

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Mason Artist-in-Residence Silkroad Ensemble Leads Events Across Campus and Community

Zoe Harr — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 15:52:41 +0000

Mason Artist-in-Residence Silkroad Ensemble Leads Events Across Campus and Community Zoe Harr Fri, 10/27/2023 - 11:52

Buy Tickets

Learn About Mason Artist-in-Residence Program

Returning for their second of three years as a Mason Artist-in-Residence, Silkroad Ensemble and Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens present the world premiere of American Railroad, an initiative that maps American music through the various communities involved in building the late-1800s Transcontinental Railroad and its connecting railways. In its description of the project, Silkroad explains that though corporations and the American government financed the railroad, the people who built it are the focus of this program—Indigenous and African Americans as well Irish, Chinese, Japanese, and other immigrant laborers whose contributions have been largely erased from history. American Railroad highlights untold stories and amplifies unheard voices from these communities.

“The American Railroad project has been years in the making, and the program we've created for our first tour is only the beginning. In it, we shed light on those who have been erased or overlooked throughout American history and merge with it Silkroad's unique ability to amplify voices from a multitude of backgrounds and cultures. The result is a tapestry of stories, traditions, and musics that have shaped our multifaceted cultural identity, and that must be heard and recognized,” stated Giddens.

Want to learn more about the American Railroad project? Read Silkroad Ensemble’s description.

As a Mason Artist-in-Residence, Silkroad artists will also work with the community through classes and workshops surrounding the performance, which are detailed below.

In a session with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), three Silkroad artists—Karen Ouzounian (cello/vocals), Shawn Conley (bass), and Kaoru Watanabe (Japanese flutes/percussion)—will lead a musical morning that includes individual demonstrations and a participatory Q&A with OLLI participants.
Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens joins Silkroad artist Mazz Swift in a “Beyond the Note” Roundtable event, cohosted by the Dewberry School of Music, that includes conversation with BIPOC College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) students Darren Badley, Telah Harper, and Alyssa Cabassa, as they discuss the successes and challenges experienced by BIPOC musicians and artists.
As part of Mason’s Folklore Program, the course “Global Folklore” taught by Professor Debra Lattanzi Shutika will be joined by Silkroad artist Kaoru Watanabe (Japanese flutes/percussion) and guest artists on the American Railroad program Pura Fé Crescioni (lap-steel guitar/vocals) and Francesco Turrisi (frame drums/accordion) for a special class session that will include musical demonstrations and a participatory Q&A with more than 70 students in attendance.

Silkroad Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens joins Silkroad Ensemble at the Center on Nov. 5.

In addition to the activities above, multiple Silkroad artists have taken part in a semester-long Mason Honors College course for fall 2023, “The Silk Road and the Railroad: An artistic exploration of the Transcontinental Railroad in American history and culture.” Taught by College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean Rick Davis, this academic course explores the many cultures, histories, music, and narratives of the Transcontinental Railroad, providing context to Silkroad’s newest initiative. Earlier this semester, Silkroad artists visited the class for discussions and will offer an opportunity for students to watch a Silkroad Ensemble rehearsal prior to the November 5 performance.

To learn more about this fall 2023 Honors College course, check out a recent article with Professor Rick Davis.

Get your tickets today and join Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens on November 5 for the powerful world-premiere performance of American Railroad.

Topics

CFA

Mason Artists-in-Residence

Rick Davis

folklore

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) School of Music

Dewberry School of Music

OLLI

Honors College

Campus News