Shenandoah Conservatory has been awarded three grants to support Performing Arts Live and Shenandoah New Music, two of the conservatory’s premier guest artist series. The grants, totaling $21,650, were awarded as part of the ArtsCONNECT program of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
“The guest artists we are featuring this year are some of the best in the nation, and they have a commitment to presenting meaningful groundbreaking work even during these unprecedented times,” said Performing Arts Live Artistic Director Courtney Reilly. “It would not be possible to present these residencies without the generous support of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.”
All three guest artist residencies will be conducted as digital workshops and performances during the 2020/21 season, which is now offering a new digital streaming platform for audiences to view the conservatory’s exclusive content.
New York-based Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra known for its risk-taking and thrilling approach to contemporary classical music. During their digital residency, Alarm Will Sound will conduct workshops on managing an arts organization through change and disruption and how to listen to and arrange electronic music. During its residency, the orchestra will also conduct a reading of new student compositions and present a final digital performance of John Luther Adams’ “10,000 Birds” that will feature Shenandoah Conservatory students performing alongside members of Alarm Will Sound.
Illinois-based Fifth House Ensemble is an acclaimed new music chamber ensemble that specializes in emerging artist training, arts-integrated programming and arts-based civic practice. During its digital residency, Fifth House will conduct a workshop for instrumental students on best practices for rehearsing remotely. The ensemble, which is widely known for its arts-based community building and engagement, will also conduct workshops for general audiences on deep listening and how to build community through music and gaming. Its culminating digital performance will feature music from Toby Fox’s “Undertale,” one of the most acclaimed video games of the past decade.
“Cartography” is a groundbreaking multidisciplinary contemporary piece by theatre artists Kaneza Schaal and writer/artist Christopher Myers inspired by their work with refugee youth in the U.S. and abroad. The new theatrical work for audiences of all ages explores the commonalities of migration and the concrete and metaphorical mapping at the center of worlds in motion. During their residency, the guest artists will conduct workshops on arts and social justice and present a digital performance of “Cartography.”
Additional information regarding the 2020/21 season will be released soon. This year, due to COVID-19, Shenandoah Conservatory will present many of its performances in digital format.
