The Imani Winds have been touring for 26 seasons, and have performed both domestically and internationally. The ensemble’s performance at Yale, “Black and Brown II,” aimed to celebrate composers of color, including Damien Geter, Carlos Simon and Billy Taylor. 

The show “completely transported me to so many different places full of so much thematic depth and variation,” said Albert Lee, a professor at the Yale School of Music. 

The Imani Winds are an internationally recognized music group, including members Brandon Patrick George, Toyin Spellman-Diaz, Kevin Newton, Mark Dover and Monica Ellis. 

The group has performed everywhere from Australia to Asia, and it has visited distinguished venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Yale is one of many universities they will stop at on their current tour.

The Imani Winds are celebrated for their creative collaborations and daring programming. 

The group has been nominated for a Grammy thrice in their 27-year history. In 2006, they were nominated for Best Classical Crossover Album, in 2022 for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and this season for Best Classical Compendium.

Their current tour, “Black and Brown II,” is “all music by Black and Brown composers,” said clarinetist Mark Dover. Uplifting composers of color has been “really important to the group for the whole history,” he said.

The quintet regularly updates its repertoire to incorporate pieces that reflect the phenomena of our modern society. Their playlist at Yale included modern pieces alongside iconic songs like “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free.”

The group uses their varied musical backgrounds to bring a new twist to the classic pieces they perform. 

“We try very hard not to just play it the way that it’s been played,” said horn player Kevin Newton. “We play it how we feel it and how we experience it.”

Toyin Spellman-Diaz — founding member and oboist of the quintet — said the group came together in New York in 1996. At the time, the members were graduate students at various local music schools. Bassoon player Monica Ellis was at the Juilliard School, while Spellman-Diaz was at the Manhattan School of Music.

Trust, humor and “something magical” about the five members have kept the musical group going strong, according to Spellman-Diaz. 

Aside from music, the quintet is committed to the dissemination of musical education. In addition to workshops they host at universities, the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival is an annual summer program dedicated to musical excellence and career development for pre-professional musicians and composers. Their non-profit organization, the Imani Winds Foundation, supports their educational efforts.

The Imani Winds plan to do one more show in New Orleans before the holidays.

Sprague Hall was completed in 2003.

The post Grammy-nominated wind quintet brings ‘utterly spectacular’ show to Yale appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Yale Ballet Company is Yale’s only dance group dedicated to ballet. Usually the group is focused on annual full-length story ballets, but due to a lack of men joining the group, it has been more difficult for it to perform classical ballet stories, according to the company’s co-president Lexi Dalrymple ’25. The group has since been trying to branch out to more diverse and neo-classical ballets, Dalrymple continued.

“Timeless” presented a diverse array of pieces, including adaptations inspired by film scores like “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “Succession.” The program aimed to highlight the evolving nature of ballet as an art form and reimagine classical dance. In this way, “Timeless” stood out as a departure from Yale Ballet Company’s usual repertoire.

Dalrymple reflected on this shift and said, “It was a big change for us because we normally do purely classical work, and so for us to get to do this kind of music and really show a different side of ballet was nice and fun.”

The program started out on the classical end, showcasing winter favorites such as “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker.” The dancers attempted to convey the emotions and crescendos of the pieces without any form of scenery or backdrop — they were performing on an empty stage against a white background.

After the classical pieces, more experimental pieces ensued. Among the performances was a dance by Erita Chen ’26 to the Twilight Zone theme song, in which Chen executed technically complex moves on time as the announcer exclaimed “Welcome to the Twilight Zone.” The background swelled with disharmonious yet compelling music.

The program’s highlight and final piece was a dance inspired by the “Succession” theme, choreographed by Dalrymple. This piece exemplified the show’s theme of transcending time, blending classical ballet techniques with modern rhythms and movements.

“I think the more people come to ballet, the more opportunities there are for it to evolve and diversify,” Dalrymple said. “I’ve always loved music, so when I actually watched the show way back when, I realized, I love this music, I need to choreograph it. Choreographing and dancing to the Succession piece was really a way to kind of break out of those realms and try to show people at Yale that ballet could be a lot more than just classical.”

Christian Choi ’26, an audience member, said his favorite performance was the more “evil”-sounding parts of the Twilight-inspired piece. He commented on the hidden talents of students at Yale, appreciating the times he gets to see everyday peers reveal projects and performances they have been preparing for months.

Nicole Vayman ’25, co-president of the company, was also enthusiastic about the pieces, saying that her favorite dance was Act 1 Variation from “Giselle,” which was inspired by teenage love and angst.

“The love of her life is there and he’s watching her and so she’s trying to show off for him, but she also just has this unbridled joy about being able to dance,” Vayman said.

For performer Taylor McClure ’25, another performer, “Timeless” was exactly what the name of the showcase suggested: a time travel to the intimacy of childhood. She said that the “Howl’s Moving Castle” especially embodied this, featuring a dance that depicted mystical, childlike exploration in a forest.

The Yale Ballet Company is not planning any more shows for this semester, but they are planning one early in 2024, as well as a collaboration with Yale Berkeley Orchestra for the spring. 

The Crescent Underground Theater is located in Morse College at 304 York St.

The post Yale Ballet Company blends of classical and experimental in ‘Timeless’ appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The album, now available for listening on Apple Music, YouTube and Spotify, is called “This Christmas with Night is Alive.” Yale lecturer and American saxophonist Wayne Escoffery led an ensemble of musicians from the University and beyond, blending traditional holiday tunes with contemporary jazz.

This project is a landmark in Yale’s Jazz Initiative, showcasing a synergy of experienced artists and emerging talents from Yale. It features the Black Art Jazz Collective, including Jeremy Pelt and James Burton III, as well as musicians such as bassist Richie Goods, pianist Xavier Davis and drummer Quincy Davis. There are a total of eight tracks on the album, all renditions of some of the Christmas biggest hits: “Let it Snow,” “We Three Kings,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Sleigh Ride,” “White Christmas,” “This Christmas,” “O Holy Night” and “The Christmas Song.”

“I thought the [artists] really did a good reinterpretation, staying right on the line of jazziness while keeping the features of the original tunes,” Evan Branham ‘24 told the News.

According to Escoffery, the album was created with the intention to be enjoyed year-round. It maintains complex jazz harmonies and rhythms and preserves the traditional “integrity” of Christmas songs, he added.

The album also marks a musical milestone for Yale junior Teddy Horangic ’25, who recorded for the first time as a primary artist on the album and a major vocalist for three of the tracks. 

Horangic told the News she grew up first on a sailboat and later in a renovated bus which she said has had a strong influence on her musical style. She found her rhythm in the diverse sounds of bluegrass, country, punk, R&B and soul that permeated the various places she grew up in, she said.

But it was jazz that resonated with her, a discovery she made at the age of 10. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she took a gap year and dove into the New York City music scene, busking in Tompkins Square Park and performing at various venues across the city. 

“I was really being educated by mentors who would let me sing with them, literally learning on the job playing with people on the street,” Horangic said. “I basically came to Yale with a background of being a working musician in New York City, which is a very different lifestyle.”  

At Yale, she continued her involvement in jazz under the guidance of Escoffery, who also gave her the opportunity to perform in the Christmas jazz album. Horangic described the experience as a significant “learning opportunity.” 

Her experience recording the album was a departure from her usual live performances. 

“It was an amazing opportunity, my first time. It’s a fun album, and it was a great learning experience,” Horangic said. “[In live performances], you have to be aware of your audience and how they’re feeling the music. [Meanwhile for studio recordings, it’s more] “being able to be in a space with [other musicians], which was pretty amazing.” 

She told the News she is planning to record more albums in the future.

Escoffery explained that the album also highlights the prominence of jazz in the greater New Haven community, particularly the genre’s role in telling and cementing the histories of communities of color.

“Jazz is America’s classical music, born out of the Black American experience,” he said. “It fosters diversity and inclusion. So it’s important to have America’s really indigenous music that came out of the Black American experience represented at Yale.”

“This Christmas with Night is Alive,” is available for listening on YouTube at This Christmas with Night Is Alive – YouTube.

The post Yale Jazz Initiative releases new Christmas album  appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The event, held on Sunday, Nov. 12, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., featured a program of classical pieces that explored themes of nostalgia, history and fate.

Under the baton of music director Nicole Lam ’25, the orchestra — which consists of Yale undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and professional affiliates — worked together to make the night musically cohesive and harmonious. The concert started with Jean Sibelius’ “Impromptu for Strings,” before progressing to the “Weiner Serenade,” inspired by Hungarian folk music. 

“As this orchestra plays more and more together, the more cohesive they sound, the more fun they’re having,the more they’re blending into each other,” Lam said. “And I really felt that these pieces are extremely challenging both as an ensemble and also just technically, and I think people put in the work [to] create a product that everybody feels really proud of.” 

Kincaid MacDonald ’23, a player in the BCO, commented on the piece’s complexity. He said that he thought the Verdi was technically the “hardest,” noting that it required “the most skill” to play. He said that the Weiner, on the other hand, was the most musically difficult because “it has this different style” that is less common.

Another highlight of the evening was Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Forza Del Destino,” a composition that combined drama with more intricate orchestral arrangements to evoke a story about fate and the future. The title translates to “the force of destiny.” 

The concert’s programming was inspired by Nicole Lam’s own experience of music as a medium that transcends time — something that evokes past memories, present experiences and future aspirations, she said.

Joshua Chen ’27, a clarinetist in the BCO, reflected on the orchestra’s preparation. “We had about a month to prepare for this concert, but it really came together in the last couple of weeks,” he told the News.

Julieanna King ’27, another BCO player, praised the selection of pieces, noting that the execution of the show required many “moving,” independent parts to harmonize.  

While this was the last concert for the BCO this semester, the orchestra has two shows planned for next semester.

In addition to planning a collaboration with the Yale Ballet Company for February and a double bronze concerto for next April, the BCO also has a smaller chamber concert planned for the end of the semester, involving a subset of the whole orchestra.

The audience remarked positively on the selection of works at the concert. Mehran Sadeghi, father of BCO member Cyrus Sadeghi ’27, appreciated the more abstract themes of the night. 

Tthe pieces that were put together catered to different moods and were quite lovely,” said audience member Elena Krapivina.

Founded in 1976, the Berkeley College Orchestra is Yale’s oldest student-run orchestra.

The post Berkeley College Orchestra’s ‘Serenade of Memory and Destiny’ appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The show was called “Para Siempre” and was a celebration of the Day of the Dead. At the heart of the show, which also featured a performance by Mariachi Lux Et Veritas de Yale, were themes of love, loss, rebirth and the enduring spirit of Día de Los Muertos. 

Andrea Chow ’25, Oye’s president, said that the event served as a way to create space for people from Mexican and Latin American communities to come together. Chow also said that it was an opportunity to create community and express resistance and creativity through spoken word poetry. 

“It is really important to deliberately create space for people from marginalized communities, especially people from the Mexican and Latin American communities, to be able to celebrate death and or not celebrate death,” Chow said. “To honor our lost loved ones and to honor death and create space for us to just be together.“ 

The evening started with a performance by the Yale undergraduate traditional Mariachi group, Mariachi Lux Et Veritas de Yale. 

After Mariachi Lux Et Veritas, the poets gave a public performance of the poetry they had written as part of Oye.

“I think it was a unique event to truly honor Mexican heritage and traditions,” said Fernando Landa SOM ’24, a member of Mariachi Lux Et Veritas. “Hopefully they will be able to have more mechanisms to try to spread the word because I think this was beautiful. I had no idea that there was this much talent in poetry and in music [at Yale]. 

Yakeleen Almazan ‘25, the founder of Mariachi Lux et Veritas de Yale, said that the show was also a nod to the legacies left behind by loved ones. 

During the event, Chow performed her piece, “A Eulogy for my Younger Self.”

The poem acknowledged important parts of Chow’s identity, incorporating motifs in Mexican spirituality and Catholicism. The piece, she said, also served as a way for her to grapple with an acute grief she has carried for years, stemming from the loss of many loved ones due to gun violence and the pandemic — issues that she said also deeply affect her community.

Diego Faria ’26 performed his piece titled “Adiós,” a personal reflection on farewells. In the piece, he portrays the process of grappling with the pain that results from having to say goodbye. According to Faria, the poem was a medium of self-introspection and growth — for in the end, he understands the importance of final acceptance, letting farewells inspire art, pain and gratitude. 

“When I first started writing the poem, I had just been going through the process of saying goodbye to someone that was very special to me. And in the process of realizing that I was afraid of saying goodbye, of the act of doing it,” Faria said. “I found that I need to start writing it.“

Alex Guzman Caceres ’26 performed her piece “La Bendita” — which touched on people experiencing poverty in Guatemala as well as her family’s sacrifices. 

Tabatha Stewart ’26 performed her piece “Locket for a Fantasmita” about lost friends over time, and Morgan Vannell ’27 performed his piece “Wooden House” about friends kept over time. 

Kayleigh Hackett ‘25, the host for the evening, commended the performers who volunteered to share their artistic expressions. 

“We had quite a few people volunteer to perform and I think they did really well,” Hackett said.

Beyond the poetry, the event “Para Siempre,” meaning “forever,” also aimed to raise funds for Mecha de Yale’s Sueño Scholarship, supporting undocumented students in Connecticut. Mecha de Yale also provided traditional food after the event for attendees.

The Nick Chapel Theatre is located in the basement of Trumbull College.

Correction, Nov. 16: This piece has been modified to include the correct name of the group Mecha de Yale.

The post Oye spoken word poetry show celebrates Latine heritage and Day of the Dead appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The installation, commissioned by the Schwarzman Center and curated by artist-in-residence Bryce Dessner, offered an immersive experience that blurred the boundaries between sound art, physical engagement and live musical performance. From Oct. 21 to Oct. 28, visitors had the opportunity to “work out” in the listening gym and immerse themselves in the visceral sounds of Fure’s ANIMAL performance. The installation was open to the public, with specific live performance times requiring prior registration.

Participants navigated through a room filled with innovative sound equipment, finding themselves able to shape and influence the soundscapes around them. The visitors were not just working out their muscles. They were working out their visual and auditory senses, too.

“It’s definitely not a normal show. There’s a lot of sound happening — you walk around and you fight with the machines to manipulate the sound,” said James Egelhofer, an audience member and New Haven local.

The show was built in collaboration with stock-a-studio, an architectural design practice that represents the intersection of extended realities, illusion, material recirculation and sustainability.

Egelhofer said his favorite piece was created using a unique sound-manipulating tool incorporating fabric, metal balls and a doily structure that mimicked raindrops hitting a roof. 

Ted Lucas, another audience member said that he had felt “like a well-oiled gear in a palace of perception. It was a psychoacoustic blur.” Lucas told the News that his favorite piece in the installation was a wind machine.

Jiaqian Dai ART ’25 assisted Ash Fure with their work, making promotional material by hand and helping develop a visual system that complemented Ash Fure’s work. Dai said that the collaboration was an “excellent” opportunity to do something experimental that broke the traditional rules of what constitutes art.

“This is a pioneering installation by an astonishing artist and educator known for breaking musical boundaries and blurring the lines among aural, visual and physical art disciplines,” Rachel Fine, executive director of the Schwarzman Center, told the News.  

While the listening gym was open to all, the live performances attracted a great deal of interest, according to Fine. Registration for the final show on Oct. 28 was filled and even had a waitlist. 

Fure is an associate professor of music at Dartmouth College and holds a doctorate in music composition from Harvard University.

The post ‘ANIMAL: A Listening Gym’ brings sonic experience to Schwarzman Center appeared first on Yale Daily News.

For the first time since public records started at the Office of Institutional Research in 2000, the number of graduates in science, technology, engineering or mathematics fields has outpaced the number of Yale College arts and humanities graduates. 

According to public records from the Office of Institutional Research, which date back to 2000, Yale has seen a consistent decline in humanities enrollment — majors like English, history and classics — since 2007, reflecting a broader national trend toward STEM.  

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there appeared to be a moment of revival in the number of humanities and arts majors at Yale. The overall trend, however, still leans overwhelmingly toward STEM, and more Yale students are declaring STEM majors than ever before. 

In the 2021-2022 academic year, registration in arts and humanities were at 320, compared to 340 and 579 in physical sciences and engineering and social science, respectively. Broadly, STEM encompasses majors like Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Computer Science and Mathematics.

National data reflect the same trend; the National Center for Education Statistics found that the number of graduates in the humanities declined by 29.6 percent from 2012 to 2020, as students have increasingly come to view college as an investment rather than an experience.

In part driven by a desire to attract and retain more STEM students, Yale has made landmark investments in some of its science and engineering sectors in recent years.  The University is investing $350 million in a new Physical Sciences and Engineering Building and Yale’s expansion of its School of Engineering & Applied Science is planning to add 45 new faculty members.

In February 2022, Yale also announced plans to distinguish the School of Engineering & Applied Science faculty from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 

The admissions office’s keenness for prospective STEM applicants and the University’s overall institutional emphasis on STEM is not new. Nine years ago, in 2014, although the University aimed for a first-year class that consisted of 40 percent STEM majors, only about 25 percent of the class of 2014 graduated with a STEM major. 

In 2014, responding to concerns that other higher learning institutions were offering more rigorous STEM programs, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan assured prospective students that they would not miss out on opportunities for cutting-edge research and funding opportunities if they chose Yale. 

“If [the trend toward STEM] happens here, it’s just a sign of how bad it is in the country because you know, Yale is a great university across the board,” said Lucas Bender, the director of undergraduate studies, or DUS, for the East Asian Languages and Literatures major. “But historically, Yale’s strength has been in the humanities and the arts. It’s one of the only universities that has top-ranked music programs, drama and opera programs.”

Bender said that applicants often self-select when they choose Yale. He gave the example of someone having a choice between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale, commenting that if the applicant were a science person, they would probably have chosen MIT. However, the increasing emphasis on STEM at Yale reflects much larger national trends that merit further exploration, he added. 

Another reason for these patterns, according to Bender, is economics — he said that students with art or humanities degrees may be concerned that they will not get high enough paying jobs to cover the costs of college.

But an overall trend within arts and humanities does not necessarily reflect individual trends on a major and degree basis. According to former art DUS Lisa Kereszi the number of art majors increased from 2013 to 2023. She cited the eradication of course fees and a surge in interest in “self-expression” and “artmaking” as a possible cultural reaction to current events and the political landscape. This in turn could have driven increases in art majors, she explained.  

The options and flexibility offered by double majors might also explain the rise of STEM. According to Kereszi, there were more arts major students who also had another major last year than ever before: about 40 percent in 2022-2023, compared to the usual 25 to 30 percent, she said. Bender echoed that students who are double majoring have a high tendency to choose humanities as their second if their first is STEM-oriented. 

Some students remain hopeful about the future of arts and humanities at Yale, calling attention to the importance of studying what speaks to one’s interests.

“While there is a place for the pre-professional, I find it more rewarding to study our intrinsic humanity through the words and deeds of the world’s greatest thinkers, and seek the roots of the beauty of our shared culture,” said Camillo Padulli, ’25, who is majoring in history. “Yale has traditionally been a nexus for learning about the classic tenets of high Western civilization, and I would feel loath to miss out on that.”

In 1861, Yale conferred the first doctorate of philosophy ever awarded in the United States.

The post DATA: Yale College trends toward graduating more STEM than humanities and arts majors appeared first on Yale Daily News.

“Con Brio,” the title of the performance, refers to ​​a musical direction meaning “with spirit.” The BCO traditionally hosts a large concert every fall, but this year’s marked their first time performing during Family Weekend. 

The BCO, Yale’s oldest student-run chamber orchestra, consists of graduate, undergraduate and faculty performers, and this performance featured pieces including the “Merry Wives of Windsor” Overture and the Beethoven Symphony No. 7.  

“I thought we played really well,” David Evans, the head of Berkeley College and the orchestra’s bass player said. “We came together in only about five or six weeks. So to bring Beethoven together in that amount of time I think the orchestra did a great job.”

Evans told the News he took pride in the BCO’s longstanding history. According to Evans, the BCO is the oldest continuously existing residential college orchestra.

Jacob Koch ’26, an attendee, emphasized the range of the orchestra’s members, noting that there were many first-year students playing in the group. He said that while he is not familiar with the technical elements of orchestra shows, he said that the performance “blew his mind.” 

Nicole Lam ’25, the orchestra’s current music director, told the News that the BCO performance is only the start of a strong series of concerts planned for the rest of the year. 

“We have some really exciting things planned for next spring,” Lam said. “In February, we’re planning to do a collaboration with the Yale Ballet company.” 

She also said that in April, the BCO will have soloists perform double violin concertos. 

One of the performers and a recent graduate of Yale College, Kincaid MacDonald ’23 told the News that the BCO’s opening concert presented an opportunity for families and students to familiarize themselves with Yale’s vibrant musical setting.

“It was incredible to give them the opportunity to make sure their families get settled in at Yale,” he said. “They’re making beautiful music.”

The BCO’s next performance is slated for Dec. 3, with a repertoire reveal due in the coming weeks. 

The United Church on the Green is located on 270 Temple St. 

The post Berkeley College Orchestra launches 48th season with ‘Con Brio’ performance appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The event was a first of its kind, showcasing composers and singers from the Yale School of Music who performed original pieces. The program consisted of three performances across different genres, including song-poetry and a Shakespeare-inspired opera scene. 

The night started with a performance of “towards your arms,” showcasing a duo of guitarist Matiss Cudars and vocalist Amalia Crevani, the vocalist. The song captured the essence of a half-asleep dreamer, with Cudars’ strings and Crevani’s soprano telling the story of a dreamscape that is difficult to escape. 

“The [piece] was a marriage between two different worlds. [It] almost existed with one foot in both camps — between art music and popular music,” said Curtis Serafin, a Music School lecturer who was in attendance. “You have a sort of electric guitar complement that comes from a sort of singer-songwriter background that you don’t find very commonly in art songs. But the singing itself was very classic in nature.”

Following this beginning, the audience was treated to a performance of “Mr. & Mrs. M.,” written by Aaron Levin MUS ’27. 

The piece was inspired by the scene from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” where Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan.

“It’s the psychological crux of the whole play,” Elana Bell MUS ’23, one of the performers, explained. “It’s where Lady Macbeth is really getting into Macbeth’s head and convincing him to commit.” 

Bell, a recent Yale graduate, is now based in New York, starting her career journey in opera.

The evening’s grand finale was the evocative “Excerpts from ‘Songs at Night.’” Rooted in the poetry of Anna Margolin and sung in Yiddish, the performance featured Kara Morgan’s MUS ’24 soulful voice accompanied by Esther Kwan on bass and Carter Johnson MUS ’29 on piano. 

According to Morgan, while the songs are all by the same composer, the pieces capture different love stories at various points in a person’s life.

“This was a great chance for them to encourage and then help produce premier performances of excerpts of these works that are largely in progress still,” Anna Smigelskaya, a piano fellow at the Music School said. 

Morgan, a graduate student with the Yale Opera department, commented on the enduring relationships and connections that the event created.

She said she thought the Yale Lift Off was a success, and said she hopes it might inspire and develop into a future class at the Music School.  

“It’s singers getting paired up with composing students or recent graduates, creating something special together,” she said.

Firehouse 12 is located at 45 Crown St.

The post Yale Lift Off celebrates original works by Yale School of Music composers and singers appeared first on Yale Daily News.

During the Schwarzman Center speaker event, Rae described the importance of the Stony Island Arts Bank, an art gallery created within an abandoned bank that holds thousands of cultural objects and periodicals, to the development of her new music. She followed her talk with a performance of all the songs on “Black Rainbows” — from the psychedelic vibe of  “A Spell, A Prayer” to the more punk and pop-inspired, jazzy sounds of “New York Transit Queen” — interspersing each song with an explanation of its meaning.

“There’s a lot of stories in the music that I want to bring to people’s attention,” Rae told the News. “It’s as much about the audience as it’s about what’s happening on stage. I feel like we all made something together — it’s theirs as much as it’s ours. I really liked being able to express something of the songs and have Professor Brooks’s perspective and be able to bounce off that. It gave me a lot of freedom in the performance.”

After the conversation, Rae started to perform songs from her album. Her album references powerful cultural and historical artifacts ranging from the rock-hewn churches of Ethiopia to the stories of Black Pioneers and their westward journeys, according to the Schwarzman Center website.

“Bailey Rae is somebody most of us have looked up to since we were very young. To be a part of this event is special,” Vocalist Alita Moses, who shared the stage with Rae, said. 

Moses called attention to the track “Put It Down,” emphasizing the transformative nature of the song in an interview with the News.

Another attendee, Abdeena Barrie, appreciated the attention to “Black American experiences” and “integrating that into her work” despite being from the United Kingdom. She said the evening made her more invested in Rae’s music because it was “just so well thought out and clearly such a heartfelt project.”

Prior to her performance, Rae elaborated on the origins of the album which was inspired by the Stony Island Arts Bank. She said she was first introduced to Stony Island Arts Bank and its restorer and artist, Theaster Gates, when she saw an image of Gates surrounded by various works of art on a friend’s Pinterest page. Some of these works would later become part of the Bank’s collection. 

Inspired by Gates’s “creativity” and “confidence,” Rae was determined to reach out to Gates.

In 2012, Gates, an artist and urban planner, bought Stony Island Arts Bank that would later become inspiration for Rae’s album for $1. He repurposed the building, transforming it into “a repository for African American culture and history” by selling recovered marble blocks as “bank bonds,” he said. 

According to Rae, “Black Rainbows” is an album that reflects the artifacts and stories she encountered in the Stony Island Arts Bank, as well as emphasizing ideas of “release” in her music. Performing in front of a live audience, she said, created an interactive, collaborative musical environment, which Rae attributed to the feelings of “freedom” on the stage.

Rae was not the only person who said they felt that “freedom.” Moses noticed the feeling of freedom as well. To her, each of the songs had unique intention, purpose and relatable subject matter, but they were interwoven with “freedom” and “fluidity.”

Daphne Brooks, a professor of African American Studies, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and English, facilitated the conversation. 

The post Corinne Bailey Rae performs new album “Black Rainbows” following talk on its significance appeared first on Yale Daily News.