Season 10 - Celebration
Playtime
A Festival Exploring Cross-Cultural Compositions
Presented in Partnership with MTSU Center for Chinese Music and Culture
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Thursday, September 29, 2022, 11:30am
Virtual Presentation on Zoom
Topic: Writing for the zheng and other Chinese instruments
Featured Guests: Chihchun Chi-sun Lee, Composer; Sun Yue, Composer; Dr. Mei Han, Director MTSU Center for Chinese Music and Culture & Performer; Dr. Haiqiong Deng, Performer; Kelly Corcoran, Conductor and Artistic Director, Intersection
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Friday, September 30, 2022, 8pm
Free Performance With Scholarly and Cultural Context
Hosted by Dr. Mei Han
Hinton Hall, Wright Music Building, Middle Tennessee State University
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Saturday, October 1, 2022, 3pm
Family Friendly Ticketed Performance
Hosted by Kelly Corcoran & Dr. Mei Han
Casa Azafrán, Nashville
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*VIEW THE DIGITAL PROGRAM WITH PROGRAM NOTES & ARTIST BIOS
CONVERGENCE is a three-day festival co-presented by Intersection and MTSU Center for Chinese Music and Culture that explores new sounds through cross-cultural compositions. The festival presents two concerts and a webinar workshop, featuring the zheng, a Chinese plucked long zither that has a history of over 2500 years. The guest performer, Dr. Haiqiong Deng, is one of the leading zheng artists known for her performance of challenging contemporary compositions. She will join Intersection musicians in performing two contemporary compositions written for her: Dots, Lines and Convergence, a zheng concerto written by Chihchun Chi-sun Lee, and Moon Phase (world premiere) composed by Sun Yue.
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The MTSU performance will integrate historic and cultural context into an academically influenced presentation, while the Nashville performance will be designed for families and audiences of all ages including some hands-on activities. The concerts will also include traditional works for zheng and other Chinese musical instruments.
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PROGRAM
Chihchun Chi-sun Lee - Dots, Lines and Convergence
Sun Yue - Moon Phase for Zheng and 5 instruments **WORLD PREMIERE
Additional Repertoire for Solo Qin, Yangqin, Zheng and Zheng duet.
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ARTISTS
Kelly Corcoran, conductor
Dr. Haiqiong Deng, zheng
Dr. Mei Han, zheng
Lyujing Liu, yangqin
Celine Thackston, flute
Todd Waldecker, clarinet
Lawson White, percussion
Esther Sanders, violin
Emily Crane, violin
Sarah Cote, viola
Meghan Berindean, cello
Sarah Ransom, bass
EVENT PHOTOS COMING SOON
Art and Activism
Wednesday, February 7, 2024 - Free Event
6:30 - snacks and mingling
7-8pm - interactive conversation
Tennessee Justice Center
155 Lafayette St., Nashville, TN 37210
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Artists
Rod McGaha
Robbie Lynn Hunsinger
Gary Powell Nash
Kelly Corcoran
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Intersection hosted a casual, interactive community conversation around art and activism. This gathering at the Tennessee Justice Center featured composers Gary Powell Nash and Robbie Lynn Hunsinger, musician and photographer Rod McGaha and conductor Kelly Corcoran, all of whom experience and create art in dialogue with the issues of our time and invite community conversation. Gary and Robbie Lynn discussed their newly composed works for intersection, Robbie Lynn led attendees in a communal music making experience, and Rod shared how he uses photography as a tool to communicate, empowering us all to capture our experiences through photos and creative means.
EVENT PHOTOS COMING SOON
Thin Places
Thursday, February 23, 2023 - 7pm
Cheekwood - Winter Concert Series
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Whirling Spring brings together a range of repertoire inspired by the natural world, human relationships, color and space. Cristina Spinei’s Whirl for string ensemble is her own interpretation of Spring inspired by “the tornado threats and flood warnings that plague our spring and early summer” in Nashville. Spinei’s composition student, Dayla Spencer, is a 17 year-old composer and trombonist who will be graduating from MLK Magnet High School in Nashville this spring. Her work Ventus Colores for strings was inspired by her favorite colors. Navy Blue features driving rhythms and harmonic surprises.
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Pauline Oliveros, known for her “deep listening” approach to music invites musicians to listen to environmental pulses and use rocks as musical instruments in a spatial, improvisatory sharing.
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Ruth Crawford Seeger, a contemporary of Copland, was known for both her commitment to the study of folk music, but also her work as an “ultramodern” American composer in the 1920’s. Her Music for Small Orchestra uses a similar instrumentation to Copland’s original 13 instrument version of Appalachian Spring. Copland shared Crawford Seeger’s affinity for modernism and also folk music, as seen in the inclusion of Simple Gifts as a theme in his Pultizer Prize winning work. Appalachian Spring will feature original choreography by Beata Santora performed by students from the Ensworth School of Dance.
Intersection is thrilled to be partnering with Cheekwood to present Whirling Spring as the third and final installment of the Cheekwood Winter Concert Series. Set in Cheekwood’s beautiful Botanic Hall, this intimate, ticketed show will expand perspectives and delight aficionados. Tickets are $35 for Cheekwood members and $45 for soon-to-be members. Purchase admission online at www.cheekwood.org.
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PROGRAM
Cristina Spinei: Whirl
Ruth Crawford Seeger: Music for Small Orchestra
Dayla Spencer: Navy Blue from Ventus Colores *Premiere Performance
Pauline Oliveros: Rock Piece
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite for 13 Instruments
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ARTISTS
Kelly Corcoran, Conductor
Beata Santora, Choreographer (Ensworth School of Dance)
Molly Barth, flute
Mariam Adam, clarinet
Peter Kolkay, bassoon
Alessandra Volpi, piano
Christina McGann, violin
Elena Lim, violin
Carrie Bailey, violin
Monona Suzuki, violin
Carl Larson, viola
Sarah Cote, viola
Kaitlyn Raitz, cello
Dongdong Zhang, cello
Tiffany Freeman, bass
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ENSWORTH SCHOOL OF DANCE PERFORMERS
Tiana Crow
Laura Hill
Julia Grace Linn
Natalie Linn
Mia McDermott
Sara McDermott
Madison Miller
Nathalie Peete
Hannah Smokler
EVENT PHOTOS COMING SOON
Boundless Beats
Friday, May 5, 2023
Nashville Public Library - Downtown
3:30pm - FREE
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Boundless Beats is a casual, public sharing of collaborations and creations among Intersection and Southern Word artists. Southern Word music producers have been in residence weekly at Studio NPL at the Nashville Public Library creating works in collaboration with teens and other community members. Intersection musicians joined this community for several weeks to explore what new music would emerge in this interactive space. Join us on May 5th to meet the artists, learn more about the collaboration and hear some of the new creations.
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INTERSECTION MUSICIANS
Annaliese Kowert
Tony Parce
Titus Underwood
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SOUTHERN WORD MUSICIANS
Dyondre Thomas
Asiya Buchanan
Esther Okai -Tetteh
Alexander Lynch
Imani Miles
Event Photos Coming Soon
10th Anniversary Party
Friday, May 12, 2023
W.O. Smith Community Music School
7:00pm - FREE
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As a partner in the Lullaby Project, a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI), Intersection works with Renewal House, the Tennessee Justice Center and the Hispanic Family Foundation to write original lullabies with Tennessee families. Join us on Friday, May 12th at the W.O Smith Community Music School for our first public sharing of select lullabies written since the beginning of our project. We will hear family stories and together celebrate the power of music and song to unite us and strengthen our relationships with family and community.
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PERFORMERS
Rachel Rodriguez
Rosa Rodriguez
AmyLiza de Jesus
Events Photos Coming Soon
Upon These Shoulders:
Juneteenth at the Tennessee State Museum
Tuesday, May 2, 2023 - 4:30pm
Free Event
Nashville Downtown Library Auditorium
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Upon These Shoulders 2023 Program Book
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Upon These Shoulders: Griot Legacies Rise honors and artistically explores historic impressions in the African American journal of racial equity and cultural inclusiveness through footprints of yesterday and today. This event will feature musical performances by Choral Arts Link, W. Crimm Singers (aka Wakanda Chorale), Intersection and Nashville Symphony's Accelerando students woven together with interviews.
Upon These Shoulders is an annual event, launched in 2017 by Choral Arts Link and Intersection, working with community partners to celebrate the many heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, historically and today. Performances in this series have included the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by composer Jonathan Bailey Holland exploring race, equity and youth; a celebration of the music of Florence Price, and a 10 day residency by composer and performer Hannibal Lokumbe.
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Presented in partnership with Choral Arts Link and the Nashville Symphony's Accelerando Program
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Intersection Repertoire
Jonathan Bailey Holland: American Voices (2009) for Trombone Choir
Tamica Nicole, Narrator
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Trombone Ensemble
Ryan Brown
Jocelyn Bullock
Rielly Harris
Moses Hatcher
Ryan Hungerpiller
Paul Jenkins
David Loucky
Orlandis Maise *
Jacob Sanchez *
Lincoln Schaaf *
Dayla Spencer *
* Accelerando Student
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Event Photos Coming Soon