A “Eureka Moment” for Classical Music & Community
Welcome to Eureka Ensemble’s Blog — Introduction & First Major Project
Chances are, those of you who find yourselves on this page already have some idea as to what our organization is about. For those of you who do not, let us fill you in.
Introduction
Eureka Ensemble uses classical music as a platform for social action and community engagement. We identify a social issue facing our community, build strategic partnerships with local organizations, and then join together in chamber groups and as an orchestra to use music to address that issue.
We also work with artistically under-served communities through an extensive community engagement program, involving at-risk youth, people living with special needs, the deaf, the blind, as well as the economically less-fortunate. Through our partnerships and inclusive programming, we perform not only in concert halls and churches, but also at schools, libraries, and civic centers in the city of Boston and across the commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Our core principle is that a musical ensemble is an ideal model for teamwork and community — in other words, a platform where different groups of people (in our case, violins, horns, trumpets, etc.) work together in pursuit of one common goal. We believe that communities operate in the same way and that our music-making can act as an example for others to live into. We thus inspire new communities to form with music as the focal point.
Our team will use this blog to discuss the ensemble’s musical programs, social issues in and outside the music industry, and share content from Eureka’s community of musicians and partners. As our ensemble continues to develop, we believe this blog will become a unique, invaluable forum to exchange ideas on the value of music in facilitating social advocacy and community formation.
There is a lot of concern in the Classical Music world over ever-decreasing attendance at concerts, lack of interest in new and old repertoire, and a general feeling among young classical musicians of a lack of relevance in today’s fast-paced lifestyle. Explanations for this include a raised awareness of socio-economic issues in society, recognition of the historical baggage associated with certain aspects of the Western musical tradition, and the professional and financial insecurities faced by many modern musicians, to name a few.
To be clear — we are not trying to save classical music — neither from itself nor anything else. It doesn’t need ‘saving’ to begin with. If our programs and activities result in larger audiences for classical performance, that would certainly be cause for celebration, but that outcome on its own is not our primary focus. That is because the underlying issue lies in how we connect to people inside & outside of our field, to the communities that surround our concert halls, and what we use our immense love, joy, and passion for classical music to accomplish.
Music is a powerful vehicle for self-expression, personal growth, bonding with friends and community, and finding purpose in life. It gives you a better understanding of yourself, your place in society, and of how you can think and express yourself. Too many people remain without access to the means of realizing such goals, often due to socio-economic and physical hardships of one kind or another. It is this aspect of music that we want to use to bridge musicians and audiences alike and build new communities.
Awareness of specific cultural contexts is key to all our efforts: in spite of the rich legacies of institutions like the Boston Symphony, New England Conservatory, Juilliard, and others, classical musicians can no longer expect to succeed by simply making optic changes to the way they market concerts and present performances. To become relevant and have a tangible, positive impact — especially in artistically underserved communities — we have to escape our comfort zones and learn about the material priorities of our audiences.
This is why supporting social causes by creating strategic partnerships with local organizations is so critical to Eureka’s mission of supporting both Boston communities and our own musicians. Over the last 6 months, Eureka has conducted a series of performances and workshops for organizations such as the International Institute of New England, Watertown Plumbing Museum, Chelsea Collaborative, Walnut Street Synagogue Museum, and North End Music and Performing Arts Center. We’re also in the midst of building partnerships with civic institutions such as the Eradicate Childhood Obesity Foundation, Chelsea Collaborative, Boston Public Library, and Codman Health Center, among an ever-growing list. These city organizations are helping us establish long-term relationships with people who long for more opportunities to listen, learn, and make music — or are about to discover the joys of doing so!
Our First Major Project: Sheltering Voices
In May 2018, Eureka will present “Sheltering Voices”, a musical initiative to empower homeless & abused women, educate the public on domestic abuse issues, and celebrate female artists and composers. Our team has partnered with Cambridge Women’s Center and Pine St. Inn to recruit a choir of homeless and abused women. We will hire each person as a ‘Eureka Fellow” and are planning to pay them a stipend for their work. We have commissioned composer Stephanie Ann Boyd to write a piece for this choir, and women’s rights activist and poet Jessica Lynn Suchon to write the lyrics. Jessica, whose work focuses on shedding stigma that surrounds female-related trauma and celebrates embracing femininity, will work with our choir directly to compose some of the lyrics based on the stories they share. Here is an example of her poetry:
“I am not healing the way I should.
From a distance the fog is smoke —
same gray hazy-plumed howl. It is there and not there,
bloated middle then disappearing
without resolve. I know there is no origin,
no fire, only the wet exhale of spruce-fir
and oak. Still I want another reason
for the white halos that crown
the mountains, for why I always feel
I am here and not here, why
a barbed vine knots around my womb, thistled
twinge that wakes me. The mountains ask why
I won’t come back. Because I have always run
heart first into a fire and there is no fire.
Because the thing I tried to kill is still
slivered inside of me like iron shavings: scraps
of a life I did not want and I want
to crash so hard I send a shiver
through the mountains’ jagged vertebrae.”Foothills — Jessica Lynn Suchon
This project offers a direct link to the performing arts and a chance for these women to learn about and experience their own creativity and growth; a unique therapeutic approach to healing and empowerment; and an opportunity for them, our musicians, and our audience to be involved in activism on sexual violence.
Sheltering Voices will premiere on May 12th, 2018 in Boston and will feature the following concert program of all American women composers:
- Prayer and Celebration — Augusta Read Thomas
- Sonata for Viola & Orchestra — Rebecca Clarke (Orchestrated by Ruth Lomon)
- Sheltering Voices for Choir & Orchestra — Stephanie Ann Boyd (World Premiere)
- Symphony in E Minor — Amy Beach
What better way to demonstrate music’s capacity to empower communities than by using it to shed light on such challenging issues and the organizations that are making a difference in people’s lives? And no less importantly, what better way for aspiring professional musicians to gain invaluable perspectives on the power they have to effect change than by getting ‘out in the field’ and experiencing it firsthand?
As mentioned earlier, our dream for the Eureka blog is for it to blossom into a community-wide forum in Boston and beyond where artists and interested citizens alike can further conversations on these very questions. So, stay tuned for more on just who we are, how Eureka Ensemble was born, the intersection of politics and music, voices from the women’s choir, and other hot topics.
— composed by Alan Toda-Ambaras and Kristo Kondakçi, co-founders
If you have any feedback or wish to contribute something to the blog, send us an email at info@eurekaensemble.org — we’d love to find a way to get you involved!
