FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will welcome artists, composers and students virtually March 26 and 27 as it hosts the national summit “Innovation in Art Song.”
Free and open to the public, “Innovation in Art Song” will include presentations, discussions and a preview of “The Wandering,” a new interdisciplinary work premiering in its entirety April 15. Summit topics will range from the history of innovation and gender in art song to media and techology, art song in American culture and the genre’s future.
Panelists will include nationally celebrated artists and writers such as Jacobs School faculty members Allan Armstrong, Julia Bentley and Andrew Goldman. Among the many guests will be Ricky Ian Gordon, Martha Guth and David Adam Moore.
During a period in which the classical music world is exploring its future in increasingly diverse ways, art song is emerging as a rich arena in which performers and composers are expanding their creative horizons and pushing the boundaries of innovation.
“It’s especially meaningful to be able to offer this summit at a time in which musicians have been inspired, and sometimes challenged, to find new ways to create their art,” said Alain Barker, director of music entrepreneurship and career development at the Jacobs School of Music. “Art song has always been about the most intimate portrayals of the human condition, and we look forward to exploring this through the innovation lens with a gathering of extraordinary artists and writers.”
“The Wandering” was developed by baritone Jeremy Weiss, a recent Jacobs graduate who spent pandemic months developing this interdisciplinary and immersive online show inspired by the music of Franz Schubert. The work is also a prism refracting the queer past into the future.
Experienced interactively online, “The Wandering” is a collaboration between Weiss, Jacobs doctoral collaborative pianist Marika Yasuda, theater director Calista Small, web designer TanTan Wang and graphic designer Charlotte McCurdy.
“I am really looking forward to hearing from all the thoughtful panelists and from music students gathering virtually from a number of institutions on the topic of art song at this particular moment in time,” said Bentley, Jacobs associate professor of voice. “Distancing has ended up bringing us together, and I expect surprising discoveries (and rediscoveries) thanks to these conversations.”
“Innovation in Art Song” is copresented by the Jacobs School’s Department of Voice and its Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development, with financial support from the IU Office of the Vice President for Research.
View more information on the summit, including registration, presentations and panels.