Music & Dance: Musicians, Composers, Singers, Dancers, Choreographers, Performers Talk Art, Creativity & The Creative Process

Sonnet L'Abbé is a Canadian poet, songwriter, editor and professor. They are the author of A Strange Relief, Killarnoe, and Sonnet's Shakespeare. Sonnet's Shakespeare was a Quill and Quire Book of the Year. In 2014 they edited the Best Canadian Poetry in English anthology. Their chapbook, Anima Canadensis, won the 2017 bpNichol Chapbook Award. They teach Creative Writing and English at Vancouver Island University, and are a poetry editor at Brick Books.

"One of the first songs that I wrote was - I was asked to write poetry for a little show that was Poets Respond to Music. And we were given a Pretenders album and my song was Thumbelina, and so I said, "Well, how about I respond with a song instead of a poem?" And so I wrote this song. And making decisions that are about vowel sounds and repetition was new to me because whenever I write poetry, I still do read it aloud to listen to how it sounds, but it's not quite the same as composing the sound in the moment."

https://www.instagram.com/sonnetlabbe/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2017/12/tree-i-invented-a-new-form-of-poem

www.creativeprocess.info

www.oneplanetpodcast.org

"My relationship with improvisational music is something that I'm still trying to theorize and trying to understand exactly why it is that it works. So all I know is that, in approaching a poem, it's about form and content. It's about matching process to content. And for me, the act of writing poetry is kind of like a jazz soloist puts together a solo. It's related in that way because as a writer, as a poet, you are always looking for the new. You're looking for something, a new way of saying something. You're using language that everyone uses, but you're always trying to reuse it in an original way. Always trying to have a phrase or metaphor that is new."

Anthony Joseph is a poet, novelist, academic and musician who moved from Trinidad to the UK in 1989. A lecturer in creative writing at Birkbeck College, he is particularly interested in the point at which poetry becomes music.

As well as four poetry collections, a slew of albums, and three novels – most recently Kitch – Joseph has published critical work exploring the aesthetics of Caribbean Poetry among other subjects. He performs internationally as the lead vocalist for his band The Spasm Band. Sonnets for Albert is his first poetry collection since Rubber Orchestras. His most recent album is The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives.

www.anthonyjoseph.co.uk

https://open.spotify.com/artist/622cbugSJevUkEanSBCab9

www.creativeprocess.info

www.oneplanetpodcast.org

Anthony Joseph is a poet, novelist, academic and musician who moved from Trinidad to the UK in 1989. A lecturer in creative writing at Birkbeck College, he is particularly interested in the point at which poetry becomes music.

As well as four poetry collections, a slew of albums, and three novels – most recently Kitch – Joseph has published critical work exploring the aesthetics of Caribbean Poetry among other subjects. He performs internationally as the lead vocalist for his band The Spasm Band. Sonnets for Albert is his first poetry collection since Rubber Orchestras. His most recent album is The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives.

"My relationship with improvisational music is something that I'm still trying to theorize and trying to understand exactly why it is that it works. So all I know is that, in approaching a poem, it's about form and content. It's about matching process to content. And for me, the act of writing poetry is kind of like a jazz soloist puts together a solo. It's related in that way because as a writer, as a poet, you are always looking for the new. You're looking for something, a new way of saying something. You're using language that everyone uses, but you're always trying to reuse it in an original way. Always trying to have a phrase or metaphor that is new."

www.anthonyjoseph.co.uk

https://open.spotify.com/artist/622cbugSJevUkEanSBCab9

www.creativeprocess.info

www.oneplanetpodcast.org

"I think music has changed the world. I think if you look at most social movements that have challenged the status quo and challenged even just the establishment at the time, there's been a soundtrack to those movements. And I think that is what maintains and fosters the movement and fosters the people to get behind it. So there's no question that music can change the world. It already has.

It's actually right in our mission statement that 'we celebrate the music of yesterday and today to inspire the music of tomorrow.' And we do it through our exhibits. We have 35,000 square feet of galleries. We travel exhibits, really, all over the world over the world for the past 15 years. And through our education programs, we really focus on the next generation of music's creators and leaders. We do that through really specific curricula that is designed to educate particularly young people, K-12, about the business of music, especially for those who want to go into the industry."

The GRAMMY Museum believes that music is a gateway to learning. Their mission is to explore and celebrate the enduring legacies of the creative process behind all forms of music through immersive and interactive exhibits and essential music education programs. Michael Sticka serves as President/CEO. He’s responsible for the creation of the Museum's growth and sustainability as an independent nonprofit arts organization, overseeing the Museum Foundation™’s national programming, including GRAMMY In The Schools®, grants for music research and preservation and national affiliates. Their many projects include the multimillion-dollar renovation of the Museum in downtown Los Angeles, building the only gallery dedicated to Latin music in California; GRAMMY Museum at Home, a collection of virtual exhibits, artist programs and educational content available free to educators and music lovers worldwide; and their official streaming service COLLECTION:live™. An advocate for accessibility, the GRAMMY Museum became the only museum named as a Certified Autism Center™ in California.
Prior to joining the Academy, Sticka consulted for nonprofit organizations and co-founded the Zoot Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio.

Grammymuseum.org

IG, FB, TW: @grammymuseum

www.creativeprocess.info

www.oneplanetpodcast.org

The GRAMMY Museum believes that music is a gateway to learning. Their mission is to explore and celebrate the enduring legacies of the creative process behind all forms of music through immersive and interactive exhibits and essential music education programs. Michael Sticka serves as President/CEO. He’s responsible for the creation of the Museum's growth and sustainability as an independent nonprofit arts organization, overseeing the Museum Foundation™’s national programming, including GRAMMY In The Schools®, grants for music research and preservation and national affiliates. Their many projects include the multimillion-dollar renovation of the Museum in downtown Los Angeles, building the only gallery dedicated to Latin music in California; GRAMMY Museum at Home, a collection of virtual exhibits, artist programs and educational content available free to educators and music lovers worldwide; and their official streaming service COLLECTION:live™. An advocate for accessibility, the GRAMMY Museum became the only museum named as a Certified Autism Center™ in California.
Prior to joining the Academy, Sticka consulted for nonprofit organizations and co-founded the Zoot Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio.

"I think music has changed the world. I think if you look at most social movements that have challenged the status quo and challenged even just the establishment at the time, there's been a soundtrack to those movements. And I think that is what maintains and fosters the movement and fosters the people to get behind it. So there's no question that music can change the world. It already has.

It's actually right in our mission statement that 'we celebrate the music of yesterday and today to inspire the music of tomorrow.' And we do it through our exhibits. We have 35,000 square feet of galleries. We travel exhibits, really, all over the world over the world for the past 15 years. And through our education programs, we really focus on the next generation of music's creators and leaders. We do that through really specific curricula that is designed to educate particularly young people, K-12, about the business of music, especially for those who want to go into the industry."

Grammymuseum.org

IG, FB, TW: @grammymuseum

www.creativeprocess.info

www.oneplanetpodcast.org

"Some of those people who came through my first day at A&R, Steely Dan was recording Gaucho. Dressed to Kill, which was a very big film, and Annie, the musical Annie was being recorded in studio A1, and Paul Simon had just finished One-Trick Pony, and Billy Joel had just finished Glass Houses and was launching into his Nylon Curtain album.

There was nowhere else you would want to be, but A&R Recording were four rooms going 24 hours a day, and to be part of that... And that - a moment where I closed my eyes - is because that is the time when I removed myself from the verbal idea and actually try to explain to you what the purpose is of my job, which is to channel and be of service to music and to understand every aspect of music, no matter how many years that takes, be part of another creative process and to have your own creative process as a person who is channeling other people's music.”

Cynthia Daniels is a Grammy and Emmy award-winning producer, engineer and composer working extensively in film, television, and music. Her career has led her around the world, initially specializing in orchestral pop from Big Band Jazz to Broadway, and then crossing over into producing records for young and seasoned artists in the rock, country, and folk-rock world. She is owner and chief engineer at The Hamptons first world-class recording studio, MonkMusic. She has hosted or engineered sessions for Chaka Khan, Beyonce, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Nile Rogers, Alec Baldwin, Julie Andrews, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Billy Porter.

www.cynthiadaniels.net

Monk Music Radio

www.creativeprocess.info

www.oneplanetpodcast.org

Cynthia Daniels is a Grammy and Emmy award-winning producer, engineer and composer working extensively in film, television, and music. Her career has led her around the world, initially specializing in orchestral pop from Big Band Jazz to Broadway, and then crossing over into producing records for young and seasoned artists in the rock, country, and folk-rock world. She is owner and chief engineer at The Hamptons first world-class recording studio, MonkMusic. She has hosted or engineered sessions for Chaka Khan, Beyonce, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Nile Rogers, Alec Baldwin, Julie Andrews, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Billy Porter.

"Some of those people who came through my first day at A&R, Steely Dan was recording Gaucho. Dressed to Kill, which was a very big film, and Annie, the musical Annie was being recorded in studio A1, and Paul Simon had just finished One-Trick Pony, and Billy Joel had just finished Glass Houses and was launching into his Nylon Curtain album.

There was nowhere else you would want to be, but A&R Recording were four rooms going 24 hours a day, and to be part of that... And that - a moment where I closed my eyes - is because that is the time when I removed myself from the verbal idea and actually try to explain to you what the purpose is of my job, which is to channel and be of service to music and to understand every aspect of music, no matter how many years that takes, be part of another creative process and to have your own creative process as a person who is channeling other people's music.”

www.cynthiadaniels.net

Monk Music Radio

www.creativeprocess.info

www.oneplanetpodcast.org

The Classical Theatre of Harlem provides theatrical productions, educational and literary programs for free or at little cost to Harlem residents, organizations, and all who seek Harlem as a cultural destination. Its productions have received a Drama Desk, OBIE, and New York Times Critics Pick Awards. From July 5th to 29th they bring an Afrofuturistic take on Twelfth Night to Marcus Garvey Park.

NAACP and OBIE Award Winner, Ty Jones is Producing Artistic Director responsible for creating the Uptown Shakespeare in the Park series and other community initiatives.

Allen Gilmore has played Othello, Iago, and created the role of James Hewlett in The African Company presents Richard The Third at the Public Theater. He makes his CTH debut in Twelfth Night.

“I am a person that my taste, my aesthetic is to always put music and dance in a theatrical production. That's just what I like to do. And in terms of this play Twelfth Night, the spark that creates the whole flame is that very line, "If music be the food of love, play on." And music is threaded throughout this entire play. I think that every human being, regardless of your taste, connects to music in some way, and that connection to music - again, how we are far more alike than we are different - that's what's so beautiful about this play. And that's what I love about music.

During the summer, we invite Young People's Chorus of NYC, Chamber Music Center of NYC, Jazz Mobile, Harlem Opera, Harlem Chamber Players to do pre-shows. It's one of these things where I think it's important that multiple cultural organizations have to know that we're all essentially singing from the same sheet of music and being of support to one another.”

www.cthnyc.org

www.cthnyc.org/dt_team/ty-jones-producing-artistic-director-cth-actor

www.cthnyc.org/twelfth-night

www.allengilmore.com

Twelfth Night photo credit: Richard Termine

www.creativeprocess.info
www.oneplanetpodcast.org

The Classical Theatre of Harlem provides theatrical productions, educational and literary programs for free or at little cost to Harlem residents, organizations, and all who seek Harlem as a cultural destination. Its productions have received a Drama Desk, OBIE, and New York Times Critics Pick Awards. From July 5th to 29th they bring an Afrofuturistic take on Twelfth Night to Marcus Garvey Park.

NAACP and OBIE Award Winner, Ty Jones is Producing Artistic Director responsible for creating the Uptown Shakespeare in the Park series and other community initiatives.

Allen Gilmore has played Othello, Iago, and created the role of James Hewlett in The African Company presents Richard The Third at the Public Theater. He makes his CTH debut in Twelfth Night.

“I am a person that my taste, my aesthetic is to always put music and dance in a theatrical production. That's just what I like to do. And in terms of this play Twelfth Night, the spark that creates the whole flame is that very line, "If music be the food of love, play on." And music is threaded throughout this entire play. I think that every human being, regardless of your taste, connects to music in some way, and that connection to music - again, how we are far more alike than we are different - that's what's so beautiful about this play. And that's what I love about music.

During the summer, we invite Young People's Chorus of NYC, Chamber Music Center of NYC, Jazz Mobile, Harlem Opera, Harlem Chamber Players to do pre-shows. It's one of these things where I think it's important that multiple cultural organizations have to know that we're all essentially singing from the same sheet of music and being of support to one another.”

www.cthnyc.org

www.cthnyc.org/dt_team/ty-jones-producing-artistic-director-cth-actor

www.cthnyc.org/twelfth-night

www.allengilmore.com

Photo credits: Lia Chang, Jill Jones

www.creativeprocess.info
www.oneplanetpodcast.org

"There were three different music palettes that we wanted to draw from. The first being the eighties. What were the songs that were contemporary at the time? Because music really creates a whole vibe, as the kids say. And we combined that with Latinx music of the time, and the fusion of the two. We worked with a wonderful composer named Joachim Horseley who is a Latin music specialist who worked with us to create the score that combined all those elements... and [collaboration] from a music supervisor can change the feeling of the whole scene. An idea of lifting a scene or leaving a scene at a certain point from an editor can really make a big difference.”

"We came up with this idea that we were going to make a 'Juan Hughes' film, which is like in the world of John Hughes, the look of John Hughes, the way it was shot, the color palette, but with Latinos. And so we put a little bit of a Latinx spin on that."

Claudia Forestieri and Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz serve as the creator and showrunner of the Latin-focused comedy series for HBO Max, Gordita Chronicles, making them the first female Latinx showrunner and creator duo. The series is executive produced by Zoe Saldana and Eva Longoria.

Inspired by Claudia’s own life experience, the show centers around a Latina reporter looking back on her childhood as a chubby, willful and reluctant Dominican immigrant growing up with her eccentric family in 1980s Miami. The lighthearted series addresses themes around immigration, xenophobia, and body positivity and stars newcomer Olivia Goncalves, Diana Maria Riva, and Juan Javier Cardenas.

Gordita Chronicles on HBO Max

IMDB

Claudia Forestieri

Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz