Speaking of the Arts

Keeping us all engaged with the arts during COVID19 is no mean feat but this month two arts happenings are aiming both to amuse us on our sofas and also get us out of the house. Talking Horse Productions Original Monologue Contest runs from September 1-30 and the theatre company's Artistic Director, Adam Brietzke, tells Diana all about it. Meanwhile the University of Missouri's Artist in Residence (AIR) Program will be illuminating buildings around campus with works from 5 poets and 1 graphic designer. AIR coordinators Marie Hunter and Katie Harris drop in to the virtual studio to talk about In Focus: Poetry, and poet Marc McKee and graphic designer Cynthia Perez also stop by to talk about their contributions to the project, which runs from September 8-13. Find out more about the project here: https://air.missouri.edu/air/focus-poetry. Thanks also to guitarist Yasmin Williams whose song Restless Heart plays at the beginning and end of the show. You can find out more about her music at www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com or on Spotify.

This week's show is a MUST for all arts administrators - and non-profit leaders, staff or volunteers - as arts consultant Sara Leonard returns to the show to continue her chat with Diana Moxon about the conversations that we should all be having within our organizations about being better guardians of inclusion, diversity and equity within the arts. Even for those who don't work in the arts, Sara has fascinating insights about the challenges facing the arts during this time and what some of the research is telling us about what people need from their arts organizations. You can find out more about Sara's work at http://www.saraleonardconsulting.com/. The theme music for the show is 'Restless Heart' by Yasmin Williams, and the work played in the show is 'Juvenescence' from Yasmin's forthcoming album, 'Urban Driftwood'. Find out more about Yasmin's music at www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com.

This week's Speaking of the Arts is a back-to-school edition in honor of all the teachers, staff, janitors and everyone else who is facing the unknown unknowns. Actors Jennifer and John Hemphill talk about teaching singing and acting at Stephens College this Fall; Dr. Julia Gaines discusses preparations the University of Missouri's School of Music are making; Director of Bands at Hickman High School, Denis Swope, talks about what Marching Band looks like in a pandemic; and the person in charge of all things art from K through 12 at Columbia Public Schools, James Melton, talks about he hopes to never hope the word pivot again. Thanks, as always to guitarist Yasmin Williams, for allowing her song 'Restless Heart' to be played for the show's intro and outro. You can hear more of her music on Spotify and via her website www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com.

Imagine being a teenage dancer, you've been thrust into the spotlight, you're on tour for the first time, and your mentor tells you: 'You do not have friends, and you will be going through your career alone.' For Darren Gibson, this was the start of his journey as a principal ballet dancer. Today he is the ballet master at Stephens College, and on this week's show he talks about the lonely journey of being a black, male dancer and how critical it is for today's young black and brown ballet dancers to have teachers who look like them. And in the Second Act of the show Diana talks with the Columbia Art League's Executive Director, Kelsey Hammond, about a different kind of color loneliness in CAL's new show, Monochrome, and its ROYGBIV variations.

An exhortation to 'Live This Life' was spray-painted on a sidewalk, and it perfectly sums up how so many people and organizations in the arts are choosing to manage this time. Life is not neat and orderly right now, but This Life is what we have. On this week's show we chat to author and bookshop owner, Alex George, about Skylark Bookshop's new weekly 'MUST READ TV' (https://www.skylarkbookshop.com/new-events); to actor, comedian, composer and play adapter, Meg Phillips Crespy about the upcoming Guerl-Rilla theatre season and how that company is working with these times (https://guerl-rillatheatre.webnode.com/); and we revisit a chat with actor-musician-producer, Richard Harris, about the CoMo Griot Society (https://www.facebook.com/groups/269408244031474/). And thanks as always go to guitarist and songwriter, Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for allowing us to play her song 'Restless Heart' as part of the show's intro and outro.

The award-winning international conductor, Marlon Daniel, is the world expert on the music of Chevalier de Saint-Georges, has conducted for prestigious orchestras across Europe and the United States, has spent his career promoting diversity within the classical music world and focusing on music by composers of African descent, and is the Director of The Saint-Georges International Music Festival in Guadeloupe and Founder of the Ensemble du Monde orchestra. And this week he joins Diana Moxon for a full hour chat about his career, influences and his connection to Cookie Monster. You can find more information about The Saint-Georges International Music Festival here: https://www.guadeloupe-islands.com/saint-georges-international-music-festival/ and about Marlon on his website at https://www.marlondaniel.com/. Thanks also to guitarist Yasmin Williams, whose song 'Restless Heart' plays the show in and out. Find out more about Yasmin's music at www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com as well as on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4j8CsPzssbM8TCjSvgnmSs

How do arts organizations keep us all engaged when so few of us can gather? Do we want the same things as before? On this week's Speaking of the Arts, arts management consultant, Sara Leonard tells us what the research is saying and what kind of things arts organizations can be doing right now to meet our needs. And the University of Missouri theatre department's Joy Powell (director) and Brett Kristofferson (composer) talk about their new production, 'So Near, So Far' - filmed IRL and viewable virtually at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPJmj4OqBwI.

Also thanks to musician Yasmin Williams for giving permission to include her song 'Restless Heart' from her 'Unwind' album for the intro and outro of the show. Find her at http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/

This week Diana Moxon revisits two recent episodes where she talked with black arts creators about their experiences: Fred Onovwerosuoke - aka FredO - the most prolific living African composer of classical music and denizen of St Louis; and actors Enola White and Barret Brooks who have appeared on, and behind the scenes of, many of Columbia's community theatre stages.

Do we go ahead or do we cancel? The question facing all arts organizations as they try to navigate these liminal times. On this week's show Columbia Art League Executive Director, Kelsey Hammond, looks back on her first year running one of Columbia's oldest arts organizations; Talking Horse Productions' Artistic Director, Adam Brietzke, chats about trying to plan in a turmoil and about a new theatrical event that is coming up in a safe space; and a new operatic and musical theatre voice, Anthony Blatter, talks about his career and his hopes for racial equality in the world of the performing arts.

What is it like being a black actor in the Columbia theatre scene? On this week's show actors, Enola White and Barret Brooks, generously chat with me about their experiences. Plus we delve into some summer reading with Skylark Bookshop's Alex George, and I chat to Dr. Joy Powell and writer/composer/actor Murphy Ward about a new musical, 'All the Spaces', penned by Murphy Ward, Kylee Compton and Shawn Campanini, which is being workshopped online before opening at the University of Missouri this September. And here are some links to things discussed on today's show:

Dear White American Theatre letter here: https://www.weseeyouwat.com/ ;

#PublishingPaidMe https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Xsx6rKJtafa8f_prlYYD3zRxaXYVDaPXbasvt_iA2vA/edit#gid=1798364047 ;

'All the Spaces' presented by the MU Theatre department here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLxt-06nj2o