2021 — Madison New Music Festival

About the Program

The Wisconsin Composers Project, both a community resource and annual series, showcases the diversity of composers that exists around us while encouraging local support for our local talent. This year, we’re pleased to present a program centered on themes of land, place, and home from a diverse array of local voices and traditions.

While use of the word “composer” can often evoke a particular image —perhaps a white man in a powdered wig,— we mean to challenge this notion and image entirely.

A contemporary composer is defined in our world, as a person who makes original music. They are not beholden to the “Western Classical Tradition", their music may be partially improvised, and they are not reliant on any particular set of instruments, institutional support, or training.

Though Madison New Music Festival has traditionally been centered in the classical tradition, we look forward to continued growth and stretching in this way — challenging the ways we may have limited our programming, perpetuated colonial practices, and contributed to cultural inequity.

Program

Eric Delgado

Lillies Abound

Filament Percussion Duo:

Aaron Gochberg & DeLane Doyle, vibraphones

Chiayu Hsu

City Renaissance

Emilio Rutllant, flute & Trace Johnson, cello

Evan Williams

Amber Waves

Performed by the composer (virtual concert)

Steph Lippert, bass trombone (live concert)

Anastasia Adams

Taiquaa//Ambe Omaa (come here)

Newly commissioned visual art inspired by the music will accompany performances.

Featured visual artists include Henry Payer, Natalie Ergas, Karl Erickson

Statement on Kay Le Claire / Kathryn Le Claire / “nibiiwakamigkwe”:

We at the Madison New Music Festival extend our support and deep sympathy to the indigenous community in Teejop (Madison) and the surrounding area. It has come to our attention that one of the featured composers in our 2021 Wisconsin Composer’s Project, “nibiiwakamigkwe” (Kay Le Claire or Kathryn Le Claire), allegedly made false claims of indigeneity and appropriated and stole indigenous art, claiming it as their own. We are currently investigating the source of the tarp piece they claimed to create as part of their performance of Taiquaa//Ambe Omaa, which was presented as part of our 2021 season. They were paid for their performances, the co-creation of the program and visual art, and for a Q&A. While this piece was commissioned by and premiered at Madison New Music Festival, several performances across the state followed.

We are grateful to Anastasia Tomanek (Western Yup’ik), a talented artist and throat singer who co-created Taiquaa//Ambe Omaa, for her artistry and support.

We have removed all photos and videos of this performance. Unfortunately, the corresponding tarp was set up on the stage and appears in photos of the other acts from the live festival performance at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art on July 31, 2021. Anastasia and the MNMF co-directors agree that it is important not to erase the performances of our other artists.

The Wisconsin Composers Project was created to meet a need that is demonstrated not just in Madison’s musical community, but also widely throughout the “classical” music world. There is a tradition of exclusion, stemming from a tradition of colonization, that has systematically left people of color out of the “canon”. Our programming centers a diverse array of artists in Wisconsin, from various racial backgrounds, ages, cultural traditions and phases of their careers.

On a personal level, the Wisconsin Composers Project was created from a perspective that is also trauma-informed. Kristina is a Black woman and a first-generation American. Having grown up in Madison, she has felt the marginalization and the devastating impact of ongoing white supremacy on her family, community, and career. Our nonprofit organization is small- really just the two of us- and we are distraught that our labor, most of it unpaid, has resulted in us centering exploitation and appropriation due to this individual’s deception. And yet, we also acknowledge our hand in elevating this fraudulent voice, taking space from the many talented indigenous artists in our community. We regret the harm that this has caused. While we are also deeply hurt, we know that the most devastating impact is felt by the indigenous community. Our vision for the Madison New Music Festival is to work toward possibilities of decolonization in classical music spaces on a local level. While our organization has paused programming, we still deeply believe in this vision.

Our admiration for the NAPFS researcher who brought this to light.