From themes of racial violence and cultural appropriation to multiculturalism and gender equality, the work of The Clarice's artists is complex, provocative and deeply sensitive. Arts Citizenship Talks (ACTnow) are opportunities to hear from these artists about the issues reflected in their works. These conversations are an invitation to act now!
Equal parts meditation and call-to-action, The Karma Suite is a blend of vocal interludes, instrumental jazz and percussive dances that comment on the social upheaval experienced in the United States in recent years. The piece, by Washington, D.C.-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator Elijah Jamal Balbed, was originally written in response to the threat of unrest brought by the 2016 election results and includes interrogations of voting inequity, gerrymandering and the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Co-produced with Annapolis Opera, the University of Maryland School of Music’s Maryland Opera Studio presents the rescheduled performance of last season's New Work Reading: Sunder. This performance will be sung in English.
Dedicated to the commissioning and performance of music by living composers, professional chamber choir The Crossing explores ways in which to expand choral writing. With more than 100 commissions, the ensemble has received two Grammy awards for “Best Choral Performance” for recordings of works that elevate dynamic compositional voices. Many of The Crossing’s commissions often address issues of our society, environment and politics.
For nearly four decades, Grammy award winner and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington has been on the front lines of creating a new form of jazz—one without patriarchy. Her work as a drummer and bandleader has earned her a Doris Duke Artist Award and three Grammys, including Best Jazz Vocal Album for “The Mosaic Project,” which exclusively featured female musicians. In 2018, she founded the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice to address a long history of inequality and sexual harassment.
Join us in person at The Clarice! Please note that this event will not be livestreamed.
Join us in person at The Clarice! Please note that this event will not be livestreamed.
The School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies’ Fall Dance Concert reflects on and celebrates the vitality of live performance. Choreographers explore a range of collaborative and technological processes through devised movement pieces. Each choreography is a living work of art that crystallizes a shared moment for performers and audiences alike.
Join us in person at The Clarice! Please note that this event will not be livestreamed.
In what playwright Lauren Yee describes as an “existential slasher comedy,” Hookman tells the story of Lexi, a college freshman who is haunted by the sudden death of her childhood best friend—all while navigating the pressures of being a young woman entering adulthood. The production brings the horror film genre to the stage, inviting audiences to explore themes of grief, trauma and guilt in an up close and personal way.
From an ornate wind instrument called a saenghwang to a zither-like behemoth called a gayageum, nine-member Korean band Ak Dan Gwang Chil, or ADG7, pairs the traditional tools of their country’s folk music and sacred tunes with three singers and a panoply of percussion. ADG7 taps multiple traditions of Korean music, drawing on the songbooks of what is now the Hwanghae province. But the music they make is unapologetically and enthusiastically modern, with magnetic hooks delivered by colorfully clad singers who bound around the stage.
RAJAS, named after the Sanskrit term that defines the human quality that compels us to act and create, combines improvisation with various musical approaches. Led by University of Maryland anthropology and French language graduate Rajna Swaminathan ’13, RAJAS blends jazz with South Asian harmony and rhythm to create a unique sound. With the group’s own compositions serving merely as points of departure, the ensemble’s collaborative process centers around mutuality and multiplicity. On stage you will hear vocals, the percussive mrudangam, guitar, bass, piano, tenor saxophone and trumpet.
