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Well-Versed
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
March 18, 2017 • 7:30pm
Ordway Concert Hall
345 Washington St., St. Paul 55102
One Voice Mixed Chorus, Minnesota's LGBTA chorus, returns to the Ordway for Well-Versed, an evening of choral music, strings, and poetry, conducted by Jane Ramseyer Miller and featuring Well-Strung, New York's hottest singing string quartet. The concert includes the world premiere of "Still Standing," a four-movement composition for One Voice and Well-Strung, created through Healing & Hope Through Song, an artist residency sponsored by the American Composers Forum. Inspired by local LGBTQ youth from RECLAIM, a Twin Cities organization offering support to queer and trans youth, the new choral work features poetry written and recited by Sierra DeMulder, National Poetry Slam Champion, and music by acclaimed Minnesota composer George Maurer. This concert also premieres with a Friday morning performance on March 17 for LGBTQ youth and St. Paul choir students. A limited number of $100 tickets include a post-concert reception with Well-Strung. Don't miss out - get your tickets now!
Download the concert lyrics here.
Meet Well-Strung
Well-Strung, a New York City based string quartet, derives their unique blend of vocals and strings by fusing classical music with the pop music of today. Members Edmund Bagnell (1st violin), Chris Marchant (2nd violin), Daniel Shevlin (cello), and Trevor Wadleigh (viola) spend their time making new music and touring internationally. The group was conceived by producer Mark Cortale and Chris Marchant.
As a band, they also love working with kids! From children who've had minimal exposure to music to budding string players, Well-Strung aims to spread a love of the arts to all students.
One way they accomplish this is through student concerts; they play classical selections as well as today's pop music, give students an inside scoop of what it's like to work in the music industry, and then have Q&A time so that we can hear directly from the students and interact with them.
They also work with school orchestras, ensembles, and soloists by listening to students perform the music they are working on and providing feedback to help them grow as artists in a fun and stimulating way.
Their latest CD, Popssical, is available now!
Take a listen to them here:
Meet the Artists
George Maurer, Composer
George Maurer considers his one-word job description to be “collaborator.” His diverse career has included arranging music for the Chiffons and Buddy Holly’s original Crickets, and performing with Dick Clark, Eric Clapton and Bobby Vee. Whether he’s composing original music for Saint Paul City Ballet, arranging ‘80s hits for the Minnesota Orchestra or selling out the Dakota Jazz Club with the acclaimed George Maurer Jazz Group, George has a talent for working as part of a creative team and realizing a collective artistic vision. George, a pianist, producer and McKnight Fellow composer, spent the past four years touring the U.S. as orchestral arranger for The Midtown Men, the original Tony-awarded leads of Broadway's Jersey Boys. His arrangements have been performed by the Boston Pops and the National Symphony, and he has brought Autumn Song, his music-theater performance featuring the poems of Rainer Maria Rilke and Tennessee Williams, to Berlin and the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival. George holds a B.A. in music composition from Saint John’s University.
Sierra DeMulder, Poet
Sierra DeMulder is an internationally touring performance poet and educator, a two-time National Poetry Slam champion, and a thrice-published author of The Bones Below, New Shoes on a Dead Horse (2010, 2012, Write Bloody Publishing), and We Slept Here (Button Poetry, 2015). A 2014 McKnight Fellowship recipient, Sierra's work has been featured on NPR, Huffington Post, The Advocate, and more. In addition to performing, Sierra is the curriculum director of the Slam Camp at Indiana University, an annual writing summer camp for high school students, and one of the founders of Button Poetry, the largest digital distributor of spoken word in the world. Her latest full-length collection, Today Means Amen, was released early 2016 by Andrews McMeel, publisher of Calvin and Hobbes, The Oatmeal, and NY Times bestselling poet Lang Leav. Sierra lives in Minneapolis with her dog, Fidelis.
Meet The American Composers Forum
The American Composers Forum is committed to supporting composers and developing new markets for their music. Through granting, commissioning, and performance programs, ACF provides composers at all stages of their careers with valuable resources for professional and artistic development. By linking communities with composers and performers, ACF fosters a demand for new music, enriches communities, and helps develop the next generation of composers, musicians, and music patrons. Founded in 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum, the organization has grown from an innovative regional initiative into one of the nation's premier composer service organizations.
ACF programming reaches composers and communities in all 50 states and helps composers engage communities with music as a source of inspiration, self-reflection, and delight. This engagement takes the form of groundbreaking composer residencies, designed to engage communities in the creative process and broaden the contexts in which new music is written, performed, and heard. It means innovative approaches to teaching music while nurturing the next generation of composers, performers, and audiences. ACF supports composers' artistic and professional growth through a rich variety of programs and services, including commissions, performances, readings, and fellowships. 2,000 members include composers and performers, presenters and organizations that share ACF's goals, and individuals and institutions with an interest in supporting new music. Members come from both urban and rural areas; they work in virtually every musical genre, including orchestral and chamber music, world music, opera and music theater, jazz and improvisational music, electronic and electro-acoustic music, and sound art.
Meet RECLAIM
Well-Versed is a celebration of LGBTQ youth, so we are honored to welcome youth spoken word artists from RECLAIM!
RECLAIM works to increase access to mental and integrative health support so that queer and trans youth may reclaim their lives from oppression in all its forms. We offer therapy for youth and families, training for practitioners, and community partnerships for social change at the intersection of gender and racial justice.
The recession-induced defunding of care for the most marginalized people in the Twin Cities had a devastating impact on queer and trans youth in particular. In 2009, District 202, a community center for LGBT youth, lost its physical space, and the LGBT youth counseling program at Face to Face was also cut. In response, queer and trans youth and their allies acted quickly to raise $35,000 in pledges in just three weeks, and RECLAIM was born.
In the four years since, RECLAIM has provided accessible therapeutic support to queer and trans youth through individual, family, and group counseling, integrative health care, advocacy, education, and collaboration. In this unique healing space, queer and trans youth are supported to transform themselves and to take leadership in co-creating RECLAIM’s work.
RECLAIM has directly served over 150 youth, the majority of whom are uninsured. However, each week they have to turn away almost as many youth as we serve. With these youth, they spend on average 45 minutes each listening, encouraging, and attempting to provide referrals, with few good options. To the best of their knowledge, they remain the only barrier-free queer and trans youth-specific therapy resource in the region.
For more info, please visit reclaim.care!
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