Project 21: Music for the 21st Century will be live streaming their production Fusion on March 30, 2022, at 6 p.m. on their YouTube channel. Past performances are also available on their channel.
Project 21 is a student-run organization for all music composition students. The group was founded by Edward Knight, the director of composition. Jamie Whitmarsh, professor of composition, works with the organization along with Knight.
Knight and the Ann Lacy School Dance Chair Jo Rowan are co-producers of the group. On their website, they describe the organization as “a support group for its composers [that] allows its members freedom of creativity and exploration.” The Ann Lacy School became part of the organization in 2018, and their collaboration was started by Rowan, Clint Williams, and Danielle Shipley.
Alumni from Project 21 have studied at Julliard, London Royal College of Music, and other prestigious music programs. Other graduates are composing professionally for prominent corporations or as independent artists.
The group has weekly composer forums each Friday. These forums allow composers a safe and comfortable space to present their new ideas and have discussions with others’ feedback. Professional performers and composers, including alumni, have attended these forums to share their knowledge and converse with the members. Past forum guests include David Maslanka, John Bucchino, and many others.
The organization premieres new pieces written by members at four free concerts each semester. Their concerts are collaborative and involve several departments.
This year’s production is titled “Fusion” and was filmed in the Berg Theatre in February and will be live-streamed in late March. The show was led by Edward Knight and Jo Rowan and had heavy collaboration between the Wanda L. Bass School of Music and the Ann Lacy School of Dance and Entertainment. Fusion will feature five original compositions written by five composition students. The composers worked with five choreographers who created original dances for their music. The choreographers then appointed ten dancers from the Ann Lacy School of Dance to perform their choreography on the Berg Theatre stage.
Project 21 Music Composition members, listed alphabetically:
William Aceytuno; Benjamin Askren; Maroun Azar; Andy Chan; Andrew Crawford; Cameron Duncan; David Dickinson; Ashleigh Holmes; Corey Hubbard; Jeffrey Kirbas; Becca Lipshultz; Jacob McCoy; Emma Neasby; Kevin Newsome; Benjamin Rosfeld; Kiegan Ryan; Sophia Sagar; Ivan Salas; De’Andre Shufford; Joseph Tillman; Simón Gómez Villegas; Becca Wallingford
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