Courtney Bryan's 'Yet Unheard': A Sound Off x PMM x PROTESTRA x VOCAL-NY Massivemuse

• Jasmine Wilson, soprano
• Christina Morris, conductor

As many Groupmusers may already know, the Groupmuse Foundation's Planetary Music Movement (PMM) is "on a mission to transform music's culture by celebrating and showcasing the artistry of Black musicians and composers" and we've worked together in the past to present string quartets written and performed by incredible Black artists. This time, Sound Off: Music for Bail is collaborating with Planetary Music Movement and renowned activist orchestra PROTESTRA for their largest show yet.

New Orleans native and Rome Prize-winning composer Dr. Courtney Bryan wrote her deeply affecting cantata, Yet Unheard for solo voice, chorus, and orchestra in collaboration with poet Sharan Strange in 2016, after the death of Sandra Bland in pre-trial incarceration. Bryan's response to this death, caused by misogynoir, police violence, and incorporation of money in the US criminal justice system serves as a lodestone to our musical programming. Our vocal soloist in Yet Unheard, the multi-talented soprano/composer/improviser Jasmine Wilson, will present some of her own music following.

Before the cantata, Voices of Community Leaders and Activists NY (VOCAL-NY) Director of Organizing, Jawanza James Williams, will present testimony on VOCAL-NY's work, the progress of justice work, and its future. And the show will open with strings, en masse: first, movements from Frederick Tillis' Spiritual Fantasy No. 12 for string quartet, then Akua Dixon's Efua arranged for string ensemble.

*Please note that doors will open at 7pm and the show will start at the downbeat of 7:30pm!

Handicap accessible. Kid-friendly event. No alcohol at this groupmuse.

COVID-19 Protocols: EITHER vaccination OR negative test required – bring proof of negative test (48 hours). Masks are required for the entire groupmuse.

About Sound Off: Music for Bail

Sound Off: Music for Bail is a POC-led collective of musicians, activists, and thinkers dedicated to combining music performance with educational work that envisions alternatives to the current state of policing and imprisonment in the U.S. Their online programming includes free and low-cost instrument workshops, masterclasses with expert musicians, and concerts that raise funds for cash bail across the country.

About Groupmuse

Groupmuse is a worker- and musician-owned cooperative seeking to uplift artists and strengthen broader community bonds through live, intimate performances of historically-rooted music.

About Jasmine Wilson, soprano

Jasmine Wilson (she/her) is a versatile singer, composer, poet, educator, and producer.

She is a passionate storyteller who combines jazz and classical music with free improvisation and poetry. Jasmine is a Dream Unfinished Activist Orchestra member, singing in concerts for Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Queens Museum, and the Center for Constitutional Rights. She is half of the improvisation-based musical duo Chez Cherie with pianist Joey Chang. Jasmine has performed and collaborated with artists such as composer/musicians Aakash Mittal, Anjna Swaminathan, Joel Ross, Maria Grand, Sean Mayes, and Stephan Crump. Internationally, she has appeared with Canadian funk/R&B bands What It Is, the Morphtet, Freak Motif, and Kalmunity.

Jasmine connects her students to their authentic voices and develops self-confidence through transformative public speaking and music classes. She has guest lectured at Harvard University, led workshops at Columbia University, and taught across France, Canada, and New York City. In 2020, Jasmine received the Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA) Award, recognizing artists committed to activism and racial justice.

She is an experienced broadcast and digital producer covering news, current affairs, and arts & culture. Jasmine co-hosted Soul Perspectives on CKUT 90.3 FM and produced programs for CJAD 800 Radio and the Kelly Alexander Show. In television, she creates "media with impact" at The WNET Group, America’s flagship PBS station. She graduated from McGill University.

About Christina Morris, conductor

Christina Morris has her BA in Music Theory. She began studying conducting at the age of 16. Christina would go on to study under Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas as a conducting apprentice of the 2018 National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. In 2019 she conducted at the Miami Music Festival as a participant of their Conducting Institute lead by Maestro Mark Gibson. During the Winter of 2020 she conducted with the Monteux School of Music under Maestro Michael Jinbo. Christina has recently attended the Tanglewood Music Festival Conducting Seminar led by Maestro Stefan Asbury and Maestro Andris Nelsons, the summers of 2021 and 2022. Additionally, she participated in conducting masterclasses held by the New World Symphony under the mentorship of Maestro Neeme Järvi in spring of 2022 and Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas in the fall of 2022. As Christina envisions a hypothetical industry that is inclusive and equally receptive to different cultures, approaches, and experiences, she uses art as the tool it was created to be. By not only herself, but by a community promoting inclusiveness, we can all contribute to a change that empowers us all to pursue our passions as classical musicians. Christina’s overall goal as an artist is to engage and expose the classical music community to the possibility of change through systemic reconstruction, one beat at a time.