"Creative Conversation" featuring Adam Zanolini
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| Participatory Music Coalition-@ThreeUrbanRover Photographer |
More than entertainment, participatory music is that which
is meant to coordinate people, to bring them together into a community, to
orient them all to a common purpose. We recognize the conjunction of music,
dance, art, spirituality, ritual, and ceremony as the headwaters of the many
Great Black Music traditions that have flowed from the South Side of Chicago
throughout the United States, and across the globe. Whereas the 20thcentury saw
this vital organism gradually dismembered by the machineries of the recording
and entertainment industries, our project is to foster its integrity and
wholeness through celebration of South Side Chicago community creation.
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| Participatory Music Coalition-@ThreeUrbanRover Photographer |
The
Participatory Music Coalition began as the sonic
subcommittee of the MB Collective, a theater, performance, visual and community
collective of artists integrating diverse performative traditions, especially
with respect to the South Side Community Art Center and its founder, the great
spirit Margaret Burroughs.
Musicians of the MB collective began participating in the
weekly "Sonic Healing Ministries Free Jazz Sessions” organized and headed
by composer/instrumentalist and educator David Boykin. Finding fulfillment and growth through these
sessions members began to meet in each other’s homes to experiment, compose,
and practice new music.
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| Participatory Music Coalition-@ThreeUrbanRover Photographer |
Recognizing the spiritual importance of Black American Music,
the Coalition developed into an independent entity through the guidance of
numerous elders and ancestors. Both the Collective and the Coalition maintain
improvisation as the very core of their creative endeavor because improvisation
is the doorway to the spirit-domain, where our loving ancestral spirits reside.
Our performances open with libations, and then proceed
through journeys of sound, text, movement, poetry, song, moving images, and
cuisine. Both free and planned improvisatory offerings will leave plenty of
space for guests to contribute and share. We encourage participation by all! By
thought, word, deed, and sound, we invite you to celebrate with us the divine
unity of all the cosmos that music represents! Your sound is welcome! Your
spirit is welcome! Your voice and your heartbeat are welcome
Alpha Bruton is the Chief Curator at Phantom Gallery Chicago Network, a project that connects artists with temporary installation spaces. She aims to examine the current changes in curatorial production and develop innovative displays concerning virtual spaces. "Curatorial Practice" explores the impact of the urban environment on the artist and their work and the contributions that artists make to the vitality of a city.
Alpha Bruton completed her studies in art education at California State University, Sacramento, and earned an MAAA in Art Administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
