Joining Beth Morrison Projects on electric guitar for the premiere of Yaz Lancaster’s new song cycle.

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In a special collaboration with Harlem Stage, join us for an evening of song cycles by three power-house women and non-binary composers showcasing a diversity of musical languages: electro-acoustic, rock-infused, and Zimbabwean classical inspired.

Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa – Nzou Mambano is a Zimbabwean gwenyambira, scholar, composer, and singer whose creative practice centers African healing and self-liberation. Tanyaradzwa’s music is grounded in the ancestral, Chivanhu canon taught to her by the generations of Svikiro (spirit mediums) and N’anga (healers) in her bloodline. Her internationally performed opera “The Dawn of the Rooster” tells of the stories of her family during Zimbabwe’s Liberation Struggle of 1965-1980 and features Mbira dzaVadzimu, a sacred Zimbabwean instrument used in mapira ceremonies to commune with the ancestors. Tanyaradzwa is currently a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University and has held residencies as a Toulmin Creator with National Sawdust and as the inaugural Creative-in-Residence with Castle of Our Skins.

Yaz Lancaster (they/them) is a Black transdisciplinary artist most interested in practices aligned with relational aesthetics and the everyday; fragments and collage; and liberatory politics. Yaz performs as a violinist, vocalist, and steel pannist in a wide variety of settings from DIY and popular music to chamber ensembles; and their work is presented in many different mediums and collaborative projects. It often reckons with specific influences ranging from politics of identity and liberation, to natural phenomena and poetics. Yaz has had the privilege and opportunity to create with artists like A Far Cry, ContaQt (with Evan Ziporyn), Contemporaneous, Donia Jarrar, JACK Quartet, Leilehua Lanzilotti, Skiffle Steel Orchestra, and Wadada Leo Smith. They are in post-genre duo laydøwn with guitarist-producer Andrew Noseworthy; write for ICIYL; and are the visual editor at Peach Mag. Yaz holds degrees in violin and poetry from NYU; and they love chess, horror movies, and bubble tea.

Brooklyn born and bred artist Tamar-kali is a second-generation musician with roots in the coastal Sea Islands of South Carolina. As a composer, Tamar-kali has defied boundaries to craft her own unique alternative sound. 2017 marked her debut as a film score composer. Her score for Dee Rees’ Oscar-nominated MUDBOUND, garnered her the World Soundtrack Academy’s 2018 Discovery of the Year Award and has been classified by Indiewire as one of the 25 Best Film Scores of the 21st Century.2019 was a hallmark year for her work as a composer. In addition to debuting her 1st symphonic commission, she scored 4 films total; 3 which were featured at the Sundance Film Festival 2020. They include Dee Ree’s THE LAST THING HE WANTED, Kitty Green’s THE ASSISTANT and Josephine Decker’s psychological drama SHIRLEY; the latter whose soundtrack was named The Guardian’s Contemporary Album of the Month in June 2020. The 4th film was the documentary JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE.

SUPPORT

Presented by Beth Morrison Projects and Harlem Stage.

Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and Lynn Loacker. Developed by Beth Morrison Projects. Co-Produced by Beth Morrison Projects and Harlem Stage. Additional production support was provided by Virginia B. Toulmin Charitable Foundation and Marian Godfrey. This production is made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.