Rick Robinson writes:
August 22, 2019
Dear Friends,
Please bear with me to get to the great news. As you probably know, I was a grateful member of the world-class Detroit Symphony Orchestra for 22 years starting in 1989. It was a dream I wanted since I was 15, soon after I began attending the world-class Interlochen Arts Academy. The magical form called classical music lent us fantasy, comfort, purpose, confidence,
camaraderie, reflection, balance, and much more. Because I found I had
talent to give in return, early success brought tremendous opportunities
to tour the world and learn further within the Boston Pops and then
DSO.
More opportunities began here. I created a dozen smart transcriptions to launch the mixed octet CutTime Players,
created a big romantic-style composition that DSO premiered in 2006,
and then a dozen more small works to launch the string ensemble CutTime Simfonica and win a Kresge Artist Fellowship, both in 2010.
When DSO went on strike that same year, I learned of the Classical Revolution
movement and launched the Detroit chapter, voluntarily bringing
classical and even symphonic music into noisy bars, clubs, street
festivals, cafes and other non-traditional spaces, to begin engaging,
acculturating and "edu-taining" people who avoid classical music altogether.
This
overlooked demographic, roughly two-thirds of Americans, resets the
very meaning of classical music for me; because what good is the public domain
if it can only be experienced in the meditative setting of a concert
hall, or in its original forms? Its potential value works best this way,
sure. But what about people for whom showering up, dressing up, paying
up, showing up early, studying up, shutting up and sitting very still
are just too steep a price to pay? Where is there a convenient tradition
that clues them in, and how can it pay for itself?
So I
quit DSO in 2012 determined to share all that I've learned and created
with musicians, orchestras, presenters and music schools across the
country and create a sustainable new model with partners. There have
been a few grants and donors supporting such work, and I won a Knight Foundation Arts Challenge grant
for 2015, and applied for every other opportunity I found (23 so far)
to hire, rehearse, update, introduce and showcase classical musicians in
casual settings; winning only five.
Since the April 2nd newsletter we've had a few more memorable events. The April 6 orchestration-premiere of Highland Park, MI: City of Trees by the Michigan Philharmonic was particularly hot. The annual Draylen Mason Tribute Concert
in May at Detroit Public Library was again our most moving
self-produced program. CutTime Simfonica played its first wedding and
then rocked the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood party (see pic at top).
And last week I returned from Rochester, NY, where the Gateways Music Festival of black classical musicians and composers perform every odd year.
Besides leading the orchestra bass section, I led Simfonica with great
improvisers in a few numbers for their first club event, inc. City of Trees.
More exciting events coming up are Aug. 24 (this Sat.) 2:45pm-4 at the Detroit Rep Theatre outdoor festival, a huge private house party in Grosse Pointe, a runout to Alpena Sept. 19 for Thunder Bay Arts Council, and a free church concert Sept. 21 4:30pm at St. Stephens AME in Detroit.
Most exciting of all is that we just won a Kresge Foundation Art X Detroit grant to create and premiere new work in collaboration with the Urban Requiem Project on Nov. 15 (Fr) 7pm (doors)
at St. Matthew's and St. Joseph's Episcopal Church in Detroit's
Northend. The dramatic 25-minute work will reveal paradoxical emotions
around Detroit's real estate boom (ie. gentrification). We call it Phantom Detroit.
I'm working closely with artist-poets Virgil (Al) Taylor, Andre Johnson (Kevlar Afrika) and Claretha Bell (Peace) to produce this written work featuring strings, rhythm section, gospel singers, poets that can be performed by others too. Video projections, standing artwork and possibly fashion will be part of the multi-media premiere.
We'll play an amplified, outdoor teaser with Urban Requiem Project along Woodward Ave. on Sept. 27 (Fr) 6p-7, weather-permitting. The Northend location is still pending, but will be announced before long.
The generous grant was made available from the Kresge Foundation strictly to Kresge Fellows. But the grant does not cover our entire proposed budget. We still need to raise another $4,000
for this unique effort to reach and reflect both the lost communities
and the developers of our city with classical-soul music. If interested
in supporting us, please contact me asap at rick@cuttime.com or make a tax-deductible donation here.
Meanwhile,
please attend these free events with Kevlar and never forget that it's
long past time to cut loose with classical for EVERYONE EVERYWHERE!
Thanks!
- Rick Robinson (Mr. CutTime)
with Kevlar Afrika at Michigan Depot
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