After an evening of live music, evocative and heartfelt, at the Fulcrum Point New Music Project’s 20th Anniversary Concert for Peace: Peace in Chicago, An Intergenerational Celebration!, what sticks with us is the interlude sung by the Chicago Children’s Choir, “For peace to come.” This evening set us up for the holiday season with pleased ears, warm and full hearts, and encouragement of peace in Chicago.
To kick off the show, Chicago-based rapper Ric Wilson, graces the stage with his socially-conscious jam “What If I Was White,” questioning and revealing his experience as a black man in America. Following this opener, we are launched into a night full of poetry and music. Louder Than A Bomb finalist Jalen Kobayashi spits words of his Chicago. Kee Stein writes about the queer experience. Loona Dae and Victor! use their voices to fill the Harris Theatre with uplifting original songs. All were accompanied by the Burns Twins—Christopher Hogan (guitar), Otto Marloft (keyboard), and Dejon Crockran (bass). Look out world, Chicago’s youth blooms with talent.
The rest of the evening continues as this opening section had—an intermingling of poetry and music for us to not only enjoy, but also to engage with Asking questions about our own realities, how we all got here, and how we can work toward peace in the future. Stephen Burns, artistic director of the Fulcrum Point New Music Project, guides us through the evening. He conducts the Fulcrum Point Ensemble through an experimental orchestration of sound inspired by immigrants and their lives in America, weaving recorded interviews into the score.
Notes whizzing about the air, we are with the Juju Exchange no matter how complex or simple their pieces play. Piano, trumpet, bass, and percussion run in, out, and through each other while evoking deep emotions in all who are there to witness. A stand-out piece, Patients, composed by the Juju Exchange’s pianist, Julian Reid, aims to heal all involved: listeners and players alike. We are all patients in this world, so the hope of this music is to allow us to heal and find peace within ourselves… and that it did.
One of the coolest parts about seeing the Juju Exchange was the technology used to enhance their instruments’ sounds. Percussionist, Everett Reid, used a motion and distance operated system alongside his drum set—he’d wave a hand and a bright blue or green light would appear. An audience member wondered aloud, “What is this… orb of light?” Once we tuned our ears, we discovered the magic of this device. As his hand gets closer, a “wub wub” sound plays faster. When he takes his hand further away, it slows down. Reid had a couple of these devices and could manipulate the type of sound that emerged, too. It was fascinating to watch. He negotiated the drum set and these devices all on stage, performing his craft for all to experience.
Trumpet player Nico Segal also enhanced his instrument’s wondrous sound with different pedals, all adding an extra layer to how we hear the band’s music. Bassist Lane Beckstrom holds them tightly together throughout their three original pieces.
Fulcrum Point New Music Project and Collaborators Inspire
The evening culminates in a performance with all of the musicians on stage—Fulcrum Point, the Juju Exchange, and the Chicago Children’s Choir—for a grand finale and world premiere of Price of Peace, a six-part oratorio featuring three interludes by the Chicago Children’s Choir directed by Josephine Lee, and texts by Kevin Coval, Patricia Frazier, and Jalen Kobayashi of Young Chicago Authors. The Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and all of its collaborators, demonstrate exactly what is needed “for peace to come” in executing this intergenerational, thought-provoking, effective piece. Audience members may feel inspired to follow this momentum, to consider their role in making our world more peaceful for all.
Catch another show part of Fulcrum Point New Music Project’s AuxIn: All In! series on January 20, 2019 at the Fulton Street Collective, with live music from Ayanna Woods (aka Yadda Yadda).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
For more information on the Fulcrum Point New Music Project, visit the Fulcrum Point New Music Project website.
For more information on the Juju Exchange, visit the Juju Exchange website.
For more information on Young Chicago Authors, visit the Young Chicago Authors website.
About Author:
Sarah Stearn, a native of Chicago, is a dancer and videographer. She has recently graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BFA in Dance, and is excited to be back in the city. Currently, she works with Tuli Bera as an administrator for J e l l o Performance Series.
