The centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving white women the right to vote, provides an opportunity for the American Composers Forum (ACF) and I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (ICIYL) to celebrate this historic moment while highlighting the complexity of women’s suffrage and exclusion to participation, even in 2020. From August 18 (the ratification date) through the presidential election on November 3, ACF and ICIYL will invite today’s women, trans, and nonbinary artists to share what the 19th Amendment means to them through UNEVEN MEASURES, a series dedicated to advancing intersectional gender equity in 2020, prioritizing racial equity.
UNEVEN MEASURES kicks off on August 18th by Engaging with Women, Trans, and Nonbinary Artists and Arts Leaders with the commissioned collective essay published on icareifyoulisten.com, What does the 19th Amendment mean to you? (Part One) featuring contributions by JoAnn Falletta, Libby Larsen, Paola Prestini, Alex Temple, Alysia Lee, Angélica Negrón, Natalie Calma, Aeryn Santillan, Nebal Maysaud, and Wang Jie.
Top row, left to right: Wang Jie, Paola Prestini, Nebal Maysaud, JoAnn Falletta, Angélica Negrón
Bottom row, left to right: Alex Temple, Alysia Lee, Natalie Calma, Libby Larsen, Aeryn Santillan
The series will Amplify the Work of Women, Trans, and Nonbinary Artists by featuring weekly Five Questions interviews, and ListN Up playlists curated by artists with their own narrative about why they love this music (theirs and those that inspired them), all published on icareifyoulisten.com. Juhi Bansal will offer responses to Five Questions on Wednesday, August 19th, and Yaz Lancaster will offer their responses on Tuesday, August 25th. ListN Up will feature a playlist by Amanda Gookin on Friday, August 21st and Nina Shekhar on Friday, August 28th.
Top row: Juhi Bansal, Yaz Lancaster
Bottom row: Amanda Gookin, Nina Shekhar
In October, UNEVEN MEASURES will Drive Gender Equity by hosting and facilitating “Roundtable” discussions with multi-generational and all-gender groups on the following subjects (participants and dates to be announced):
- Transformative Power: Women Leading
- Understanding Intersectionality
- Advocating for Gender Equity
Also in October, ACF’s Racial Equity Study Group will feature Tiffany Cross’ new book Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy in a discussion with the book’s editor, Patrik Henry Bass, Senior Editor, Amistad at HarperCollins Publishers.
For more information and updates on the UNEVEN MEASURES series visit:
https://composersforum.org/uneven-measures/
https://icareifyoulisten.com/tag/uneven-measures
UNEVEN MEASURES is supported by a generous grant from The Elizabeth & Michel Sorel Charitable Organization Inc., established in 1996 by pianist Claudette Sorel and named for her parents. The Sorel Organization is committed to supporting gender equity in music and addressing systemic inequities by providing greater visibility for women musicians from underrepresented communities. Find out more at www.SorelMusic.org.
We are thankful for our promotional partnership with the New York Philharmonic, whose Project 19 is the largest women-only commissioning project in history and was born of the conviction that an orchestra can participate in conversations about social imperatives and even change the status quo. Find out more at www.nyphil.org.
ABOUT American Composers Forum
The American Composers Forum (ACF) cultivates an ecosystem where living music creators, and their music, are vibrant and integral to human culture.
Through funding and mentorship support, publications, hosted gatherings, and leadership, ACF connects with composing and performing artists and organizations who reflect the diversity of our world and fosters generations of music creators, performers, advocates, and listeners. By highlighting the individuals creating music through their unique stories and the impact of their art, ACF strives to demonstrate the relevance, vitality, and beauty of the musical experiences being explored and experienced across the country. ACF is committed to being a pluralistic and welcoming space inclusive of, but not limited to, diverse racial and gender identities, musical languages and styles, ages, abilities, backgrounds, sexual orientations, and the many definitions of being “American.”
For more information, please visit www.composersforum.org.
ABOUT I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Founded in December 2010, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (ICIYL) is an award-winning website born from a desire to talk about contemporary classical music. Over the past nine years, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN has published nearly 2,000 articles by more than 100 contributors reporting from 7 different countries. With a unique blend of critical and promotional content, ICIYL’s current offerings include album reviews, concert reviews, interviews, essays, opinion pieces, track/album premieres, video premieres, and curated playlists. ICIYL emphasizes an informed yet unpretentious tone that does not solely rely on technical music jargon to discuss music or inform criticism. I CARE IF YOU LISTEN also strives to be a leading advocate for artists who have been historically underrepresented or marginalized in the classical music space by prominently featuring artists, curators, venues, and record labels that embody equitable programming practices. The site attracts an average of 100,000 unique viewers annually.
For more information about I CARE IF YOU LISTEN visit: https://icareifyoulisten.com/about/