I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (ICIYL) and American Composers Forum (ACF) are proud to introduce the expanded I CARE IF YOU LISTEN contributing team of writers. Following ACF’s acquisition of ICIYL in September 2020, an open call for new contributors attracted nearly 200 applications from across the United States and abroad. The 14 exceptional writers chosen from this call have now joined members of ICIYL’s existing team to form a diverse roster of 29 journalists, music creators, performers, multimedia/ interdisciplinary artists, musicologists, historians, podcasters, and arts administrators who contribute to the publication (full list below).
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN and its expanded contributor team are supported through generous grants from the Rosemary and David Good Family Foundation, Elizabeth and Michel Sorel Charitable Organization, the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, and the ACF Board of Directors.
“Considering that six months ago everyone who worked for the publication was a volunteer, being able to fairly compensate all of our writers is an exciting and necessary step in I CARE IF YOU LISTEN’s development under the umbrella of ACF,” says Amanda Cook, Editor-in-chief of ICIYL. “Partnerships with significant leaders like the Rubin Institute are advancing us to new opportunities and helping us attract writers who can connect us to new artists, audiences, and geographic communities.”
By cultivating a diverse group of writers, the content and perspectives on ICIYL are poised to better reflect the multifaceted world of music creators. Operating through the lens of ACF and ICIYL’s shared racial equity goals, the newly expanded contributor team will be essential to capturing, telling, and sharing the stories from our artistic ecosystem.
MEET THE CONTRIBUTOR TEAM
Padideh Aghanoury (she/they) grew up playing the cello from a young age and has a deep love for the experimental and avant-garde. She loves to write about music.
Kevin Baldwin, D.M.A., (he/him) is a composer, saxophonist, and visual artist, focusing on graphic and alternate notations. Kevin, based in greater Boston, is the founder of eyeMusic Projects, an ongoing collection of visual experimentations with notational elements.
Michigan-born, Manhattan-based composer Stephanie Ann Boyd (b. 1990) (she/her) writes melodic music about women’s memoirs and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Donna Lee Davidson (she/her) is the youngest of 11 children. She is an orchestral percussionist, jazz vibraphonist, and a writer with non-fiction life experiences.
Jillian DeGroot (she/her) is a Chicago-based musician, writer, and audio journalist. She is currently producing an audio documentary podcast called Near Total Silence.
Bill Doggett (he/him) is a marketing agent and publicist for contemporary Black composers. He is a well respected published historian, archivist, and lecturer specialized in African American performing arts history.
Jasmine IVANNA Espy (she/they) is a journalist turned filmmaker also advocating for the Hidradenitis Suppurativa community through writing and documentary film.
Anne H. Goldberg-Baldwin, D.M.A. (she/her) blurs the definitions of music and dance as a composer, choreographer, performer, and educator. She is Assistant Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Dance at the University of the Arts.
Dalanie Harris (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based musician, podcaster, and writer. Her current research interests include intersections of music, history, and culture in Black America.
A. Kori Hill (she/her) is a PhD candidate writing on Florence Price, modernism(s), and music as method in Black intellectual thought.
Lauren Ishida (she/her) is a soprano specializing in contemporary music. She is the Director of Promotion for Schott Music New York.
Jennifer Jolley (she/her) is composer, blogger, and professor person. She is also a part-time cat lover and creative opera producer.
Jacob Kopcienski (he/him) is a multifaceted artist and scholar who explores sound, listening practices, identity, and technology through writing, performance, creative collaboration, and community-building projects. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Musicology at the Ohio State University.
Christian Kriegeskotte (he/him) is a composer, writer, and budding audiophile who has worked professionally in feature film music production, artist management, and the mainstream record industry. He received his BFA and Master of Music from Carnegie Mellon University and is currently based in Pittsburgh, PA.
Julia Kuhlman (she/her) is a saxophonist and musicologist who makes unnatural noises and writes outlandish things about them. She is currently based in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
Yaz Lancaster (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist focused on relational aesthetics, collage, and anti-oppression. They love chess, horror movies, and trills.
Nilina Mason-Campbell (she/her) splits her time between Los Angeles and Portland. Outside of writing, she can be found drawing, learning banjo and renovating a 1968 Airstream.
Nebal Maysaud (they/them) is a Lebanese composer and writer whose work aims to build compassion among people of diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Tristan McKay (he/him) is a pianist, visual artist, and scholar based in NYC. His research interests include semiotics and graphic notations, and he teaches at SUNY New Paltz. Tristan plays ice hockey in his free time.
Esteban Meneses (he/him) is a freelance arts and music writer, based in Orlando. He’s a member of the Music Critics Association of North America and also contributes to Orlando Arts Magazine and Classical Voice America. He holds a Master of Liberal Studies degree from Rollins College.
Tracy Monaghan (she/her) is a PhD student in Musicology whose work focuses on issues of race, gender, and musical appropriation in 20th- and 21st-century opera. She is a soprano and an avid performer of new music, favoring extended vocal techniques. Tracy also works to dismantle food insecurity in her communities. She is currently based in the Bay Area of California.
Greg Nahabedian (they/them) is a gender non binary composer living in Southern New Hampshire. Greg runs the Boston New Music Calendar and is a founding member of Strange Trace opera.
Lana Norris (she/her) is a pianist and music journalist convinced that both science and art are aesthetic. She brings an interest in diplomacy to her coverage of new music, and enjoys sacred choral and shameless pop. She is based in New York City, Munsee Lenape and Wappinge territory.
Gemma Peacocke (she/her) is a US-based composer from New Zealand. Her rescue dog Mila is a standard poodle from Korea. Their musical tastes differ markedly.
Caroline Potter (she/her) is an award-winning writer and academic, specializing in French music, based in London.
Sofía Rocha (she/her) is a Florida-based composer and conductor. She likes taking nature walks, cooking vegan food, and following endless Wikipedia hyper-link rabbit holes.
Sun Yung Shin (she/they) is a Korean-born writer, artist, and consultant based in Minneapolis. She is the author or editor of eight books, and publishes, lectures, and performs widely.
Chrysanthe Tan (they/them) is a composer, sound artist, and radio host whose special interests include Star Wars, dinosaurs, and theme park sound design.
Ciyadh Wells’ (she/her) mission is to utilize the impact of music old and new to manifest moments of meaningful change. She directs the Margins Guitar Collective.
ABOUT I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Founded in 2010, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (ICIYL) is an award-winning multimedia hub for living music creators born from a desire to create a dedicated space for talking about contemporary classical music. Over the past 10 years, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN has published over 2,100 articles by more than 100 contributors reporting from seven different countries. Through a unique blend of music criticism, promotional features, and multimedia content, ICIYL strives to be a leading advocate for artists who have been historically underrepresented or marginalized in Western classical music by highlighting equitable programming, facilitating challenging conversations, cultivating a safe platform, and creating educational resources.
ICIYL emphasizes an informed yet unpretentious tone to discuss music. Current offerings include album reviews, concert reviews, interviews, essays, opinion pieces, track/album premieres, video premieres, and curated playlists. The site attracts nearly 150,000 unique viewers annually. For more information, visit icareifyoulisten.com and www.icareifyoulisten.tv.
ABOUT American Composers Forum
ACF supports and advocates for individuals and groups creating music today by demonstrating the vitality and relevance of their art. We connect artists with collaborators, organizations, audiences, and resources. Through storytelling, publications, recordings, hosted gatherings, and industry leadership, we activate equitable opportunities for artists. We provide direct funding and mentorship to a broad and diverse field of music creators, highlighting those who have been historically excluded from participation.
Founded in 1973 by composers Libby Larsen and Stephen Paulus as the Minnesota Composers Forum, the organization continues to invest in its Minnesota home while connecting artists and advocates across the United States and beyond. ACF frames our work with a focus on racial equity and includes within that scope, but not limited to, diverse gender identities, musical approaches and perspectives, religions, ages, (dis)abilities, cultures, backgrounds, sexual orientations, and broad definitions of being “American.”
Visit www.composersforum.org for more information.
