[music]

Adam Eccleston: From All Classical Radio, I'm Adam Eccleston, guest hosting for WQXR. Tonight we are featuring the Boston-based group, Castle of our Skins. We'll hear music from mostly modern living composers that focus on awareness and cultural history on this edition of The McGraw Family's Young Artist Showcase. For over 45 remarkable years, the Young Artists Showcase has been introducing you to emerging artists of all kinds. Thanks to generous underwriting support from the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation. Tonight's program fosters cultural curiosity and celebrates Black artistry through music with Castle of our Skins.

The core group is a string quartet who frequently collaborates with other musicians and art forms such as poets and dancers. The name Castle of our Skins comes from the celebrated poet Nikki Giovanni's poem for Nina. The poem beautifully captures the sense of adoration and celebration for the very fabric that makes us who we are, our skin. Joining me now is Castle of our Skin's artistic director and co-founder Ashleigh Gordon, who is also a violist and fellow graduate of New England Conservatory of Music. Welcome, Ashleigh.

Ashleigh Gordon: Hi. Thanks so much for having me.

Adam Eccleston: Absolutely. Tell us about Castle of our Skins. How did it get started?

Ashleigh Gordon: Sure. Well, since you referenced New England Conservatory, I can say that Castle of our Skins had its roots, I guess, there. I met Anthony R. Green, who is the other co-founder. Anthony is a multi-hyphenated human.

Adam Eccleston: Yes, indeed.

Ashleigh Gordon: Creator, um, Black Composer, a, um, installation artist, a-a poet. He's a musician. He does all sorts of things.

Adam Eccleston: And a comedian.

[laughter]

Ashleigh Gordon: Sure. And a comedian. Um, and he and I, we were able to find each other through a mutual love of certainly music, of classical music, of contemporary music, um, able to perform together and perform Anthony's music and find fellowship, find some community. Um, two years is not a lot of time for a master's program to really, um, sink your teeth into something. So when we graduated, we wanted to continue supporting each other's artistry, even though we lived on opposite sides of the country. And then eventually, um, for the duration of the organization, opposite sides of the Atlantic.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: And so a bit naively largely because we had never been exposed to other musicians, other composers, um, who looked like us, wondered if there were others that we could also support. And of course, the answer is a resounding yes. Right?

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm. [chuckles]

Ashleigh Gordon: 500 years’ worth in what we both love, just this field of classical music. So Castle of our Skins started in-in, uh, 2013. And so we are currently in our 11th season, 10 years later. And that first season started with one concert. You had referenced, uh, other artistic discipline. So that one concert had that poem by Nikki Giovanni.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: And in-in addition to poetry, speeches from Barack Obama and MLK, et cetera. So woven throughout a-a concert format with music, with, uh, voice strings and piano. And we did one interactive educational workshop for solo narrating violists because it was me. Right? [laughter] So what started with one concert and one education series has grown. It really hasn't stopped at least 10 years.

Adam Eccleston: Tell us about the program tonight. Let's start with Trevor Weston's Juba for String Quartet.

Ashleigh Gordon: Sure. This particular string quartet, uh, was written in 2017, I believe, and it traces a musical journey from Africa to the States, to the US using traditional African and African American folk music. So the quartet you'll hear in the beginning will play fragments of a-a kind of hymn-like melody, and each player will be a little bit in their own time world. And this is something that Trevor heard when he went to Black churches,' musical lining. Right? Where at the-the congregation is singing together, but everyone's singing in a little bit different way.

Adam Eccleston: Mm.

Ashleigh Gordon: And embellishing in a little bit, uh, of a different way.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: Um, he was also really inspired, uh, by folk fiddlers and the idea of when the spirit moves, you-you-you-you shout or you stomp.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: So you'll hear some stomping in this piece as well. And then in addition to some of the musical aspects, again, African and traditional African American, he was also really interested in, uh, honoring the labors of enslaved Africans. And you'll hear one of my favorite moments where he musically depicts, uh, a swamp. And in that moment, uh, I won't share too much, but you'll know exactly, uh, when it comes, you can almost see fireflies and hear toads, hear bullfrogs, um, feel a blanket of humidity and just heat here in the South, right? Of-of what would-would be, um, in a swamp and can imagine enslaved people, um, completely exhausted.

Adam Eccleston: Right.

Ashleigh Gordon: Uh, toiling heavily in-in rice paddies, in-in the Carolinas. So that's-that's one whole, uh, very cinematic experience.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: And then what happens afterwards is just the-the freedom of moving, of fleeing, of running away from a scene like that. So it's one of my favorite pieces, um, because it's so rich with imagery and-and sonic, um, exploration. So in Trevor's own words, I'll just, uh, reference that he says that the work highlights the musical contributions by African Americans and celebrates the lives of those who helped create our American economy, industry, and culture.

[MUSIC - Trevor Weston: Juba for String Quartet] [applause]

Adam Eccleston: Really remarkable piece, full of color, and I love the dialogue between each instrument. That was Juba for String Quartet by composer Trevor Weston. Frederick Tillis was a composer who recently passed away. He enjoyed composing symphonic pieces as equally as writing for jazz ensembles. He's a composer I didn't know about, so Ashleigh, what else could you share about him and this piece, A Spiritual Fantasy Suite?

Ashleigh Gordon: Um, Dr. Frederick C. Tillis taught at UMass Amherst. And, uh, he was a composer. Certainly, as you'll hear, he was a performer, um, educator, also a poet. Published, uh, both poetry and, um, musical compositions. The musical compositions he published, I believe, are over 120 of them. And they-they range from solo and chamber all the way through symphonic and very-very much often blend jazz and-and classical. Um, he also very much loved African American spirituals and thought that they just had so much richness to be able to provide, um, musical ideas.

And, uh, this particular spiritual fantasy is, uh, number 12. He wrote over 30, I believe, um, spiritual fantasies, all of the same name with different opus numbers, and this one being spiritual fantasy number 12 for String Quartet.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: The movement that we're going to hear is The Crucifixion, and it's definitely a signature piece, this quartet in our repertoire and one that we very much enjoy playing.

[MUSIC - Frederick Tillis: Spiritual Fantasy No. 12, III. Crucifixion (He Never Said a Mumblin' Word)]

Adam Eccleston: That was Texas-born composer Frederick Tillis's third movement, Crucifixion (He Never Said a Mumblin' Word) from a Spiritual Fantasy suite with Castle of our Skins. Violinist Gabriela Díaz and Matthew Vera, violins Ashleigh Gordon and Francesca McNeely on cello. Not very often do you hear a sonnet in song. Leave it to the amazing Anthony Green to be a trailblazer in his own right. What can you share with us about this piece Sonnet LXXXi?

Ashleigh Gordon: Sure. So Anthony, again, co-founder of Castle of Our Skins. This particular sonnet he wrote I believe in 2006 and, uh, also wrote the text, but he wrote the text many, many, many years prior to writing the music. And, uh, the text I think is-is, uh, powerful, tugs at your heart. Um, in his own words, it-it talks about an explosive nature of unrequited love and its lasting, uh, effects, and certainly from a firsthand perspective a creator in both friends with the text and with the music, it's-it's even more poignant, I think, to be able to transport oneself back to a moment in time again many, many years prior and-and bring all of that life experience into the composition into this- into this sonnet.

[MUSIC - Anthony R. Green: Sonnet LXXXi]

Adam Eccleston: Sonnet LXXXi for soprano and piano by Anthony Green. Mezzo-soprano Veronica Williams accompanied by Anthony Green. The piece pushes the listener to listen closely and think about the message and overarching scope. You're listening to the McGraw Family's Young Artists Showcase on WQXR. It's time for a quick break now then I'll be back with more performances by Castle of our Skins on the McGraw Family's Young Artists Showcase. Welcome back, we are listening to Castle of our Skins a Boston-based group that fosters cultural curiosity and celebrates Black artistry through music.

So Ashleigh, you were telling us of the amazing wonderful things that Castle of our Skins are doing. Can you tell us some more?

Ashleigh Gordon: Oh, sure. Um, we have certainly on-on the concert front, we do residencies. For instance, we have a residency at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, where [chuckles] we, um, every year, bring in a different Black composer, a living composer to do master classes and workshops with the students. This year, this season, we're bringing in Adolphus Hailstork and doing a whole portrait concert of his music.

Adam Eccleston: Excellent.

Ashleigh Gordon: We, um, also have a interest in, uh, expanding and exploring new voices. So we have a Shirley Graham du Bois Creative-in-Residence. Um, now in its fourth season, we had a Zimbabwean, uh, scholar, vocalist [unintelligible 00:30:16], uh, for our first year, two poets, uh, now a dancer to come work with us for-for the year. And we'll act as a producer, we'll collaborate, we'll explore concepts and how can we engage in a- in a broad sense, in African diasporic history and, um, storytelling. Uh, we are engaging in some mentorship with an intercollegiate Black Student Union festival.

So Boston being an academic city and certainly being an arts city, has our alma mater New England Conservatory, and its Longy School of Music which I referenced, Berklee Boston Conservatory, BU, and more of these sort of growing affinity spaces.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: And it's so, if you remember, so easy to be siloed within your institution and even just sort of stay within, um, a-a community.

Adam Eccleston: Right.

Ashleigh Gordon: And you be there for two years, for four years, next door to you, across the river are other musicians hungry for fellowship. So through our platform, trying to bridge some gaps and have this intercollegiate Black Student Union fellowship, which as the name suggests is for fellowship, professional development, and, uh, co-curated, uh, performance opportunities.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: Um, and then on the education sort of front, we have a partnership with Boston Public Schools, which is the largest school district in-in the state of Massachusetts to commission 18 Black composers to partner with 18 different schools and commission choral, string, and wind ensemble pieces with accompanying curriculum guides that then get premiered and then published.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: And doing more for the teacher-student pairing, um, in a sense so that Castle of our Skins can hopefully grow beyond Boston even more so than we already are in the hands of others. So going away-- a little bit away from that solo narrating violists because it was just me.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: But really empowering other teachers to be able to empower their-their students with knowledge and-and ultimately with curiosity.

Adam Eccleston: That's brilliant. That's brilliant. The next piece that we'll hear is by the co-founder and composer of Castle of our Skins, Anthony Green, titled, Be Still, My Child. It's a six-movement piece inspired by lullabies from different countries. You'll hear influences from Scotland then USA and the Netherlands to Japan, Haiti, and South Africa, performed by the duo, Meraki.

[MUSIC - Anthony R. Green: Be Still, My Child]

Adam Eccleston: Be Still, My Child by Co-founder of Castle of Our Skins and Composer Anthony Green, performed by the duo, Meraki, clarinetist Anastasia Christofakis, and Pianist Elizabeth Hill. Let's talk about the final piece on the program, Soweto by Undine Smith Moore, whose name has resurfaced over the past few years. You'll be playing the second and third movements of this piece. Tell us a little bit about Soweto.

Ashleigh Gordon: Sure. Um, this piece is, uh, Moore's response to South African apartheid.

Adam Eccleston: Mm-hmm.

Ashleigh Gordon: And specifically the student protests in Soweto that turned violent. The second movement that we'll hear has this sort of, um, gnawing repetitive rhythmic motion, Soweto, Soweto. And-and the words Moore was quoted to saying that-that she didn't come up with that rhythm. She didn't come up with the words, but they really did find her. And so this-this real visceral feeling of, uh, being deeply connected even though geography, right? Had-had kept her away.

Um, and then the-the third movement, so the-the performers on here, uh, I have to give credit to the pianist, Dr. Samantha Ege, um, a scholar and a pianist who very much, um, helped curate the album this piece was, uh, recorded for. Uh, this is a live performance, so you'll hear her on-on piano. And Dr. Samantha Ege, she says, "If the first two movements are about rage and chaos, the third is about remembrance and catharsis."

Adam Eccleston: Wow.

Ashleigh Gordon: Which very much just after-after just so much outcry, a natural response is-is just, "Okay, I'm gonna melt, uh, in-in such a way." So, um, the two movements together, I think hope-hopefully, as-as a listener, you'll hear that as well.

[MUSIC - Undine Smith Moore: Soweto Nos. 2 and 3]

Adam Eccleston: Violinist Gabriela Díaz, cellist Francesca McNeeley, and pianist Samantha Ege, playing the second and third movements of Soweto by Undine Smith Moore. A special thank you to our guest co-founder and violist of Castle of our Skins, Ashleigh Gordon.

Ashleigh Gordon: Thanks so, so much for having me.

Adam Eccleston: To learn more, you can visit castleofskins.org. Well, that completes this week's edition of The McGraw Family's Young Artists Showcase which is generously underwritten on WQXR by the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Family Foundation. Here's Terry McGraw with more.

Terry McGraw: Good evening, everyone. It's great to be with you and it's always great being with the Young Artists Showcase and to hear these really wonderful and inspiring musicians as they continue to share their incredible guests with us every week. I can't wait to hear the fabulous talent coming up on the showcase. And I am so pleased to be able to support the series all through its well over four decades on WQXR. And there's so much more to come.

Adam Eccleston: Thank you, Terry. A special thank you to WQXR program producers, Laura Boyman and Max Fine. Our generous program underwriter is the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Family Foundation. From All Classical Radio, I'm Adam Eccleston on WQXR. Have a good night.

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