ART MUSIC
FOR ALL
Mission Statement
Art Music for All (AMFA) is an organization dedicated to disseminating art music and ideas about it that promote radical notions on how music can influence politics and society.
Where We Stand:
1) We stand in solidarity with musician’s unions that fight for the fair treatment of instrumentalists, music scholars, song writers, and composers of every race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin.
2) We stand in solidarity with all musicians fighting for their right to organize.
3) We stand in solidarity with all concert venues that promote artists from within the community in which it resides.
4) We stand in solidarity with composers and performers who strive to use music to reflect struggles within their community.
5) We demand that concert venues and institutions of learning promote musicians from marginalized and underrepresented demographics.
6) We demand the right of women, non-white individuals, and non-cisgender individuals to enter into any music related work without discrimination.
7) We stand in solidarity with music institutions and organizations that promote the inclusion of individuals with disabilities.
8) We demand a 10:1 cap on wages within music institutions of learning and performing ensembles. (Example: if an orchestra musician’s labor compensation is $15 per hour, there should not be anyone else in the orchestra making over $150 per hour.)
We cannot support any institutions or organizations that explicitly participate in activities contrary to any aspect of the AMFA platform and stand in solidarity with institutions and organizations who are fighting to adhere to any point of the AMFA platform.
Committee
Frank Nawrot
Frank Nawrot (b. 1989) is a composer, guitarist, and music educator
from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Currently, Nawrot is pursuing is Doctorate
of Musical Arts in composition at the University of Kansas after receiving his
Master of Music Composition degree from Central Michigan University in 2015
under the tutelage of David Gillingham and Jay Batzner. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Grand Valley State University while studying composition with Bill Ryan and classical guitar with Carlos de la Barrera.His music has been performed at numerous
venues and locales including: ArtPrize, St. Cecilia’s Music Center, George and Barbara Gordon Gallery, Northern Illinois University, Henderson State University, Bowling Green State University, in Hong Kong, in NYC and the Broad Art Museum. He has presented his research on composition pedagogy at several conferences including SCI conferences. He presented his research on African-American minimalist composer Julius Eastman at the Fifth International Conference on Minimalist Music in Finland.
Nawrot’s goals are to be a responsible artist by bringing attention to issues he feels pertains to the betterment of society through his art and providing quality education to members of his community. His research interests are composition pedagogy, minimalism, and rock ‘n’ roll.
John Jansen
John C. L. Jansen is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and experimental instrument builder from Grand Rapids Michigan. A self-described musical omnivore, he seeks to blend a diverse set of influences with the pursuit of new electronic and acoustic timbres. His music has been performed by the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, the chamber band Drive (J:), saxophonist Jacob Swanson, and violinist Todd Reynolds. Jansen currently teaches music theory at the State University of New York at Fredonia.
Melissa Bialecki
Melissa Bialecki is a PhD student in Musicology and Teaching Assistant at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She earned her Master’s in Ethnomusicology at Bowling Green State University. Her research interests include music in Ukraine and Ukrainian diaspora, with a focus on Russian-Ukrainian relations and the Ukraine conflict. Her thesis, titled They Believe the Dawn Will Come: Deploying Musical Narratives of Internal Others in Soviet and Post-Soviet Ukraine, explores epistemologies of blind Ukrainian minstrels and the negotiation of post-Soviet identities in Ukrainian Eurovision performances.
Rachael Rule
Rachael is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). In May 2016, she graduated from Central Michigan University (CMU) with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance studying under Dr. Alexandra Mascolo-David. During her studies, Rachael has always pursued excellence in performance, teaching, and collaboration. In the spring of 2015, she received CMU’s Provost Award for her work beyond campus.
An avid proponent of new music, Rachael spent a month in Paris studying Theory and Analysis of Contemporary Music which included lectures and performances hosted by IRCAM. She is a founding member of the trio Nebular Blue. She participated in CMU’s New Music Ensemble for 2 years and was the ensemble coordinator during the 2015 – 16 year. She is currently serving as the President of the UMKC Pianist Organization and UMKC MTNA Collegiate Chapter.
Dutcher Wright Snedeker
Dutcher Snedeker is a Grand Rapids pianist with a long history of performance. Coming from a musical family, he has grown up surrounded by a variety of music styles. A current Masters Student at WMU and GVSU graduate, he has a desire to blend different genres in his writing and performing experiences, with a focus in New Music and Jazz. He is recognized as an active part of the West Michigan music community, with multiple nominations at the local WYCE Jammies and a jazz award at ArtPrize 2013. He has also had performing opportunities at the School of Improvised Music (SIM) and Bang on a Can’s 2016 Summer Program.
Dutcher Snedeker is an active performer in West Michigan. While at Grand Valley State University, he was a member the nationally recognized GVSU New Music Ensemble, performing at three Strange Beautiful Music Festivals in Detroit, at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Colorado College with the Bowed Piano Ensemble, the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum, with Cori Terry & Dancers at Wellspring Theatre, and the Music in Our Parks 2014 National Parks Tour.
Dutcher Snedeker currently performs with Brad Fritcher, Benjaman James, The Underground Circus, Hannah Rose and The GravesTones and the WMU Jazz Orchestra.
Annika Socolofsky
Annika Socolofsky (1990, Edinburgh) is a composer, avant-folk vocalist, and fiddler. Her music stems from the timbral nuance and inwards resonance of the human voice, and is communicated through mediums ranging from orchestral works to unaccompanied folk ballads. New projects for the 2016 - 2017 season include works for the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Emissary Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, Shattered Glass, sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, and bassist Evan Runyon. She is the recipient of a 2014 Fromm Foundation Commission and a 2017 BMI Student Composer Award. She has collaborated with artists including Donald Sinta Quartet, JACK Quartet, Latitude 49, Mobius Percussion, shakuhachi grandmaster Riley Lee, and the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, among others. Her works, projects, and related research have been presented at The Italian Society of Contemporary Music, Bang on a Can Summer Festival, Carnegie Hall, Northwestern New Music Institute, Strange Beautiful Music Detroit, Listening to Ladies Concert Series, and Princeton Sound Kitchen.
Annika is a Mark Nelson Doctoral Fellow in composition at Princeton University. She holds a master’s in composition from the University of Michigan where she was a Regents Fellow. Her primary musical mentors have been Evan Chambers, Donnacha Dennehy, Dan Trueman, Reza Vali, and Kristin Kuster. She has an intense interest in Yiddish song and contra dance, and can be heard alongside her dearest friends in avant-Isles folk band Ensoleil.
Jared Yackiw
Jared Yackiw (b. 1993) is a composer and saxophonist from Rochester, New York. His concert and collaborative works range from acoustic to electronic, drawing influence from theatrical drama, meditation, existential philosophy, and psychological themes. Aside from engaging with various performers on his concert works, Jared has worked with choreographers, writers, photographers, and animators to bring multimedia art to audiences across the United States.