The Cedar Presents

Cedar Commissions
March 5, 6, 7 . 2021

This is an online show with pre-recorded performances.

You can find this program on The Cedar cultural Center’s Youtube channel.

- PrograM NOTES -

The Cedar Cultural Center is pleased to announce the recipients of the tenth round of the Cedar Commissions, The Cedar’s flagship commissioning program for emerging Minnesota-based composers and musicians made possible by a grant from the Jerome Foundation. To date, the Commissions have showcased new work by over 50 emerging composers and musicians across Minnesota, including Dessa, Aby Wolf, Adam Levy, Maria Isa, Joe Horton, Joey Van Phillips, Dua Saleh, Freaque, Gao Hong, Dameun Strange, and many more. Artists receive mentorship and financial support to create 30+ minutes of brand new music.

The 2020-21 round of artists was selected by a diverse committee of Minnesota-based musicians, music industry professionals, and one Cedar staff. The 6 commissioned artists, Beatriz Lima, AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa, Tearra Oso, S U N A H, Farrington Llewellyn (FarrWell), and Hassan Shahid (Shahidi) will each receive $4,000 plus $500 for performance costs to compose at least 30 minutes of new musical work to debut at The Cedar in February 2021. In the event that social gathering restrictions are in place due to COVID-19 during the grant period, we will work with artists to make adaptations to the performance platform as needed.

AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa (She/Her)

In the song cycle, Angels Sang to Me, composer AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa reveals her experiences with mental illness through music, featuring soprano, Maria Jette, and string quartet. AJ’s story is told through poems and writings of past artists who continued to create while mentally ill, including William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe and Hector Berlioz. Instrumental interludes will be interspersed throughout to illustrate the emotional highs and lows of AJ’s journey through bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, touching on fear, confusion, mania, hallucinations, levity, and concluding with a balancing and accepting awareness of one’s illness. The instrumentalists whisper and speak while accompanying the singer, as lyrics and texts draw them through illness towards health. In the process of this work, Angels Sang to Me spreads awareness about mental illness, shows that success with mental illness is possible, and destigmatizes what it means to live with bipolar and schizophrenia.

Spotlight

Shasa Sartin, The Cedar’s Marketing and Programs Assistant, had a great conversation with AJ. Find it here.

Beatriz Correia Lima (She/Her)

Born and raised in Portugal and now based in Minneapolis, Beatriz Correia Lima is a multimedia artist fusing Portuguese folk, fado, jazz, indie-pop, hip-hop, and reggaeton, with story-telling. Trebaruna – named after a Lusitanian Deity protector of property, family, and home – is a collection of songs tied together through a single narrative. Beatriz was inspired by Sarah Beirão's book A Luta, which tells the story of one family through the lives of three generations of women and their struggle to pursue their ambitions while navigating obstacles in a world designed for the happiness and comfort of men. In Trebaruna, Beatriz tells the story of a Portuguese mother and daughter's relationship as the daughter leaves home after an economic crisis and a divorce devastates her family. With her mother unemployed, her father forced to seek work outside the country, and no prospects for herself, the daughter now has to make her way in a world and leave her country. Trebaruna is not only an exploration of the social, political, and cultural shifts that happened in Portugal after the world crisis when thousands of highly skilled Portuguese migrants left due to high unemployment rates; it’s a reflection on "machismo," love, professional ambition, migration, tradition, and cultural identity in an ever-changing, globalized world.

Spotlight

Shasa Sartin, The Cedar’s Marketing and Programs Assistant, had a great conversation with Bea. Find it here.

Farrington Llewellyn (They/Them)

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2018, Farrington has been using their story to open the door for conversations around mental health and trauma. They’re expanding on their previous work by creating an installation to help further de-stigmatize mental illness. Farrington’s Empathy Room will use the elements of music, digital art and performance to give audiences an intimate look into the experiences of those living with mental health challenges.

Spotlight

Find a write up, mostly based on Farrington’s own website here.

Tearra Oso (She/Her)

Tearra Oso is a musician, dancer, healer, and storyteller of many forms. From a young age, Tearra has performed Bomba, a traditional Afro Puerto Rican style of music. In this 16th century art form, African rhythms were originally played on drums made from washed up rum barrels on the shores of Puerto Rico, and enslaved African people sang stories of what was happening on the sugar cane plantations over these rhythms, in the colonizer’s language of Spanish. Intense emotions and movements from their homeland of West African countries influenced the dance aspect of the music. Practicing this art form that has transcended generations, helped Tearra understand her Afro-Latinx identity and learn about the resilience of her incredible ancestors. In her newest project Griot Del Rio, Tearra Oso brings her cultural traditions into this new era of music, channeling the power of her ancestors while educating the world about the importance of understanding history as well as yourself to manifest your empowerment. As violence against Black and brown bodies persists today, Tearra has combined her ancestral genre of music with the R&B, funk, hip hop, and pop music that she grew up with to present an insightful and healing experience, in English and Spanish, for social justice activists and anyone interested in personal and communal transformation.

Spotlight

Aida Shahghasemi, The Cedar’s Marketing and Communications Manager sat for a virtual conversation with Tearra Oso. Find it here.

Hassan Shahid a.k.a. "Shahidi" (He/His)

Hassan Shahid is a Black American Muslim father originally from Minneapolis. A singer, songwriter, and acoustic guitarist, Shahidi’s music is informed by his culture and experiences as an African American man in Minnesota and by the songs and traditions he grew up with in his midwestern Sunni Muslim, Sufi household. Songs For My Ummah: A Black Muslim Father’s Exploration in Vulnerability draws upon the therapeutic and spiritual qualities of music, and this project vocalizes raw emotions and deep reflections surrounding the lived experiences of Black men, Black youth, and Black fathers. Centering pain, love, grief, anger, and hard truths that are at times spoken about but not always heard, Shahidi’s songwriting will elevate the vulnerabilities of Black men in the Twin Cities. This blend of soulful acoustic guitar melodies and collaborative, cross-diasporic storytelling will also musically map a journey toward unity across Black communities in the Twin Cities.

Spotlight

Shasa Sartin, The Cedar’s Marketing and Programs Assistant, had a great conversation with Hassan. Find it here.

S U N A H (She/Her, They/Them)

No Word for Queer, is written by singer-songwriter, performer, and beat producer Schoua Na Yang, also known as S U N A H. They were born in France and immigrated to America at the age of 6 and has since lived in Saint Paul Minnesota. No Word for Queer is a journey searching for language to humanize Hmong LGBTQ+ folx. In the Hmong language there are no positive labels or descriptions to describe Hmong LGBTQ+ folx. The lack of inclusivity has a negative impact on how Queer and Trans folx are being viewed in the Hmong culture which contributes to the erasure of Hmong Queer and Trans experiences. In their piece, S U N A H combines elements of hip-hop, electronic dance, groovy tones, and chill vibes to bring awareness and inspiration to start imagining positive language for Hmong LGBTQ+ identities.

Spotlight

Aida Shahghasemi, The Cedar’s Marketing and Communications Manager sat for a virtual conversation with S U N A H. Find it here.

GOALS OF THE CEDAR COMMISSIONS:

• Facilitate the creation of innovative new work by Minnesota-based emerging artists/composers. The Cedar Commissions provide artists an opportunity to push the boundaries of their work through thoughtful and intentional next steps.

• Provide audiences a platform to discover new music. The Cedar Commissions offers an exciting opportunity to reach, serve, and engage new communities with unique music and performance they have never seen before.

• Increase artist exposure. By presenting The Cedar Commissions annually, The Cedar is building an audience for emerging artists. Our press coverage has also grown steadily, helping to raise awareness about the work to the wider public.

• Foster and develop artists’ work and creativity. The Cedar Commissions provides artists with the resources, opportunities, and flexibility to explore new creative pathways and collaborations, cultivating and improving the artists’ skills and talent.

All performances for this year’s Cedar Commissions filmed and edited by Free Truth Media

Visit Free Truth Media’s Website

The Cedar Commissions is made possible in part by a grant from the Jerome Foundation.