Communities: Nashville, Huntingburg, Bloomington
Launched: 7 performances and 3 workshops
Engaged: 10 separate audiences
Involved: 1 JSoM faculty
Summary
IU JsoM faculty Kim Carballo brought her own ensemble, Amity Trio, to Bloomington in the end of March, holding three workshops and seven performances over the course of a week. The Amity Trio was joined by JSoM alumni Richard White, as well as composers Nur Slim and Maggie Polk Olivio, and singer Olga Perez Flora. Community events were scheduled at Monroe County Public Library, Fairview Elementary School, Rogers Elementary School, Thyen-Clarke Cultural Center in Jasper, Huntingburg Elementary School, and Huntingburg High School.
The Amity Trio, consisting of soprano Katie Dukes, horn player Michael Walker, and pianist Kimberly Carballo, is a strong advocate for music written by living composers, especially that of
underrepresented voices. Officially formed in 2018, the group met during a community engagement project near the end of their school studies and have been working and performing together ever since.
The Amity Trio performed Nur Slim’s children’s opera Lucrecia y el Canto de los Dudasaurios several times around the state during the week. The opera, sung in Spanish by mezzo-soprano Olga Perez Flora, was narrated in English by composer Nur Slim, and was accompanied by workbooks that had been translated into English.
A recital program in Auer Hall on the JSoM campus featuring Amity Trio and tubist Richard White featured three sets by North American composers who identify as women- Dr. Carrie Magin, Barbara York, and Dr. Alice Jones; two of these sets are included in the group’s recently debut album, Between Us Now.
The week’s activities also included two performances of Bloomington-based composer Maggie Polk-Olivio’s newly commissioned work, Illuminating Apologues. This work was created for the Amity Trio in collaboration with visual artist Haran Kim and poet Luba Winship, combining Polk-Olivio’s love of music composition, collaborative art making, and programming with youth in mind. Polk-Olivo, music teacher and arts coordinator at Bloomington’s Fairview Elementary School, also serves as the Bridges Musical Arts Youth Organization’s program director, Jacobs Academy’s IU Musical Beginnings director, and is the founder and director of the BloomingSongs project.
“Children were thrilled to not only hear the music, but to hear explanations about breath support, extended techniques on the piano, and the origins of the horn. Part of what makes Amity Trio so unique is their open mindedness to work with artists and educators. They don’t see to be afraid to try anything!”
-Elementary School Educator
Read more about this project in our blog
Others Involved:
Lannie Butler
Katie Dukes
Olga Perez Flora
Erich Kendall
John Kendall
Maggie Polk-Olivio
Nur Slim
Michael Walker
Richard White