“I am incredibly grateful and humbled to be chosen as a Student Innovation Grant Award recipient. “The embodiment of African American Art Song” has been a project of mine for several years, and I could not have done this without the support of Baba Stafford C. Berry Jr. and students of the African American Dance Company here at IU. “
Eliana Barwinski is currently a second-year Doctoral student in Voice, minoring in Music Education and Historical Performance, and holds degrees from the University of Michigan. In addition to opera, research interests include early and sacred music, Anglican choral music, and art songs from underrepresented cultures. Barwinski’s teachers and mentors, Dr. Louise Toppin, Dr. Eugene Rogers, and Dr. Allan Armstrong, have been instrumental in supporting her research efforts and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work. This mentorship also reflects in her positions as Manager for IU’s African American Dance Company and Reimagining Opera for Kids.
Eliana conducts a collaborative project, joining forces of several JSoM BIPOC singers, a JSoM pianist, and three dancers from the African American Dance Company. United under Margaret Bonds’ ‘Three Dream Portraits,’ this project will premier at on April 15, 2023 at the Buskirk Chumley Theater; Barwinski hopes to collect a filming of the performance, to be shown at the Bloomington Juneteenth gathering among other showing opportunities.