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rstander_1.jpg Loading Video . . . Artist Ryan Stander created a thoughtful piece in response to the theme of "Memory" from Psalm 88 and Psalm 106. Psalms 106 Psalms 88 Untitled (Stander) By Ryan Stander Credits: Curated by: Emily Clare Zempel 2013 Lithograph + Objects Photography, Mixed Media Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Since seminary, the Psalms have had a special place in my heart and theology particularly the provocative lament and complaint Psalms as they draw upon memory in such interesting ways. Faith and our utter need for salvation allows Christians to boldly approach God baring the ugly realities of all that is wrong in the world to the only One who can set things aright. The psalmist’s testimonies left nothing out of their purview: praise and bitterness, hope and fear, life and death. In addition to the psalms that convey this emotional gamut, some also contain brute and penetrating questions of Yahweh: Why? Where? How long? These laments (and these questions of complaint) are firmly rooted in Israel’s covenant with God, utilizing memory of the both the individual and community. But more provocatively, many of the Psalms remind God of God’s own past promises and salvific actions. In other words, they remind God to be God. I chose two Psalms to inspire this work, Psalm 88 and 106. Both use memory in curious ways as alluded to above. The psalmist in Psalm 88 recalls his current desperate circumstances and fears that having been forgotten by God. He then challenges God to recall God’s own attributes and past actions of “wonder”, “steadfast love”, and “faithfulness” in efforts to stir God into saving action once again. Psalm 106 recalls both sides of the covenant: God’s salvific actions on Israel’s behalf and Israel’s efforts and failures to live out their part of the covenant relationship. The psalmist says, “For their sake he remembered his covenant, and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.” Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Originally from northwest Iowa, Ryan Stander is a fairly recent transplant to the plains of North Dakota. His education has alternated between art and theology with a BA in Art from Northwestern College (IA), an MA in Bible and Theology from Sioux Falls Seminary (SD), and an MFA from the University of North Dakota. His research brings liturgical theology and the arts into dynamic conversations. In particular, Stander explores how the sacramental imagination, as formed through liturgical participation, engages ideas of place/space, and other cultural forms including the visual arts. As an artist, his work moves between printmaking and photography, with a keen interest in lithography and alternative photographic processes. Thematically, Stander’s work often engages concepts of memory and identity. Ryan and his wife Karina recently moved to Minot, ND where he serves as an Assistant Professor of Art at Minot State University. Teaching primarily photography, Stander also recently started and now serves as the director for Flat Tail Press, an educational printmaking studio at Minot State University. Website Ryan Stander About the Artist Ryan Stander Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Poet Lynn Powell explores the theme of "Harvest" from Job 38:25-28. Job 38:25-28 At the Equinox By Lynn Powell Credits: Curated by: Emily Ruth Hazel 2013 Poetry Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I have always found odd comfort in the Voice from the Whirlwind's answer to Job's anguished questions about human suffering. Instead of answering Job on his own human terms, the Lord flings out fierce, exquisite questions, asserting the vastness, mystery, and unfathomable complexity of creation. Humanity is hardly mentioned in the litany of creation's scope and wonder, ferocity and beauty. It's that cosmic perspective I find, in my most receptive moments, thrilling and calming and liberating, both as a person and as an artist. In this little poem, I try to evoke the orders of magnitude of creation, which continues within and around and through us in countless, inventive ways. As a poet, I "work the dark with rigs of silk," and am grateful for the little galaxies that occasionally condense, for a while, on those thin lines. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Lynn Powell is the author of two books of poetry, Old & New Testaments and The Zones of Paradise, and a book of nonfiction, Framing Innocence: A Mother’s Photographs, a Prosecutor’s Zeal, and a Small Town’s Response . Among her awards are fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council, the Studs and Ida Terkel Award from The New Press, and the Brittingham Prize in Poetry. Her poems have been published in many magazines, including Poetry, FIELD, Image, Tiferet , and The Paris Review , and have been anthologized in 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Everyday and The Norton Introduction to Literature. Poems from her current book-in-progress, A Scherzo for Sadness, are forthcoming this fall in Shenandoah and The Georgia Review . A native of East Tennessee, she has lived with her family in Oberlin, Ohio, since 1990. Website Lynn Powell About the Artist Lynn Powell Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art For a little while after the fog lifts, the autumn field flashes with sudden flowers‚ like filigrees of mirror, like alloys of lace and light. View Full Written Work AT THE EQUINOX by Lynn Powell Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? -Job 38:28 For a little while after the fog lifts, the autumn field flashes with sudden flowers- like filigrees of mirror, like alloys of lace and light. A weird miracle? Some manic, brilliant manna? -until, of course, it's spiders -ten thousand that have worked the dark with rigs of silk to snag a fly and then, surprising themselves, have step-fathered the dew. And so, for an odd hour, their creations glisten like galaxies, sieved from a passing thought of lake and air. Close Loading Video . . . For a little while after the fog lifts, the autumn field flashes with sudden flowers‚ like filigrees of mirror, like alloys of lace and light. Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . The lullaby, Loving Arms, is a lullaby written in response to the famous section of Scripture known as "Jesus and the Little Children". Mark 10:14-16 Loving Arms By Jonathon Roberts Credits: Music and lyrics by Jonathon Roberts Performed by Jonathon Roberts and Emily Clare Zempel Artist Location: New York City Curated by: Commission 2011 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link Loving Arms is a lullaby written in response to Jesus’ invitation to the little children in Mark 10:14-16. This song was commissioned by two friends of Spark+Echo Arts as a lullaby for their new baby girl, born June 27th, 2011. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection J onathon Roberts is a composer and sound designer for games, film, theatre, and ensembles. His style grew out of classical and jazz training, and evolved through quality life adventures: touring the country in an RV with a one person theater piece on the Apostle Paul, living in Brooklyn with an improv music ensemble, performing in a downtown NYC absurdist comedy band, and a long stint writing music for the renowned slot machine company, High 5 Games. He has released four albums including the latest, Cities a song cycle personifying biblical cities. He created the popular podcast/web series ComposerDad Vs. Bible , in which ComposerDad accepts intense compositional challenges from a mysterious Bible while out with his kids. He frequently collaborates on music and theater projects with his wife, actor Emily Clare Zempel. They live in Beacon, NY, with their two boys and a tangled box of electrical cords. www.jonathonroberts.com Website Jonathon Roberts About the Artist I Make Tents The Sower Response There Is Room These are My Sons Consider Me a Partner Weakness The Day Is Almost Here Surrogate Babbler Remember Me Prayer How Beautiful I Am a Fool The Constant Ecclesiastes Cows Blessing Fools for Christ More Than Rubies Only a Few Years Will Pass Dear Friend Jonathon Roberts Other Works By Loving Arms Score Loving Arms Chords/Lyrics Loving Arms Jonathon Roberts As you lay your little head May you hear what Jesus says Let the little children come to me For my Father’s kingdom belongs to these As you close your little eyes Send your worries to the skies Stars like the drops of water on your skin The day when the word and the Spirit first came in, and Jesus loved you so Oh, he’ll always hold you in his loving arms As you dream my little one May you dream upon the Son See his tender arms reach out to you Feel the blessing of his hands and know, he’ll never let you go Oh, he’ll always hold you in his loving arms Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Filmmaker Michael Markham wrote this screenplay for "The Call" in response to 1 Kings 19:1-14 and in reflection of his recent experiences. The Call By Michael Markham Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2017 Screenplay Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link It took a long time for this story to materialize. I picked this passage as it speaks to my current struggles with God and with my art. This last April I shot my current film, "The Decades of Mason Carroll." It was a very intense experience as production pressure is usually magnified by the realities of low-budget indie filmmaking. After that giant push, I found myself in an extended period of depression which conflicted with the prolonged post-process for the film. At some point I described this to an advisor who said, "You need to sleep." She pointed me to this story in Kings. Elijah had just finished this amazing feat of faith, a demonstration of God's power, by calling down fire from heaven to burn up his sacrifice then slaughtering the prophets of Baal with the sword. But instead of taking a victory lap he's running for his life in the wilderness, searching for God. God meets him and feeds him and tells him to sleep. Then feeds him again. He then travels for 40 days to the mountain of God (Horeb, also known as Sinai). When he gets there God doesn't reveal himself in an awesome show of power (not the wind, nor earthquake, nor fire), but through a still small voice. From our perspective it feels easy to think, "I wish God would give me a sign that's easy to read like he did in the bible." But if you look at the bible in total, he doesn't often work that way, It's usually through his people, in quieter and more subtle ways. Elijah had just taken part in an episode where God showed up in "biblical" fashion, decisively conquering His enemies. But instead of trusting Him, Elijah chooses to fear Jezebel and Ahab and runs for his life. And God provided for him. Justifiably, Elijah was exhausted. I can't imagine the effort, physically and spiritually, it takes to call down fire from heaven and then have 450 people put to death with the sword and then run to Jezreel from the Kishon Valley faster than Ahab could get there in a chariot. And when he's running scared, God says, "Eat. Sleep. Now eat again. You'll need your strength." That's why I was referred to this story. I had just finished this massive creative/physical/mental effort to get through production and instead of getting a break, I started post facing several immediate setbacks and a few people I had relied on needing to pull out. I felt alone with another mountain to climb and like Elijah my spirit wanted to fall down in the desert and die. And then in my despair I kept looking for God to sweep in and miraculously set things right, like he had during filming. There was so many things way out of my control that had gone right that week and a half for me to deny God's hand in it. But instead of trusting him, I turned right around and began to doubt His care for me. So sitting with all of that, I wanted to find a way to communicate that spiritual desire to cry out and die. Once the physical manifestation of that appeared to me, the rest of the story fell in line. I was able to build the whole story off of that physicalization of internal conflict. From there it was just a matter of finding the details as they appeared. I found often the simplest solution was to pull details directly from Elijah's story. After all, it was already there for me. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Michael Markham is an Actor/Filmmaker based out of New York City. His favorite roles in New York include Platonov in The Spectacular Demise of Platonov at Shapiro Theater; Frizer in christopher marlowe’s chloroform dreams at The Red Room with Lunar Energy; Giant in Giants at HERE; and The Singing Soldier in Mother Courage and Her Children at The New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park. Film and television include Law & Order; When Things Fall Apart; Home Office; Fumes; Lies; Unearthed; Game Theory; and Blind Date. Though his production company KiteMonkey Productions Michael has created over 10 short films in the past 5 years. His currently project The Decades of Mason Carroll is currently in final stage of post production. Look for it on the festival circuit in 2018. Michael graduated from The Juilliard School Drama Division, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Acting from Washington University in St. Louis. He currently lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children. Website Michael Markham About the Artist Genesis 1:3 Michael Markham Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art INT. NEW YORK APARTMENT - DUSK Eli stands over a body laying on the floor. He is tense and breathing heavily from some physical effort. His hands are bruised, possibly bloody. View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . INT. NEW YORK APARTMENT - DUSK Eli stands over a body laying on the floor. He is tense and breathing heavily from some physical effort. His hands are bruised, possibly bloody. Download Full Written Work

daniel-rosenhanst-diptic_together-small.jpg Loading Video . . . This work from Lamentations by Brooklyn artist Daniel RosenHanst explores Lamentations 3:1-33 in a stunning diptych. Lamentations 3:1-33 Dwelling in Darkness By Daniel RosenHanst Credits: Curated by: Evelyn C. Lewis 2015 Diptych. 2 panels, 8.5 x 11 inches each Paper, Charcoal, Found drawings on Wood Panels Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I chose this particular passage because I was drawn to it’s contrasts. On one hand, the passage explains God’s wrath in vivid horrifying detail: “He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.” “He dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. ” I felt this section certainly related to the feelings I try to convey as an artist. I wanted the viewer to feel the dirtiness on the paper the way a sinner might feel the result of his actions. I wanted a visceral reaction to the animated bones looking alive, but also dead. This is the anguish of disobeying GOD. Later in the passage the narrator talks of hope and salvation. I thought this could be portrayed by the seasonal vegetables and the young boy. I wanted to give the viewer a small sense of hope throughout this dark narrative.” For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, “so great is his unfailing love.” There is a symmetry to this contrast of ideas and I wanted to relay this. I like the idea that one cannot have the pleasure of GOD without feeling pain first. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Daniel RosenHanst is an artist, writer and music producer from Brooklyn, NY. Daniel presents a visual narrative by joining dissimilar figures in fictitious space. Through situation, patterning, text, collage, and scale Daniel creates a surreal story with no beginning, middle or end. All of his works intend to display brutality coexisting with dark humor. Daniel earned a bachelors degree at Pratt Institute in Painting. He can also be found rapping under his musical pseudonym, “Doctor Breakfast.” Website Daniel RosenHanst About the Artist Daniel RosenHanst Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . In this set of images, Jonathon Roberts imagines cows sharing deep truths about the toil of work, as expressed in Ecclesiastes 3. This exploration is also inspired by a letter-turned-song from his father, a veterinarian for dairy cattle, shared in his artist statement. Ecclesiastes 3:9-22 Ecclesiastes Cows By Jonathon Roberts Credits: Photo Credit: FreePhotoBank.com Artist location: New York City/Wisconsin Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2010 Digital images, satire, music Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link The way Ecclesiastes talks about meaninglessness and the toil of work has always captivated me. Around the time I was thinking about these concepts, my father, John Roberts, a veterinarian who primarily serves dairy farms, sent me a letter. He is a beautiful writer and often has poignant thoughts about his work and his life in rural northern Wisconsin. The letter turned into a song called "State of the Art Veterinarian." This got me thinking about cows and the way they stare at us, at farmers and veterinarians as they work. What are they thinking about? Do they have some sort of wisdom or insight into the meaningless and toil of work? Then, to be honest, it just really made me smile and laugh to think of cows speaking verses from Ecclesiastes. So... there you go. Oh, one more thing. I often imagine an Ecclesiastes cow would make a great t-shirt. Who's with me? Here is the design by Paula Roberts . We're already half way there! Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection J onathon Roberts is a composer and sound designer for games, film, theatre, and ensembles. His style grew out of classical and jazz training, and evolved through quality life adventures: touring the country in an RV with a one person theater piece on the Apostle Paul, living in Brooklyn with an improv music ensemble, performing in a downtown NYC absurdist comedy band, and a long stint writing music for the renowned slot machine company, High 5 Games. He has released four albums including the latest, Cities a song cycle personifying biblical cities. He created the popular podcast/web series ComposerDad Vs. Bible , in which ComposerDad accepts intense compositional challenges from a mysterious Bible while out with his kids. He frequently collaborates on music and theater projects with his wife, actor Emily Clare Zempel. They live in Beacon, NY, with their two boys and a tangled box of electrical cords. www.jonathonroberts.com Website Jonathon Roberts About the Artist Loving Arms I Make Tents The Sower Response There Is Room These are My Sons Consider Me a Partner Weakness The Day Is Almost Here Surrogate Babbler Remember Me Prayer How Beautiful I Am a Fool The Constant Blessing Fools for Christ More Than Rubies Only a Few Years Will Pass Dear Friend Jonathon Roberts Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . This song by returning multi-disciplinary artist Aaron Beaumont beautifully captures a sense of ache and hopeful longing felt in the midst of suffering in response to 2 Thessalonians 1:5,11; 2:15-17. 2 Thessalonians 1:5 2 Thessalonians 1:11 2 Thessalonians 2:15–17 Lightness of the Pines By Aaron Beaumont Credits: Written, Performed, Produced by Aaron Beaumont Violin and Viola by Pauline Kim Harris Cello by Christine Kim Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2018 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link I made the mistake of telling my primary care physician that I’m “probably a hypochondriac” on my first visit. He gives me unequivocal side-eye whenever I pass by his office, apparently healthy, to pick up a referral (his office being en route to the train, I have ample occasion to evaluate the nuances of my health). His skepticism isn’t without merit. I’m in good health, and if anything, tend to go longer than I should between check-ups. However, while not quite What-About-Bob level, when some faceless infirmity does arise, you might as well call me Henny Penny Beaumont. I’ve mistaken mild gum recession for an abscess in need of a life-saving root canal. Or there was the time I needed either A) a day or two to properly break in my new shoes or B) knee replacement surgery. It turns out it was the former. Phew!) Goodness knows how much shade Doctor P. would’ve thrown had I only been able to determine which and how many surgeons to call that one time I had heartburn. Point is, however minor the affliction, when something hurts, I want relief. What stands out to me in this text is its conspicuous lack of relief. The recipients of Paul’s letter find themselves suspended in a state of “suffering,” awaiting some ambiguous future reckoning. Justice may be “on the way,” but this seems a cold comfort to anyone currently in distress. And yet, this does not preclude them from finding “unending help,” “confidence,” “a fresh heart,” invigorated work, and enlivened speech. The act of sitting with one’s suffering, unresolved and uncomfortable, let alone finding in it “a fresh heart” would seem anathema to a thinking, feeling human. It only seems possible through some transformative inner reframing - spiritual work allowing distance between thought and thinker, feeling and feeler. This extension of the passage intrigues me most - the idea, as in Job’s story, of sitting in the ashes of human experience, in the bleakest parts, in places where we’re perhaps unmoored from spiritual anchors, and rather than attempting to hurry through, escape, or evaluate our circumstances as somehow curative or punitive, simply abiding in them. Easier said than done, right?! Our instinct in darkness is to find a light, and in discomfort to restore and relieve. While suffering may ultimately become a seed for growth and even triumph, and darkness may compel us forward to some breakthrough, we aren’t naturally given to mindfully considering that place in which there is no light at the end of the figurative tunnel. We’ve all heard platitudes like “it’s always darkest before dawn.” But what about when it’s just plain dark? This is the space I tried to imagine in my piece… albeit reluctantly at first! This isn’t my first Spark and Echo rodeo (it is in fact my sixth official S&E post!). Therefore I should know by now that when I tell Program Manager Rebecca that “the vibe I’m feeling” is something “more redemptive,” this naturally consigns me to instead exploring the Dark Night of the Soul, “a period of spiritual desolation suffered by a mystic in which all sense of consolation is removed.” As such, I took pains (no pun intended) to resist pat assurances of comfort or redemption here, and rather, sought to consider the act of sitting within a fathomless, desolate, indeterminate wilderness of mind or spirit. As in my previous (admittedly sunnier, zoological-leaning ) Spark pieces, I rely heavily on nature as the exploratory vehicle. Along with a “night vs day” dichotomy and seasonal imagery, I use “the pines” symbolically as an allusion to the Biblical cross (as a likely candidate for its make-up), the eponymous traditional song, and a literal pinebox, and as a literal impenetrable natural setting. I attempt to subvert the “blind vs sighted” and “night vs day” binaries by acknowledging their distinctive modes of perception, rather than conceiving one as simply a lack of some property in the other. Similarly, the string arrangement and palette serve as a foil to somewhat sonically undercut, complicate, and perhaps ultimately elevate the bleakness. I tilled the lyrical fields by re-visiting favorite literary seekers and grapplers: R. S. Thomas , R. M. Rilke , and Wendell Berry. Referencing Berry’s “Peace of Wild Things” in the last stanza, the singer re-imagines God as a solitary beast ranging over this spiritual wild, shunning crowds and cluttered daylight, unencumbered by the limited projections of our faith, yet nevertheless kindred in his own infinite loneliness positioned as the Most High. There’s a sort of “dark night of the soul” at the beginning of every new project, especially one with few parameters, and usually a point in the middle where I think to myself, “maybe I just won’t show this one to anyone.” Here again, as is my S&E M.O., I’ve wandered outside my musical comfort zone, and in the process created something I find, in the end, tonally awkward and ill at ease - perhaps not intentional, but also maybe fitting, given the subject. As a self-professed pop-head, I committed a cardinal sin of pop lyricism - while I set out to write a lyric, in the end I only managed something more like a poem, which, for me, a lyric should never be. I try to use a weird word or two in every song for fun (the hopeless word-nerd in me is shamelessly amused to no end by, say, rhyming “ocelot” with “...Spanish moss I thought”). That said, I don’t see “fathomless” or “unfettered” going into regular lyrical rotation anytime soon! However, rather than retreat to the warm, familiar blanket of pop convention, I leaned into the more oblique, imagistic, less easily-digestible lyricism, for better or worse. Similarly, I resisted my usual maximalist urge for a florid vocal arrangement and kitchen-sink orchestration. But in the spirit of this project and text, I will sit within the artistic discomfort, and abide the dark night of my sunny pop-loving soul. However, if my pop-loving soul still hurts in the morning, I’m probably stopping by Dr. P.’s for a referral. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Aaron Beaumont has toured the U.S. and Europe as a pianist and songwriter and been invited to share his work in wide-ranging venues from the Sziget Festival in Budapest to KCRW Santa Monica to the Tribeca Film Festival to off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village to the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. L.A. Weekly wrote that Aaron's music brings "a new life to the ancient music-hall/pop piano-man tradition, with clear-headed songs of genuinely witty lyrical oomph and, most of all, a historically informed musical depth – all delivered with style, grace, wit and elan, of course." Aaron wrote one song, arranged two others, and served as a piano performance coach for the feature Permission (Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival), which premieres worldwide February 2018. He also contributed two songs to the forthcoming series Dan is Dead (Drake Bell, Maker Studios) and two songs to the indie feature film Alex & Jaime (2017 Roxbury International Film Festival). Aaron contributed an original co-write (“17”) and several arrangements to Gil McKinney’s 2017 debut album, How Was I to Know, which reached #1 on the iTunes jazz chart and #8 on the Billboard jazz chart. He also co-wrote “Good Love” for Briana Buckmaster’s 2018 debut album (#1 iTunes blues, #3 Billboard blues). Other recent TV and film placements include original songs written for Cedar Cove (Andie McDowell) and Where Hope Grows (Billy Zabka, Danica McKellar; Dallas Film Festival, Roadside Attractions). Aaron has composed original scores for films and theatrical productions, including All the Lovely Wayside Things; Tall, Dark, and Handsome; Heart; Until We Have Faces; Shrew; The Fire Room; the Breakfast Show with Adam O; Companion; and Beyond Imagination, winning best score and sound design at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for his work on Fugitive Kind’s production of The Fire Room by Ovation Award-winning playwright Meghan Brown. In 2016, Aaron wrote a commissioned work for the Spark & Echo Arts project, and in 2017 Aaron created a larger scale work as an Artist in Residence. Aaron also works as an in-house arranger, producer, composer, and mix engineer for the Gregory Brothers / Schmoyoho, whose original music has earned them a gold and platinum record and nearly one billion views on YouTube, along with myriad collaborations on other platforms. Recent Gregory Brothers collabs include the Justice League film (ft. Gary Clark Jr.), Weird Al Yankovic, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bassnectar, Alex Wassabi, LaurDIY, Markiplier, Slow Mo Guys, Todrick Hall, J. Fla, The Resident (Fox Network), and the International Olympic Channel. Songs Aaron has worked on with the Gregory Brothers have received over 175 million plays on YouTube. In 2015, Aaron participated in the Ultraviolet Music and Arts Festival in Los Angeles as a featured artist and presenter, and performed with his band The Mots Nouveaux for the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Rockwood Music Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. Aaron wrote the music and lyrics to the original musical, Behind Closed Doors, which sold out every performance at the historic Hayworth Theater, received multiple Broadway World L.A. Award nominations, and played for thousands of festival goers on the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. Behind Closed Doors was selected to participate in the New York International Fringe Festival as a national show, enjoying a mostly oversold run at off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village. Aaron was selected as a finalist as a composer and lyricist for the Fred Ebb Foundation / Roundabout Theatre Company Fred Ebb Award for musical theater songwriters, and received the Hal Gaba Scholarship for Excellence in Lyrics from UCLA/Concord Records. Aaron is currently developing new musicals with playwrights Meghan Brown, Andrew Crabtree, Peter Berube, and Cassandra Christensen, and a one-woman show with soprano Lorelei Zarifian. Lorelei and Aaron’s first musical triptych, Midtown Antoinette, was featured on NPR-affiliate WFIT in March 2016 and debuted as part of the Florida Tech / Foosaner Museum French Film Festival. Aaron also occasionally helps produce the outrageous bingo raves phenomenon, Rebel Bingo, in New York and Los Angeles, as featured in the L.A. Times, Guardian, and BBC , and recently played a run of five capacity shows in the downtown L.A.’s Globe Theatre as part of 2016 Night on Broadway. Aaron has collaborated as pianist, musical director, and/or co-writer with a panoply of music buddies, including Jason Manns, Gil McKinney, Sara Niemietz, Tim Omundsen, Dave Yaden, Nicholas Zork, Aaron Roche, Nick Bearden, Emma Fitzpatrick, Amanda Wallace, Shane Alexander, Ben Jaffe, Brett Young, Courtney Bassett, Eden Malyn, Luis Selgas, Aly French, Sam Heldt, Karma Jenkins, Emily Iaquinta, Lynette Williams, Meshach Jackson, Roy Mitchell-Cardenas, Kamasi Washington, Chad Doreck, J.T. Spangler, and Katrina Parker. He claimed several distinctions as a young classical pianist, including two-time Wisconsin Academy Musician of the Year, Andrews University Concerto Competition Finalist, and the British Royal Conservatory of Music Award of Highest Distinction for Piano Performance at the Newbold Creative Arts Festival. He currently serves as co-chair of the Carnegie Hill Concert Series in New York, featuring leading interpreters of classical and New Music from around the globe. In 2015, Aaron founded SongLab, an online songwriting community for emerging songwriters. The inaugural SongLab Series welcomed GRAMMY-winner Dave Yaden as special guest. In addition to working with other artists, Aaron performs as one-third of the pop trio, The Mots Nouveaux, alongside vocalists Emma Fitzpatrick and Amanda Wallace. The band celebrated their latest album release with a residency at Hotel Café, a six-month residency at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, and residencies at Rockwood Music Hall and Sidewalk Café in New York. They were invited to join the lineup for the Broke L.A. Music Festival in downtown Los Angeles, where Lyynks music hailed their set as the “greatest revelation” of the festival, one that “really thrilled the crowd” of thousands at the Lounge Stage (GroundSounds.com). The Mots Nouveaux recorded a new EP in Spring 2017 with co-producer Peter Barbee / Among Savages, with forthcoming tracks slated for 2018 release. Aaron released his debut solo project, Nothing's Forever (Not Even Goodbye), featuring the first ten songs he wrote, on Milan Records (Warner-Ryko) in 2008. In his spare time, Aaron enjoys playing the piano, traveling, eating, writing songs, making coffee, drinking coffee, collecting records, going for brisk walks, being near coffee, and composing extensive autobiographical sketches in the third person. Website Aaron Beaumont About the Artist Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 3 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 2 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 1 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont Narwhal and Ocelot (Dietary Restrictions) Aaron Beaumont Other Works By Read the lyrics to "Lightness of the Pines." Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . This soulful piece, composed by Nehemiah Luckett in response to Joel 2:3, produces a sound that is reminiscent of church choirs combined with Broadway. Joel 2:3 Devouring Fire By Nehemiah Luckett Credits: Composed and Performed by Nehemiah Luckett Curated by: Katie Reimer 2017 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link It should be noted that while I was ruminating on this piece many wildfires broke out around the world; from North America to Europe to Greenland. 2017 was an unprecedented year for both actual and metaphorical fires. In this piece I wanted to explore the inner monologue of the lone voice crying out in the wilderness to anyone who will listen. Inspired by Joel and T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland and in conversation with my engineer, producer and friend, Travis Tench, we landed on the concept of a solitary figure seeing this all consuming fire approaching. The sparseness of the orchestration reflects the stunning effect of this vision. Throughout the song with increasing intensity the warning bell sounds: "Fire!" Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, Nehemiah Luckett has been composing, conducting and performing for over 20 years. He has been a featured soloist at the National Cathedral, Carnegie Hall and has performed all over the US and Europe. He has composed solo, choral and instrumental pieces. His Secular Mass (a five movement work for chorus, string quartet and oboe) was premiered in 2004. In 2015 he was commissioned by Greenpeace UK to compose Requiem for Arctic Ice: The Northernmost Par t. In January 2017 his piece Kyrie 2017 was premiered at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He has also written two full length musicals: Hamlet: Prince of Funk (1999) based on the Shakespearean classic with collaborators Owen Beverly (Evans) and Matthew Smith and Brick by Brick (2006), based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe with collaborator, Ross Wade. Nehemiah is the Music Director and composer for Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir and is the choral accompanist and Drama teacher for Manhattan Country School. He has a deep gratitude for Power APAC (Academic and Performing Arts Complex) in Jackson, Mississippi where he studied music and theater and his family that allowed him to dream crazy dreams. Website Nehemiah Luckett About the Artist Nehemiah Luckett Other Works By Read the lyrics: "Devouring Fire" Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

aaron-beaumont-air-post-3-feat.jpg Loading Video . . . One of my earlier memories is a short exchange I had with my mom when I was somewhere around 4 or 5 years old, probably at the end of summer. I sat on my bed ruefully, and mom came in to investigate the cause of distress. Find the complete progression of the work linked below. Daniel 4 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 3 By Aaron Beaumont Credits: Curated by: Spark & Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2017 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link September 18, 2017 One of my earlier memories is a short exchange I had with my mom when I was somewhere around 4 or 5 years old, probably at the end of summer. I sat on my bed ruefully, and mom came in to investigate the cause of distress. I informed her that my gloominess was down to the realization that I was growing up, and the fact that I didn’t want to. You might say I’ve had a adult-sized dose of nostalgia from birth. While, paradoxically, I’ve usually welcomed change, moving coast to coast, switching schools nearly every year, marauding over the frontier of my comfort zone, I’ve been equally obsessed with preserving my own past, or guilt-stricken when I fail to do so. This summer I pawed through a mountain of boxes back home in Illinois, filled with travel maps, notes from classmates, restaurant receipts, train fares, soccer jerseys, book reports, and concert tickets — I’m not a pack rat (he tells himself in the mirror every morning)… at least not in the age of limitless digital photos and magical apps like Genius Scan. Obsessively documenting and recording one’s life is not unique — rather, it seems like a prerequisite of the social media age. Grappling with this passage’s complicated depiction of madness (presumed to be clinical lycanthropy), while simultaneously grappling with whether or not to keep that 90s era 6 Days, 7 nights movie stub, or simply take a photo of it, finally revealed something of the crux of Nebuchadnezzar’s plight: he found himself suddenly bereft of a past. The sudden absence of my own history, of memories of any kind, would for me represent the purest kind of madness, and maybe the worst kind of hell. Uprooted, and thrown into a completely unfamiliar state, the king had no context or sense of identity — one might even imagine Nebuchadnezzar as having been “born” into some new reality, plunging from solipsism into a complete loss of self. Indeed, the relationship between what we are and what we imagine ourselves to have been is challenging enough at full mental capacity. Imagining such a state, and ruminating generally on the dynamic nature of identity and the fragmentary process of memory-and-meaning-making, guided much of my progress on my project during this phase. “Sampling” seemed an especially well suited analogue to this exploration of identity, memory, permanence, and personal histories. As such, I’ve made use of dozens of samples from my own existing musical catalogue, all the way back to my very earliest recordings of the first songs I ever wrote. Similarly, I’ve used field recordings and audio samples from my own life – time I’ve spent with my family, the sounds of rooms and rivers and seashells and fireworks. Many of these field recordings did not originate for this project, but rather out of my own quest to simply remember and record things that are most important to me. I tried to choose from these recordings samples that represent a journey through the wonder and terror of newness and things that might relate the very human experience of birth, growing, and self-realization to the story in Daniel 4. I also tried to place more emphasis on the mania, darkness, and alienation of Nebuchadnezzar’s bestial state, represented in the unsettling disintegration sketched out in movement three with its chopped and mangled samples and heavy effects. I’ve pieced all these materials into a very rough construction of the full musical collage, which I’ve imagined in five movements (expanding on the four sketches I included in post #2 ). In addition to considerable polishing, mixing, rearranging, and inevitably, trimming, I plan to record more live instruments to flesh out the sections, and especially, add non-sampled vocals for movements three through five. All music written, performed, and produced by Aaron Beaumont. 2017 Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Aaron Beaumont has toured the U.S. and Europe as a pianist and songwriter and been invited to share his work in wide-ranging venues from the Sziget Festival in Budapest to KCRW Santa Monica to the Tribeca Film Festival to off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village to the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. L.A. Weekly wrote that Aaron's music brings "a new life to the ancient music-hall/pop piano-man tradition, with clear-headed songs of genuinely witty lyrical oomph and, most of all, a historically informed musical depth – all delivered with style, grace, wit and elan, of course." Aaron wrote one song, arranged two others, and served as a piano performance coach for the feature Permission (Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival), which premieres worldwide February 2018. He also contributed two songs to the forthcoming series Dan is Dead (Drake Bell, Maker Studios) and two songs to the indie feature film Alex & Jaime (2017 Roxbury International Film Festival). Aaron contributed an original co-write (“17”) and several arrangements to Gil McKinney’s 2017 debut album, How Was I to Know, which reached #1 on the iTunes jazz chart and #8 on the Billboard jazz chart. He also co-wrote “Good Love” for Briana Buckmaster’s 2018 debut album (#1 iTunes blues, #3 Billboard blues). Other recent TV and film placements include original songs written for Cedar Cove (Andie McDowell) and Where Hope Grows (Billy Zabka, Danica McKellar; Dallas Film Festival, Roadside Attractions). Aaron has composed original scores for films and theatrical productions, including All the Lovely Wayside Things; Tall, Dark, and Handsome; Heart; Until We Have Faces; Shrew; The Fire Room; the Breakfast Show with Adam O; Companion; and Beyond Imagination, winning best score and sound design at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for his work on Fugitive Kind’s production of The Fire Room by Ovation Award-winning playwright Meghan Brown. In 2016, Aaron wrote a commissioned work for the Spark & Echo Arts project, and in 2017 Aaron created a larger scale work as an Artist in Residence. Aaron also works as an in-house arranger, producer, composer, and mix engineer for the Gregory Brothers / Schmoyoho, whose original music has earned them a gold and platinum record and nearly one billion views on YouTube, along with myriad collaborations on other platforms. Recent Gregory Brothers collabs include the Justice League film (ft. Gary Clark Jr.), Weird Al Yankovic, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bassnectar, Alex Wassabi, LaurDIY, Markiplier, Slow Mo Guys, Todrick Hall, J. Fla, The Resident (Fox Network), and the International Olympic Channel. Songs Aaron has worked on with the Gregory Brothers have received over 175 million plays on YouTube. In 2015, Aaron participated in the Ultraviolet Music and Arts Festival in Los Angeles as a featured artist and presenter, and performed with his band The Mots Nouveaux for the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Rockwood Music Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. Aaron wrote the music and lyrics to the original musical, Behind Closed Doors, which sold out every performance at the historic Hayworth Theater, received multiple Broadway World L.A. Award nominations, and played for thousands of festival goers on the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. Behind Closed Doors was selected to participate in the New York International Fringe Festival as a national show, enjoying a mostly oversold run at off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village. Aaron was selected as a finalist as a composer and lyricist for the Fred Ebb Foundation / Roundabout Theatre Company Fred Ebb Award for musical theater songwriters, and received the Hal Gaba Scholarship for Excellence in Lyrics from UCLA/Concord Records. Aaron is currently developing new musicals with playwrights Meghan Brown, Andrew Crabtree, Peter Berube, and Cassandra Christensen, and a one-woman show with soprano Lorelei Zarifian. Lorelei and Aaron’s first musical triptych, Midtown Antoinette, was featured on NPR-affiliate WFIT in March 2016 and debuted as part of the Florida Tech / Foosaner Museum French Film Festival. Aaron also occasionally helps produce the outrageous bingo raves phenomenon, Rebel Bingo, in New York and Los Angeles, as featured in the L.A. Times, Guardian, and BBC , and recently played a run of five capacity shows in the downtown L.A.’s Globe Theatre as part of 2016 Night on Broadway. Aaron has collaborated as pianist, musical director, and/or co-writer with a panoply of music buddies, including Jason Manns, Gil McKinney, Sara Niemietz, Tim Omundsen, Dave Yaden, Nicholas Zork, Aaron Roche, Nick Bearden, Emma Fitzpatrick, Amanda Wallace, Shane Alexander, Ben Jaffe, Brett Young, Courtney Bassett, Eden Malyn, Luis Selgas, Aly French, Sam Heldt, Karma Jenkins, Emily Iaquinta, Lynette Williams, Meshach Jackson, Roy Mitchell-Cardenas, Kamasi Washington, Chad Doreck, J.T. Spangler, and Katrina Parker. He claimed several distinctions as a young classical pianist, including two-time Wisconsin Academy Musician of the Year, Andrews University Concerto Competition Finalist, and the British Royal Conservatory of Music Award of Highest Distinction for Piano Performance at the Newbold Creative Arts Festival. He currently serves as co-chair of the Carnegie Hill Concert Series in New York, featuring leading interpreters of classical and New Music from around the globe. In 2015, Aaron founded SongLab, an online songwriting community for emerging songwriters. The inaugural SongLab Series welcomed GRAMMY-winner Dave Yaden as special guest. In addition to working with other artists, Aaron performs as one-third of the pop trio, The Mots Nouveaux, alongside vocalists Emma Fitzpatrick and Amanda Wallace. The band celebrated their latest album release with a residency at Hotel Café, a six-month residency at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, and residencies at Rockwood Music Hall and Sidewalk Café in New York. They were invited to join the lineup for the Broke L.A. Music Festival in downtown Los Angeles, where Lyynks music hailed their set as the “greatest revelation” of the festival, one that “really thrilled the crowd” of thousands at the Lounge Stage (GroundSounds.com). The Mots Nouveaux recorded a new EP in Spring 2017 with co-producer Peter Barbee / Among Savages, with forthcoming tracks slated for 2018 release. Aaron released his debut solo project, Nothing's Forever (Not Even Goodbye), featuring the first ten songs he wrote, on Milan Records (Warner-Ryko) in 2008. In his spare time, Aaron enjoys playing the piano, traveling, eating, writing songs, making coffee, drinking coffee, collecting records, going for brisk walks, being near coffee, and composing extensive autobiographical sketches in the third person. Website Aaron Beaumont About the Artist Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 2 Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont - Part 1 Lightness of the Pines Artist in Residence 2017: Aaron Beaumont Narwhal and Ocelot (Dietary Restrictions) Aaron Beaumont Other Works By Follow the development of Aaron's project by continuing to read his prior first , second and final posts written as 2017 Artist in Residence project. 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genesis1_3highres_1-smaller.jpg Loading Video . . . Actor/Photographer/Filmmaker Michael Markham has brought us a series of photographs in response to the theme of "Light and Darkness" from Genesis 1:3. Genesis 1:3 Genesis 1:3 By Michael Markham Credits: Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2013 Photography Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link In this passage I was struck by the ease with which God brought about light. He simply spoke it into existence. Then I thought about our modern scientific understanding of the origins of the universe. When God spoke light into existence it was the giant event that not only brought forth light, but every particle of matter in the Universe. And it is still expanding. Then I consider man's attempts to provide light for himself. I am intrigued by the moment of God's speaking and by the power with which that word is given creation. These images explore the beginning and extended moments of man-made light from the first spark of a match, to the phenomenon of a photographic flash, almost literally lightning caught in a glass bottle, and finally God's enduring creation of light, our sun. We struggle so hard to imitate in an incredibly finite way what God whispered into existence with such power and glory. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Michael Markham is an Actor/Filmmaker based out of New York City. His favorite roles in New York include Platonov in The Spectacular Demise of Platonov at Shapiro Theater; Frizer in christopher marlowe’s chloroform dreams at The Red Room with Lunar Energy; Giant in Giants at HERE; and The Singing Soldier in Mother Courage and Her Children at The New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park. Film and television include Law & Order; When Things Fall Apart; Home Office; Fumes; Lies; Unearthed; Game Theory; and Blind Date. Though his production company KiteMonkey Productions Michael has created over 10 short films in the past 5 years. His currently project The Decades of Mason Carroll is currently in final stage of post production. Look for it on the festival circuit in 2018. Michael graduated from The Juilliard School Drama Division, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Acting from Washington University in St. Louis. He currently lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children. Website Michael Markham About the Artist The Call Michael Markham Other Works By Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Elizabeth Dishman, along with dancers Rachel Korenstein and Caitlin Yuhas, created a beautiful piece of modern dance exploring Isaiah 43:2. Isaiah 43:2 Tide By Elizabeth Dishman Credits: Curated by: Emily SoRelle Adams 2012 Dance Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link "Tide" ponders the surging joys and frustrations of connecting with a God who many times answers our suffering simply by being present, by holding our heads above the waves rather than taking us out of the water. Our collaborative process began with a series of improvisations based on images of water, vulnerability and relational give and take. We then crafted set dance phrases that we transformed in various ways and built into duet structures. Finally, we brought in a large tub that on show day was filled with water, which added a third active and metaphoric presence to the work. Rachel and Caitlin joined me in searching out physical and emotional resonances that explored a fluctuating but sweet relationship inspired by God's promises to stay with us in life's surprising waters. Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Elizabeth Dishman is the Artistic Director of Dishman + Co. Choreography, a Brooklyn-based experimental dance company founded in 2001. Originally from Colorado, she studied Voice Performance at Emory University, and Choreography at The Ohio State University. In pursuit of ineffable junctures between the abstract and theatrical, the universal and deeply personal, Elizabeth and her collaborators devote themselves to scrupulous exploration and ardent play, probing the elusiveness of live performance in search of lasting things. Over 15 years and 40+ original works, Dishman + Co.’s choreography has been described by critics as “complex skeins and cerebral dreams”, “bodies in rigorous concentration”, and “playful and provocative…raw humanity seeps in”. www.DishmanAndCo.org Website Elizabeth Dishman About the Artist dance in the dances Terra Firma Visitation Stranger Name Elizabeth Dishman Other Works By This piece was also performed at our event, Reflections on Water: New Works of Music, Dance, and Spoken Word Poetry . Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work

Loading Video . . . Musician and composer Peter Mawanga wrote this song of confession, pointing to hope for deliverance, in response to Judges 6:1-18. Judges 6:1-18 ULEMU By Peter Mawanga Credits: Music Lyrics + Composition by Peter Mawanga VOX + Lead Guitar by Peter Mawanga Second Guitar by Ndawa Nyanda Saxophone by Richards Mgala Bass Guitar by Alfred Sitolo Nkhoma Drums + Percussion by Lyson Chisuse Produced by Peter Mawanga Curated by: Spark+Echo Arts 2020 Primary Scripture Loading primary passage... Loading Passage Reference... Share This Art: Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy Link The song is inspired by the book of Judges 6, verses 1-18. After the Israelites had sinned against God, He gave them into the hands of Midianites. Later, when they confessed to God and cried out for his forgiveness, God used Gideon to redeem them from the Midianites. ULEMU is a song of confession and total submission. Ndabwera pamaso panu, mogonja ndimothedwa nzeru Ndaona ukulu wanu ambuye ndilandireni inu (Here I am in total submission, I confess my sins and acknowledge you are my lord and saviour.) Ndayesayesa mwa nzeru zanga koma ndaperewera ndithu Ndazindikira kulakwa kwanga ambuye ndikhululukireni inu (I thought I could stand on my own, but instead I have fallen short of your glory, so please forgive me.) Ulemu ukhale kwa inu Ndi mtima wanga wonse ndipereka Ulemu kwa inu (With all my heart, I give glory and honour unto you.) Spark Notes The Artist's Reflection Peter Mawanga has attracted worldwide acclaim with his music, the Nyanja vibes, performing on world stages in Africa, Europe and America. Not a stranger to the BBC and other media outlets, Mawanga has established himself as one of the living legends in Malawi and Africa. Blending traditional instruments as the Nyanja’s visekese, malimba , and kaligo , with contemporary instruments, he produces music that is fondly described by many as therapeutic, drawing from the Nyanja’s core values of peace and calm. The Nyanja are the most peaceful people in Africa and their country Malawi, which has never been at war, be it civil or otherwise, is known as the warm heart of Africa. Their instruments are deliberately designed to produce sounds that appeal to different feelings that aim at calming the nerves, celebrating life, pleading for peace and mostly merrymaking. It is from this source that Peter birthed the aMaravi movement and the celebrated Nyanja afro-vibes which mainly took off when he produced the now world renown album, Mawu A Malawi (The Voice of Malawi) , which featured stories of AIDS. For seven months Peter and colleagues had collected narratives from twenty-six of the most inspiring people they had ever met. They shared their loss, pain, joy, courage, and wisdom. The result of the project was Mawu a Malawi . The album was launched at the University of North Carolina and Department of State, making Peter Mawanga the first African musician to perform at the office of the Secretary of State. Since then, Peter’s performances have been holistic, characterized by song, film, dance, talks and sometimes dramatic monologues. His talks, among other things topics, are on: Malawian traditional sounds ; origins, use, relevance, relation to Africa and the world at large, the fusion with contemporary instruments, extinction, and preservation efforts. Music and dance in Malawi , the interplay of music in the social setup. Issues of identity, music as a people’s movement and a catalyst for life. Dance and tribal heritage. Talents of the Malawian Child Project Mawanga’s personal life (self-discovery) and involvement in projects for social change and economic empowerment. Peter, just like the Nyanjas of Malawi, believes that music goes beyond the ear, reaching out into the inner person to produce a healing power. It is one of the keys to a peaceful mind. Website Peter Mawanga About the Artist Nambala Wani NDAUPENYA ASAMALA Peter Mawanga Other Works By Listen without video here: Spark and Echo Arts · ULEMU (Live Studio Version) – Peter Mawanga Related Information View More Art Make More Art View Full Written Work Close Loading Video . . . Download Full Written Work