Spring 2020 Final Projects

This semester the artists in the course “Making The 21st Century Musical” wrote nearly 50 songs. Please enjoy these selections in the spirit in which they were created - as explorations, discoveries, and ongoing practice. Our class motto is "Songs are not precious”! - COACH, aka Brown Arts Initiative Professor of the Practice Erin McKeown.

Netspace is the web component of the MUSC 0221 (Meme Ensemble: Anti-Fascist Drum Machines) final projects. It is home to an asynchronous audio piece and an archive of curated pieces and performances from the semester. The ensemble members have created the Netspace as a permanent website to be explored. The "Anti-Fascist Drum Machines Ensemble" was a group improvisation course this spring that evolved around the idea of the “drum machine:” machines that make beats and which exist in complex relationships with their human users, even if no real machines are involved at all. We used political metaphors, such as conforming to versus resisting a dominant force, in order to critically develop schemes for musical improvisation with rhythm. Ensemble Members: Cameron Chaleff, Will Evans, Ray Fishman, Asha Franchi, Leni Kreienberg, Miranda Luiz, Pedro Polanco, Amick Sollenberger, and Cody West. Instructor: Marcel Sagesser. Click here to visit the Netspace.

The Viral Monologues concluded the final performances for the Spring TAPS 23 Acting class taught by Professor Sarah dAngelo. The original performance project created space for students to respond to COVID-19 pandemic impact in an artful manner. The premise of the Viral Monologue centers on a character sheltering in place, isolated and alone dealing (or not) with their life upended by "these unprecedented and uncertain times" of COVID-19. The restrictions of social distancing amplifies their circumstance. Their only safe contact with others occurs through the screen of their smartphone or laptop.

Mellon Foundation Fellow and Safe Harbors Indigenous Theatre Collective Artistic Director Murielle Borst Tarrant (Kuna/ Rappahannock) led students in a week-long residency using embodied practices and traditional storytelling methods. Students wrote their own monologues and filmed their performances which were later viewed by the class. Here is a sampling of the student's who wanted to share their Viral Monologues with a wider audience.

May 20 and 21, 3:00pm EDT

Join the culminating performance event for Brown/Trinity Rep’s MFA third-year actors. Seven artists engage with public storytelling for the Rhode Island community in short self-authored, self-produced and self-recorded solo performances across two days, May 20 and 21. Performances will be presented on YouTube with support from Brown Arts Initiative.

Wednesday, May 20: Kalyne Coleman, Jack Dryden, Haley Schwartz, Lindsey Steinert
Thursday, May 21: Caitlin Duffy, Ian Kramer, Michael Rosas

Thursday, May 28th from 6:00 to 7:30 EDT

The Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program second year acting company invites friends, family, colleagues, and members of the greater Brown University community to attend for a viewing of new work. The company of ten actors will share seven short works in video format created through collaborative devising and solo composition processes.

Click here to join the zoom webinar on May 28 at 6:00pm.

The Brown Arts Initiative Student Grants Program provides funding to Brown students in support of projects that involve the production, study and/or critique of the creative arts. The following projects were completed with support from BAI.