We All Break with Leyla McCalla Playbill 09/28/23

PHOTO CREDIT: MIMI CHAKAROVA

Thank You

THIS ENGAGEMENT OF WE ALL BREAK with LEYLA MCCALLA IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF A. Dale Mayo Fund

Department of Music, University of Richmond

THANKS TO OUR 2023 -2024 MODLIN ARTS PRESENTS SEASON SPONSORS & COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Louis S. Booth Arts Fund

E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

Cultural Affairs Committee

Dewitt Fund for the Arts

Virginia B. Modlin Endowment

H. Gerald Quigg Arts Endowment

Clinton Webb Fund

Norman and Gay Leahy

William and Pamela O’Connor

Welcome

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE OUR 2023-2024 SEASON!

At Modlin Center for the Arts, we are committed to providing the University of Richmond campus and our broader community with the best in diverse, thought-provoking, and captivating performances. Each season is cultivated with our attention to showcasing artists who provide insight into our shared humanity. At the University of Richmond, we pledge to you—our patrons and partners, on campus and in our region—that the arts will provide broad access to rich voices, creative passion, and unforgettable experiences.

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I hope that you will also consider a contribution to the Modlin Center for the Arts. Your backing is a vital endorsement of the value that Modlin contributes to our cultural landscape. We are deeply grateful to have you include Modlin in your cultural investments. Thank you for being a valued member of our community of the arts. I look forward to seeing you at Modlin performances in 2023-24 and to hearing what moves you this year!

Paul Brohan, Executive Director

MODLIN ARTS

2023/24 Calendar

FALL

 P Ticketed: Paid

 F Free: Tickets/Registration Required

 F Free: No Tickets/Registration Required

 Modlin Arts Presents

 Department of Theatre and Dance

 Department of Music

 University Museums

 Tucker Boatwright Festival

AUGUST 2023

Queer Pioneers: LGBTQ+ History Through the

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY 2024

2023/24 Calendar

SPRING

MARCH

MODLIN CENTER FOR THE ARTS & UR DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC presents

WE ALL BREAK with LEYLA MCCALLA

Tonight’s program will be announced from the stage, and the performance will run approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.

ARTIST BIOS

WE ALL BREAK

The brainchild of NYC drummer/percussionist/composer Ches Smith, We All Break features pianist Matt Mitchell, saxophonist Miguel Zenón, bassist Nick Dunston, vocalists Sirene Dantor Rene, Tossie Long and Lalin St Juste, and master drummers of Haitian Vodou Daniel Brevil, Markus Schwartz, and Fanfan Jean-Guy Rene.

Internationally known as a NYC-based percussionist and composer performer, Smith’s dedication to Haitian Vodou began more than twenty years ago. Hired to accompany a Haitian dance class, he was immediately taken with the art form. Formal study in New York and Haiti followed, which led to folkloric performances and Vodou ceremonies. For the last twelve years he has worked a variety of gigs in the Haitian communities of NYC, Gonaives, and Paris in tandem with his career in jazz and creative music.

Exploring the interface of his two musical worlds, Smith formed We All Break in 2013 with two of his mentors of the Haitian drum, Daniel Brevil and Markus Schwartz, and frequent creative music collaborator pianist Matt

PHOTO CREDIT: MARGAUX RODRIGUES

Mitchell. Smith’s compositional vision aimed to incorporate and transform elements of the traditional music – lead/chorus song structure, polytonal relations among singers and drums, conversations between the drums, and kase (‘breaks’) – placing them at the center of each piece. With a traditional rhythm as the foundation of each composition, that rhythm’s spiritual, political, and visual associations could function as deep wells of information and feeling, levering the work into a new dimension.

After several years as a quartet, in 2020 the ensemble expanded to an octet to record Path of Seven Colors, pushing We All Break into new terrain. Smith and Brevil collaborated on the concept, which demanded an expanded vocal dimension, more developed melodic writing, contrabass, and another Vodou drummer. Smith had recently met vocalist Sirene Dantor Rene when he joined Vodou roots group Fanmi Asòtò. Her presence and authentic vocal stylings made her an obvious choice to sing lead. Acclaimed saxophonist and MacArthur fellow Miguel Zenón serendipitously reached out to Smith around this time to ask about Haitian drumming. Smith asked him to join as well to strengthen the melodic aspects of the compositions and provide another soloistic voice. He invited master drummer “Fanfan” Jean-Guy Rene to fill out the drum team, and young bassist and composer-performer Nick Dunston to expand the low end and connect with the drum set.

Brevil, in charge of bringing in traditional Vodou songs to nestle within Smith’s original compositions, did so and much more—he composed many of the songs himself, varying the album’s authorship in order to bring home his thematic points. His curation brought up questions about the distinction between ‘traditional’ and ‘original.’ In fact, the religion has seen songs that

PHOTO CREDIT: BIANCA CLAIRCIDOR

were created in a particular Vodou house and enter the repertoire in that fashion. Perhaps this was at work here with Daniel’s original songs.

The resulting album Path of Seven Colors was hailed by The Guardian as a “a tour-de-force of jazz innovation,” by Jazziz as “A sublime magnum opus,” and by Downbeat as “A groundbreaking album…stunningly original and mesmerizing in its ritualistic power.” The ensemble’s music and collaborative process are featured in a 50-minute film

“We All Break,” by award winning filmmaker Mimi Chakarova, which streams at WBGO.org (bit.ly/we-all-break-film-wbgo) and Pyroclasticrecords.com (https://pyroclasticrecords.com/release/path-of-seven-colors/)

We All Break continues to grow their presence, having performed residencies and jazz festivals in New York City, and toured internationally though Berlin, Buenos Aires, Paris, Brive-La-Gaillarde, Bordeaux, and Knoxville.

LEYLA MCCALLA

Leyla McCalla is a Haitian-American multi-instrumentalist based in New Orleans. Her music vibrates with three centuries of history, sonically blending New Orleans influences and Haitian rhythms on cello, banjo & guitar, with

PHOTO CREDIT: BIANCA CLAIRCIDOR

lyrics sung in English, French and Haitian Kreyol. In addition to her solo work, McCalla is a co-founder of Our Native Daughters (with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell), and was the cellist for Grammy-awardwinning string band, The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Leyla’s new release Breaking the Thermometer (ANTI), is the album companion to a multidisciplinary music, dance and theatre work which follows Leyla’s personal journey as she uncovers the history of Radio Haiti, the first radio station in Haiti to report news in Haitian Kreyol. Breaking the Thermometer was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by many outlets including The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites. This year has seen the release of McCalla’s series of singles -- a meditation on the struggle for freedom in our society. “These are the songs that have served as a balm to my personal journey over the past few years as I’ve navigated heartbreak, outrage, grief and hope,” says McCalla.

McCalla joined the faculty at University of Richmond as Artist in Residence in 2022, where she proudly works with a wide variety of students in and beyond the Department of Music throughout the academic year. She is a guest performer as a part of Ches Smith’s We All Break.

PHOTO CREDITS: RUSH JAGOE

Modlin Arts Presents

RHIANNON GIDDENS & THE LEGENDARY INGRAMETTES

Sun 1 Oct 2023

Camp Concert Hall

Giddens combines her fearless explorations of American roots music with the Ingramettes’ roofraising African-American gospel. SOLD OUT

STEFANIE BATTEN BLAND, EMBARQUED: STORIES OF SOIL

Fri 6 Oct 2023

Alice Jepson Theatre

Embarqued is a dance-theatre work that interrogates our relationships with memorialization, self, and country.

THE ACTING COMPANY, ODYSSEY

Wed 11 Oct 2023

Alice Jepson Theatre

A contemporary adaptation of Homer reimagines this ancient epic with four women waiting in the limbo of a refugee center.

Concds t

TICKET INFORMATION

MODLIN BOX OFFICE Regular Hours: Monday - Friday 1pm - 5pm & 90 minutes prior to all ticketed events. Contact us at 804-289-8980 or modlinarts@richmond.edu

TICKET POLICY All sales are final. No refunds are available, except in the event of a cancellation.

TICKETS ARE REQUIRED All ticketed performances require every patron to have a ticket. This includes children, regardless of age. Children are welcome and must always be accompanied by an adult. Parental discretion is advised as some performances may not be suitable for young children.

TICKET DELIVERY Tickets will be delivered as Mobile Tickets via email. If you prefer to have your tickets printed and available for pick up at the Box Office, please select Hold at Will Call as your delivery method.

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CONTACT INFORMATION

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PROGRAMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE Sometimes this happens with little notice. In the event of a cancellation or date change, we will announce as early as possible, and attempts will be made to contact all ticket holders in advance of the event. Help us keep you informed by ensuring your contact information is up to date.

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