Entertainment lawyer Ari Solotoff breaks down the 1st amendment, and Kiki Konvos (with Karen Slack) and ARTillery team up with Afton Battle to talk about our fears (or lack thereof), and a change at Opera America!

A. Mimi Sei talks about her journey as a writer in a variety of genres from memoirs, poetry, and musical text; and how the universe nurtured her to be the artist she is today.

Get in touch with Mimi on IG @mimiswritelife

Music heard on this episode:

"Breathe", from Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow , music by Damien Geter, text by A. Mimi Sei; performed by Emmanuel Music

An excerpt from Shout Out! , music by Kenji Bunch, text by A. Mimi Sei; performed by Resonance Ensemble

Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya discusses why artists should continue to show up and perform at the Kennedy Center; and soprano Karen Slack tells us why at the beginning of the Kennedy Center take over, she decided to go forth with the performance of her evening of song entitled, African Queens.

https://lidiyayankovskaya.com/

Lidiya's op-ed

https://www.sopranokarenslack.com/

Karen Slack and Michelle Cann's Grammy Award Winning Beyond the Years

Amy Sherald op-ed

Composer Shawn Okpebholo talks about his song cycle, Songs in Flight, which was released on Cedille Records on Feb. 14, 2025.

Shawn notes:

In 2021, I received a call from Martha Guth, celebrated soprano and co-director of Sparks & Wiry Cries. She spoke passionately about the Freedom on the Move database, an archive of over 30,000 advertisements for runaway enslaved individuals. Having experienced one of my previous compositions, Martha proposed an ambitious project: an expansive song cycle that would breathe life into these dehumanizing records. The project would include performances at prominent venues and collaborations with world-renowned musicians Rhiannon Giddens, Will Liverman, Reginald Mobley, Karen Slack, and Howard Watkins, alongside lead curator and poet Tsitsi Ella Jaji.

The recording features the singers from the premiere with pianist Paul Sanchez.

Composer Rob Deemer talks about his findings from the NEA fallout, while INseries artistic director Timothy Nelson, and Portland composer Darrell Grant speak about what they've lost (and gained). This is a Green Room episode which focuses on current events in the arts.

Artists who appear in Grant's Sanctuaries clip include Marilyn Keller, Onry, and Damien Geter.

Deemer's NEA Cuts Data Sheet

Institute for Composer Diversity

INseries

Darrell Grant

Composer Jasmine Barnes, and Librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton talk about their latest opera, She Who Dared, as well as their collaboration, and how they stay in the game.

A commission for American Lyric Theatre, She Who Dared premiered on June 3, 2025 in Chicago as presented by Chicago Opera Theater. On this episode you will hear soprano Jaqueline Echols McCarley, soprano Chabrelle Williams, soprano, and Adrienne Danrich O'Neil. Kelly Kuo conducts.

https://www.jasminebarnescomposer.com/

https://www.livelifedeep.com/

In episode 1 of ARTillery, hear me talk with Jessica Murphy Moo about our opera Loving v. Virginia, a co-commission with Virginia Opera and The Richmond Symphony. Included are clips from the opera and a chance to hear us talk about our collaboration and what this work means to us.

Hey folks! My name is Damien Geter, and I am a composer, conductor, and sometimes singer based in Chicago, and I’m starting a podcast called ARTillery! The purpose of ARTillery is to discuss how artists have used their work to fight against, or respond to oppressive regimes or systems that plagued their countries, their culture, and/or our universal global society. Each episode will revolve around a musician, painter, poet, visual artist, an actor, a movement, who was fearless enough to stand up to those in charge; to those who tilt the scale towards injustice, We’re talking about artists who use the power of their ARTillery to enter the war for basic rights and basic liberties, artists who aren’t afraid to jump the hurdles in the pursuit of happiness - think Shostakovich/Stalin, or Nina Simone/Jim Crow…You may even hear a little about what I’m working on. I hope you will join me. And remember….

Art is a weapon. We must sharpen our ARTillery!