This event takes place at Raisbeck Auditorium, Cornish College of the Arts. Raisbeck Auditorium is at the base of new highrise tower, The Ivey, on Lenora and Boren (not to be confused with Raisbeck Hall next door, which is a historic 1800’s wooden building).
Sponsored by BECU. Co-presented with Earshot Jazz Festival and Cornish College of the Arts Music Department. Commissioning funds for Uncomfortable Subjects come from Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, 4Culture and City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
Samantha Boshnack’s Uncomfortable Subjects is a genre-busting song cycle for a 13-piece ensemble, featuring a wide-ranging cast of some of Seattle’s most exciting musicians and artists. Created during the pandemic, with a delayed premiere, Uncomfortable Subjects expands Boshnack’s trademark interlocking grooves and instrumental explorations into complex lyrical and conversational territories.
The project was conceived in February 2020, when Boshnack brought together artist/writer/community builder Natasha Marin and Pushcart Prize-winning poet Jane Wong to engage in two- and three-way correspondences about “uncomfortable subjects.” The resulting project, created during the turbulent ensuing years, embraces challenging topics like race, family trauma, climate crisis, mental illness, covid isolation, and the tensions of making art, charting the artists’ journeys to find peace, strength, and encouragement in a shifting landscape.
Boshnack’s acclaimed previous work has assembled a world-ranging cohort of musical collaborators (Global Concertos, 2016); surfaced historic feminist journalism (Nellie Bly Project, 2017); and explored geologic instability (Seismic Belt Live in Santa Monica, 2019). Her projects include her chamber orchestra B’shnorkestra (Go to Orange, 2013); Sam Boshnack Quintet (Exploding Syndrome, 2014); numerous releases with composers’ collective Alchemy Sound Project and postmodern outfit Reptet; and commissions from Northwest Symphony Orchestra, Karin Stevens Dance, Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and Mutual Mentorship for Musicians.
The evening’s performers include: Johnaye Kendrick (voice), Joshua Kohl (conducting), Alex Guy and Alina To (violin), Heather Bentley (viola), Gretchen Yanover (cello), Carlos Snaider (guitar/percussion), Chris Symer (bass), Chris Credit (tenor saxophone/bass clarinet), Leanna Keith (flute), Bhavani Kotha (oboe), Greg Campbell (percussion/french horn), and Samantha Boshnack (trumpet/compositions). This performance will also feature live remarks from Jane Wong.