About

Mazumal is a duo committed to innovative music that promotes inclusivity and engages with social issues addressing race, gender, inequality, and sustainability. Stemming from a shared passion for advocacy and backgrounds in classical music, vocalist Felicia Chen and cellist Olivia J. P. Harris created Mazumal to explore new music that more accurately reflects the diversity of the times and world in which we live. Drawing from their collective experience as minorities in America, Mazumal practices a socially aware approach to programming, through commissions and interpretations of new works, collaborations with people of color, women, and LGBTQIA artists, as well as a bold approach to new music, improvisational styles, and experimental sound art.

During the 2019-20 season, Mazumal will present their project New Music with Radical Intention, funded by the Live Arts Boston Grant from The Boston Foundation. This program is a reflection on identity, and features new collaborations with composers Imani Uzuri, Lisa E. Harris, Jen Wang, and José Martínez. Events include a fall 2019 workshop, guest lecture at Harvard University, and spring 2020 performances in Boston and New York. In March 2020, Mazumal will perform as a featured guest ensemble at the She Scores Festival in Pittsburgh.

Mazumal has worked extensively with musicians and composers in educational settings to facilitate discussions on equity and anti-racism in contemporary arts. Mazumal has presented Appropriation, Tokenization, and Allyship in Contemporary Music in lecture and panel discussion formats, and has led workshops on composition, improvisation, and collaboration. Past residencies and lectures include CUNY Hunter College, Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, College Music Society Northeast Conference; festival artists at Ensemble Evolution (The Banff Centre) and Cortona Sessions for New Music; and performances at Boston Sculptors Gallery, Spectrum NYC (in a double bill with Parhelion Trio), and UC Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies.

Projects

New Music with Radical Intention

Mazumal presents a program of new musical works, written by fellow POC artistic collaborators, some of which will incorporate live electronics and multimedia. New Music With Radical Intention will be presented as a preview workshop in Boston (November 2019), then the premiere performances of the complete project in Boston (April 2020) and New York City (May 2020). We have commissioned the talents of Imani Uzuri, Lisa E. Harris, Jen Wang, and José Martínez to create new compositions reflecting on identity.

Mazumal strives to combat the distinct lack of POC-led projects in contemporary classical music, which has led to tokenization and performative allyship while neglecting to create performance outlets for artists of color. Our prerogative is to lead by example, claiming space to share our unique experiences as people of color in classical music, and to collaborate with other POCs to raise the voices of marginalized artists. We are inspired by our desire to tell the stories that aren’t being told, and to play an integral role in the creation of a diverse and inclusive community of artists that aren’t always given a platform for widely sharing their work.

2019-2020 Events

November 19, 2019: Guest Ensemble lecture, Professor Claire Chase’s Music 185r class: Experimental Music Ensemble, Harvard University. Cambridge, MA.

November 24, 2019: New Music With Radical Intention: open workshop, preview, and discussion on collaboration and identity-based art. 6 pm, Make Shift Boston.

March 21-22, 2020: She Scores Festival: opening and Women+ Experimental concerts, Pittsburgh, PA.

April 28, 2020: New Music With Radical Intention: 7:30 pm, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge, MA.

May 2, 2020: New Music With Radical Intention: 7:30 pm, Areté Venue & Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.

Past

June 24 - July 13, 2019: Ensemble Evolution fellows at The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Banff, Alberta, Canada.

April 15-18, 2019: CUNY Hunter College Residency: composer workshops & premieres. New York, NY.

March 16-17, 2019: College Music Society Northeast Conference: Holistic Approaches Toward Equity in Experimental Music. Millersville University, Millersville, PA.

December 15, 2018: Mazumal & Parhelion Trio double bill. Spectrum NYC. Brooklyn, NY.

November 29, 2018: Composition masterclass & workshop at CUNY Hunter College in NYC

November 7, 2018: Mazumal presents panel discussion Appropriation, Tokenization, and Allyship in Contemporary Music, followed by a performance of new commissions. Boston, MA.

October 14, 2018: Performance at Boston Sculptors Gallery - Second Sunday Concert Series

May 19 - June 2, 2018: Ensemble Fellows of the Cortona Sessions Contemporary Chamber Music Initiative. Cortona, Italy.

April 21, 2018: Performance at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT), UC Berkeley

April 10-11, 2018: Residency at The Hartt School, University of Hartford