Upcoming events.
D-Composed Presents: Listening Hours with Kris Bowers
Join D-Composed and Kris Bowers at The Land School for this special session of Listening Hours.
In harmony with the week of celebration for International Jazz Day, we're pleased to invite you to join us at The Land School on Tuesday, April 28, from 8 to 9 PM, as our creative partner, D-Composed welcomes Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Academy Award-nominated composer Kris Bowers to The Land School for a special iteration of Listening Hours, immersed in communal listening and conversation about his work and process.
D-Composed Presents: Listening Hours with Jlin
Join D-Composed as they welcome Jlin for this special guest selector Listening Hours session, preceding Jlin's live set the following night.
We're pleased to invite you to join us at The Land School on Thursday, May 7, from 7:00 to 8 PM, as our creative partner, D-Composed welcomes Jlin to The Land School for a special iteration of Listening Hours, ahead of her live set the following evening in The Auditorium.
D-Composed with Jlin
Join D-Composed as they welcome composer Jlin to activate The Land School's Auditorium with a live set.
We're pleased to invite you to join us at The Land School on Friday, May 8, from 8:00 to 10:00 PM, as our creative partner, D-Composed welcomes Jlin to The Land School for a live set in our Auditorium.
From 8 to 9 PM, D-Composed will perform the works of electronic composers, including works by pioneering composer Pamela Z, ensemble members' own compositions, and compositions by Jlin. From 9 to 10 PM, the night will culminate with a live set presented by Jlin.
D-Composed with Damon Locks
Join D-Composed and International Anthem's Damon Locks at The Land School for a special performance, coinciding with EXPO Chicago weekend.
This program is co-presented by D-Composed, International Anthem, and The Rebuild Foundation.
D-Composed & Angel Bat Dawid: BLK Metropolis Apocalypse
D-Composed & Angel Bat Dawid will present BLK Metropolis: Apocalypse during EXPO Chicago on April 9th & 10th at 6:15 PM in the Projects Space.
Blk Metropolis Apocalypse is an immersive, four-movement "afro-sonic sermonic suite" commissioned by the Chicago-based Black chamber ensemble D-Composed, and composed by Angel Bat Dawid for string quartet and clarinet.
This program is presented in partnership with the Obama Presidential Center.
D-Composed & Angel Bat Dawid at EXPO
D-Composed & Angel Bat Dawid will present BLK Metropolis: Apocalypse during EXPO Chicago on April 9th & 10th at 6:15 PM in the Projects Space.
Blk Metropolis Apocalypse is an immersive, four-movement "afro-sonic sermonic suite" commissioned by the Chicago-based Black chamber ensemble D-Composed, and composed by Angel Bat Dawid for string quartet and clarinet.
BLK Metropolis at EXPO is presented in partnership with the Obama Presidential Center.
D-Composed & Civic Orchestra
See D-Composed ensemble members for their soloist debut with the Civic Orchestra as they perform Michael Abel’s “Delights & Dances”
Featured musicians include Caitlin Edwards, Khelsey Zarraga, Wilfred Farquharson, and Lindsey Sharpe.
Harris Theater Presents: Kids Meet the Music Program 3
Performance Run Time: 30-45 minutes
Age recommendation: 4-11 years old
Our newly reimagined family series features Chicago Black chamber music collective D-Composed String Ensemble for engaging explorations of the music of Black composers for kids and their families.
For each of their three performances this season, D-Composed will be joined by featured guest artists for accessible, welcoming musical experiences in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Lower Lobby. Designed for children aged 4–11, each performance will be 30–45 minutes, with a chance to meet the artists afterwards.
Plus, tickets are just $5! Every child and adult who plan to attend must have a ticket, even those under age 4.
D-Composed & Silkroad Ensemble
Join D-Composed & Silkroad Ensemble for Sanctuary: A D-Compressed Gathering
D-Compressed w/Cherish of Beyond at LitFest
Join D-Composed & Cherish Hicks for their music and meditation experience, D-Compressed, as part of the Gary Comer Youth Center’s LitFest.
Harris Theater Presents: Kids Meet the Music Program 2
Our newly reimagined family series features Chicago Black chamber music collective D-Composed String Ensemble for engaging explorations of the music of Black composers for kids and their families.
For each of their three performances this season, D-Composed will be joined by featured guest artists for accessible, welcoming musical experiences in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Lower Lobby. Designed for children aged 4–11, each performance will be 30–45 minutes, with a chance to meet the artists afterwards.
Plus, tickets are just $5! Every child and adult who plan to attend must have a ticket, even those under age 4.
Harris Theater Presents: Kids Meet the Music: Program 1
Our newly reimagined family series features Chicago Black chamber music collective D-Composed String Ensemble for engaging explorations of the music of Black composers for kids and their families.
For each of their three performances this season, D-Composed will be joined by featured guest artists for accessible, welcoming musical experiences in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Lower Lobby. Designed for children aged 4–11, each performance will be 30–45 minutes, with a chance to meet the artists afterwards.
Guest artists to be announced at a later date
WE OUTSIDE: The Legacy of Black Eco-Poetics
Join D-Composed and jamila woods at The Land School for this interactive writing workshop, as an extension of the listening field.
We're pleased to invite you to join us at The Land School on Saturday, December 13, from 2 to 4 pm, as for WE OUTSIDE: The Legacy of Black Eco-Poetics.
In this interactive writing workshop, we’ll explore the rich lineage of Black poets writing about the natural world and use it to craft our own poems that honor and reclaim our relationship to nature, our local environments, and our ancestral connection to the earth.
Please RSVP as space is limited.
the listening field w/ jamila woods & D-Composed
Join D-Composed and jamila woods at The Land School for the listening field, a sound journey meditation and listening experience.
D-Composed & jamila woods return to their collaboration with their second iteration of the listening field: a sound journey meditation and listening experience featuring poetry, sound bowls, and their string quartet playing music by Black composers.
Guests are encouraged to bring yoga mats, blankets, pillows, or other items that bring them comfort to enjoy the listening experience.
Our Stage: D-Composed Plays D-Composed - Steppenwolf Residency
To conclude the ensemble’s residency with Steppenwolf Theater’s LookOut series, the ensemble plays each other's compositions, celebrating music that speaks to the unique personalities and ways of expression of each ensemble member.
This performance will take place in the 1700 theater.
Our Stage: An Ode to Black Hair - Steppenwolf Residency
As part of our residency with Steppenwolf Theater’s LookOut series, the ensemble continues to explore an in-progress piece about hair & identity in collaboration with interdisciplinary artist Shani Crowe.
This performance is taking place in the 1700 theater.
Our Stage: An Ode to Black Theater - Steppenwolf Residency
The ensemble kicks off their residency with Steppenwolf Theater’s LookOut series with a musical ode to Chicago's Black Theater History told through monologues, poetry, and the music of Black composers featuring acclaimed Chicago theater legend, actor & director Cheryl Lynn Bruce.
This performance is located in the 1700 Theater.
D-Composed & Pauli The PSM: For the Plants
In collaboration with D-Composed, Pauli The PSM invites curious listeners to witness the first seed of what will become his next ambient project, For The Plants. Sink into a meditative listening experience of real-time musical collaboration between the D-Composed string ensemble and multi-hyphenate composer, producer and drummer, Pauli The PSM.
For The Plants explores the symbiotic relationship between music and plants, how sound nurtures living things, and how nature inspires sound. The project is a three-day process that serves as both a creative experiment and the inspiration source for Pauli The PSM's forthcoming album. This culminating performance will become a blend of improvisation and an exercise in variation, allowing ideas to evolve organically within a theme.
Guests are encouraged to bring yoga mats, blankets, pillows, or other items that bring them comfort to enjoy the listening experience.
Listening Party: Angel Bat Dawid & D-Composed perform BLK Metropolis
D-Composed & composer and clarinetist, Angel Bat Dawid, in partnership with United States Artists, presents an exclusive preview of BLK Metropolis Apocalypse commissioned by D-Composed & for D-Composed.
She Who Dared: Chicago Opera Theater
Created by composer Jasmine Barnes and Librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, She Who Dared recenters the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system in the 1950s. These Civil Rights pioneers pay homage to the quiet struggle for justice that has often gone unknown, further amplifying the effects of the historic case of Browder v. Gayle. While often riotous and sometimes hilarious, these women demonstrate how everyday people have the power to challenge the systems around them and affect tangible change – if only they dare.
D-Composed ensemble members make up the chamber orchestra of the production.
She Who Dared: Chicago Opera Theater
Created by composer Jasmine Barnes and Librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, She Who Dared recenters the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system in the 1950s. These Civil Rights pioneers pay homage to the quiet struggle for justice that has often gone unknown, further amplifying the effects of the historic case of Browder v. Gayle. While often riotous and sometimes hilarious, these women demonstrate how everyday people have the power to challenge the systems around them and affect tangible change – if only they dare.
D-Composed ensemble members make up the chamber orchestra of the production.
She Who Dared: Chicago Opera Theater
Created by composer Jasmine Barnes and Librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, She Who Dared recenters the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system in the 1950s. These Civil Rights pioneers pay homage to the quiet struggle for justice that has often gone unknown, further amplifying the effects of the historic case of Browder v. Gayle. While often riotous and sometimes hilarious, these women demonstrate how everyday people have the power to challenge the systems around them and affect tangible change – if only they dare.
D-Composed ensemble members make up the chamber orchestra of the production.
the listening field with jamila woods
D-Composed and Jamila Woods come together to create a space for healing & reflection with a meditative experience in partnership with the Kehrein Center for the Arts Foundation (KCAF). Together, we will combine the music of Black composers, sound bowls, and original poetry to create the evening’s soundscape for rest, liberation, and healing as attendees explore the rich and complex relationship between Black people and the land.
D-Compressed: Activating the Archives of Black Hull House Theatre
Join the Black chamber music ensemble D-Composed as they create an evening of music and meditation celebrating the work of Black composers. This restorative musical experience will be accompanied by a reading room dedicated to narratives of Black theatre history at Hull-House, curated by theatre artist Ericka Ratcliff.
Echoes of Healing: D-Compressed with BSA Gold
This Women's History Month, join D-Composed, BSA Gold, and SJI (Social Justice Initiative) for "Echoes of Healing," a musical meditation in remembrance of Breonna Taylor on the fifth anniversary of her murder by Louisville police.
This special performance will take place in the setting of our current gallery exhibition, Echoes of Ferguson. Marking the 10th anniversary of the Ferguson uprising, the exhibition delves into the profound collective grief experienced by the Black community while exploring the ongoing impact of systemic injustice. “Echoes of Healing" offers a reflective space for contemplation and connection, through a poignant blend of music, visual art, and personal narrative.
If you would like more information, please register for the event by clicking the button below.
Live Recording with JoVia Armstrong
Join us for a live recording with percussionist, sound artist, and composer JoVia Armstrong. Tickets are $15 to attend
Click the button below to purchase your tickets and register for the event.
D-Compressed at Lyric Opera
Ahead of the opera Blue, join us for our music & meditation experience D-Compressed in the lobby of Lyric Opera.
D-Composed & Plínio Fernandes for TUCCA
More information to come. The concert will be held in the Classic Sãu Paulo room.
https://tucca.org.br/d-composed-e-plinio-fernandes/
Decision Day: Musical Story Time
On Election Day, join us for A Musical Story Time at Woodson Regional Library for a reading of Jacqueline Woodson’s “The Year We Learned to Fly” with an original score by Ahmed Al Abaca read by Mama Edie.
D-Composed On Screen: 60th Anniversary of The Chicago International Film Festival
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Chicago International Film Festival, the Black chamber music collective D-Composed is joining forces with the Festival to celebrate the works of Black film composers, such as Kathryn Bostic, Kris Bowers, Terence Blanchard, and others, with a live performance and post-show panel discussion.
This event is free and open to the public.
D-Composed & SHANI CROWE - Northwestern’s Black Arts Consortium
Join us for a look at an in-progress work in collaboration with SHANI CROWE.
SHANI CROWE is an interdisciplinary artist who received her BFA in film production from Howard University’s John H. Johnson School of Communications in 2011. Her work centers on cultural coiffure, adornment and beauty ritual, as they relate to the diasporic African, and how these practices function as tools to foster connectivity. She is most known for creating intricate corn-rowed hairstyles, then capturing them as large photographic portraits.
This presentation is taking place in Louis Hall.
This event is free & open to the public.
D-Composed Opens for Illharmonic at the Auditorium Theatre
D-Composed makes their Auditorium Theatre debut and joins hip-hop orchestra, Illharmonic.
Davóne Tines & The Truth Featuring D-Composed for ROBESON
D-Composed makes its Harris Theater debut in collaboration with acclaimed bass-baritone, Davóne Tines and his band THE TRUTH (bassist Khari Lucas and pianist John Bitoy) for a one-night-only Chicago Premiere of ROBESOИ.