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Community MusicWorks

A music hub in Providence, Rhode Island, USA announces a new building and performance space

 

Community MusicWorks (CMW) is a music teaching, learning and performance hub in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. The hub's nationally recognised musical education programmes are known for connecting with young people, the local community and the wider world. Now in its twenty-eighth season, CMW continues to engage with its network of alumni, local and national musicians, and its base of devoted supporters, providing music education, mentoring and performance.

CMW's new building and performance space marks a new chapter for the organization as it moves from a small storefront to a twenty-four-thousand square foot centre.

CMW's new building in May 2024
CMW's new building in May 2024

The new space will better serve the growing network of students, alumni and professional musicians that benefit from CMW programs. From its humble beginnings with fifteen students in 1997, the organization now serves approximately a-hundred-and-thirty students each year, engages musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, and offers regular public concert performances as the MusicWorks Collective.

The new centre will open to the public for the first time at a community event with free admission, 2-7pm on Saturday 28 September 2024 - the Community MusicWorks Center Grand Opening Block Party at 1326 Westminster Street, Providence, RI, USA.

CMW's Grand Opening Block Party takes place on Saturday 28 September 2024, 2-7pm at CMW's new centre, located at 1326 Westminster Street, Providence, RI, USA
CMW's Grand Opening Block Party takes place on Saturday 28 September 2024

The event will include the first performance of a new work written especially for this event by composer Wang Lu. Her four-movement Fabric features a short musical march down the block from the old CMW storefront to the new building, then it continues inside with a 'tuning up' as students and faculty members perform throughout the three floors of the building so that music fills the spaces with harmony and celebration. For the final movement, CMW students gather in the performance hall to hear their teachers perform and become the very first audience members in the new space.

Born in Xi'an, China, composer and pianist Wang Lu's music reflects urban environmental sounds, linguistic intonation and contours, traditional Chinese music and freely improvised practices
Born in Xi'an, China, composer and pianist Wang Lu's music reflects urban environmental sounds, linguistic intonation and contours, traditional Chinese music and freely improvised practices

The programme for the opening party is as follows:

2pm: Building tours
3pm: Kick-off parade; first performance of Wang Lu's Fabric
3:30pm: Food trucks arrive
4:30pm: MusicWorks Collective reprise performance
5pm: More building tours and dancing

CMW purchased 1326 Westminster Street in 2017 and the project to create the new centre began in spring 2022. With students begining string lessons on site by mid-September 2024, the new building features teaching and practice rooms, administrative offices, a café that will eventually be open to the public, and, for the first time in the organisation's history, a designated performance hall.

Yesterday, on 5 September 2024, elected and community leaders were invited to the new building for a first look. CMW founder and artistic director Sebastian Ruth, who was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010 for his work creating the organisation, commented:

The Community MusicWorks Center is the beating heart of a musical community that inspires and connects. This new space will allow young people for generations to gather, make those connections, and develop their craft as musicians. We are excited for the building to inspire young people and professional artists in creative endeavors and community building.

Guests inside the new building at the CMW opening on 5 September 2024. Photo © 2024 Atomic Clock Photography
Guests inside the new building at the CMW opening on 5 September 2024.
Photo © 2024 Atomic Clock Photography

US Senator Jack Reed said:

Access to music and arts education can be a transformative force in the lives of young people. For nearly 30 years, Community MusicWorks has been bringing music into the lives of Rhode Islanders and fostering connections through lessons and performances. This new facility we are celebrating today is a testament to the dedication and hard work of Sebastian and his team, helping Rhode Islanders of all ages develop and hone their love of music and passion for the arts.

Further information: communitymusicworks.org

Posted 6 September 2024 by Keith Bramich

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