Ensemble for These Times Announces the Second Interview in its 2021 #MeetTheArtist Interview Series

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2021

Ensemble for These Times Announces the Second Interview in its 2021 #MeetTheArtist Interview Series
Month-long Spotlights on BIPOC Artists: February 2021, with Jonathan Bailey Holland

San Francisco, CA—San Francisco contemporary music chamber group Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) is
proud to announce the continuation of its greatly expanded, ambitious second season of its “#MeetTheArtist”
interview series, which started on January 4, 2021, and focuses on BIPOC composers and musicians. Each
month, E4TT’s 2021 “#MeetTheArtist” interview series will spotlight a single composer or musician, who will be featured every Monday of their respective month with posts on social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) introducing them on the series and then providing information about their website, upcoming
projects, specific works we’re currently listening to, link(s) to their music channels, etc. The highlight of the
month will be the full interview (audio, video, or pdf, depending on the artist’s preference) on YouTube,
Instagram, and E4TT’s website on the third Monday of the month, followed by a recap to bring the artist’s
month to a close. After inaugurating the series in January with Pamela Z (full interview posted on January 18), E4TT is honored to continue the series in February with distinguished composer and educator Jonathan Bailey Holland (b. 1974).

Why Focus E4TT’s 2021 Interviews on BIPOC Artists?
Historically, privilege, power, and access have been granted unequally in our nation, particularly in the arts. As
an artist-led group, Ensemble for These Times acknowledges that racial equity is essential for keeping
contemporary classical chamber music connected to the 21st century. With a history of giving voice to the
voiceless and championing less-heard creative artists, particularly women, E4TT is committed to an inclusive,
equitable, and diverse practice, and to ensuring that all communities—including those that have been
historically underrepresented based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age,
disability, or any other factor—are represented in our artistic decisions and programming.

About E4TT’s 2021 “#MeetTheArtist” Interview Series
Following the Summer 2020 success of a smaller set of curated interviews focusing on women creative
artists—composer Elinor Armer, visual artist Corinne Whitaker, and soprano Chelsea Hollow—E4TT will expand
its “#Meet the Artist” interview series in 2021 with month-long spotlights on individual BIPOC composers and musicians. Beginning on Monday, January 4, 2021, #MeetTheArtist will feature a different BIPOC creative artist each month, with each featured every Monday of their respective month via posts on social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), first introducing the artist into the series and then featuring information about their website, upcoming projects, specific works we’re currently listening to, and/or link(s) to their music channels, etc. The highlight of the month will be the full interview (audio, video, or pdf, depending on the artist’s preference) on YouTube, Instagram, and E4TT’s website on the third Monday, followed by a recap to bring the month to the close.

“#MeetTheArtist” began in January with composer and performer Pamela Z (b. 1956) and continues in February with composer and educator Jonathan Bailey Holland (b. 1974). Subsequent artists scheduled are Anthony R. Green (b. 1984), inti figgis-vizueta (b. 1993), Nicolas Lell Benavides, Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1978 (b. 1987),Marcus Norris (b. 1974), Shannon Sea, and Brice Smith. (Schedule subject to change.)

#MeetTheArtist in February: Jonathan Bailey Holland
E4TT is honored to continue the series in February with Jonathan Bailey Holland, whose works have been commissioned and performed by numerous ensembles across America, including the Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, among others. He served as Composer-In-Residence with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra—the first composer to serve that role with the orchestra. Highlights of recent seasons include a commission by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum inspired by John Singer Sargent’s dance-inspired painting, “El Jaleo” and the premiere of his orchestration of songs by Charles Ives with mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and the American Composers Orchestra. Recent and upcoming performances will feature the Aeolus Quartet with the Arx Duo, Hotel Elefant, the Neave Trio, and more. A winner of a Mass Cultural Council artist fellowship, Holland is also a recipient of a Fromm Foundation Commission at Harvard University; his honors include the American Academy of Arts & Letters, American Music Center, ASCAP, the Presser Foundation, and more. Performances of his music in the 20/21 season will include Hotel Elefant, Tribeca New Music Festival, the Neave Trio, New World Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Radius Ensemble, among others. Holland earned a Ph.D. in Music from Harvard University and studied composition with Ned Rorem at the Curtis Institute of Music. He is Chair of Composition, Contemporary Music, and Core Studies at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Founding Faculty of the Music Composition program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

About Ensemble for These Times
Founded in 2007, Ensemble for These Times focuses on 20th and 21st century music that is relevant, engaging, original, and compelling, music that resonates today and will speak to tomorrow. E4TT strongly believes in the power of artistic beauty, intelligence, wit, lyricism, and irony to create a deep understanding of our times and the human condition, with women artists an ongoing focus. E4TT is committed to an inclusive, equitable, and diverse practice, and to ensuring that all communities—including those that have been historically underrepresented based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other factor—are represented in our artistic decisions and programming.

For more information about E4TT’s 2020/21 Bay Area Home Season, please visit our website.

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