CASTLE OF OUR SKINS
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2021-2022 season


upcoming

misodzi yamarimba

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In collaboration with the Boston Lyric Opera, we are excited to co-present the world premiere performance of an original musical narrative by Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa-Nzou Mambano: Misozdi Yamarimba, the story of how the mbira came to be.

August 28, 2021, 4:00pm: DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
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#BPMC 

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Poets who identify as Black and part of the African diaspora are challenged to write a haiku or a tanka! All ages are encouraged to participate, and each poet will receive a $75 honorarium (via PayPal or check). Your poem can be submitted as written text, recorded voice, or a video recording of you reading the poem.

Poems are due August 31, 2021 by 11:59PM
​For MORE INFO, please visit our BIBA Blog

Miniature festival

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Featuring world premiere 30 second miniatures for flute and harp submitted as part of our Black Composer Miniature 2.0 Challenge, PLUS haikus and tanka poems submitted as part of our Black Poet Miniature Challenge, PLUS performances by Project STEP, Boston City-Wide String Orchestra, and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras' Intensive Community Program students of viola works from our inaugural Black Composer Miniature Challenge!

​September - December 2021: On Facebook, YouTube & Instagram 
Co-Sponsored by Boston Center for the Arts where Castle of our Skins is a Launchpad Resident.
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 be still and know 

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Lectures and a concert at the University of Baltimore featuring works for piano quartet and subsets by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Jeffrey Mumford, Carlos Simon, Adolphus Hailstork and Brian Raphael Nabors.

October 12, 2021, 6:00pm, location TBA
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safika: dr. bongani ndodana-breen portrait concert

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Castle of our Skins is excited to be back in residence at the Longy School of Music of Bard College! As part of our third annual residency, we will feature an immersive three-day residency focused on the music of Dr. Bongani Ndodana-Breen complete with lectures, master classes, open rehearsals and concerts culminating in our portrait concert: Safika.

​Safika Portrait Concert:
December 3, 2021 @8:00pm
Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music
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Castle of our Skins is an Ensemble in Residence at the Longy School of Music at Bard College.

sound & appliqué

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Featuring world premiere compositions by Elizabeth Brown, Renée Baker, and Lauren McCall, all inspired by African American quilting traditions. New quilts and poetry commissions by quilters L'Merchie Frazier and Alpha M. Bruton and Shirley Graham du Bois Creative in Residence poet Marlanda Dekine-Sapient Soul.

January 21, 2022, 7:00pm @
Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music
January 22, 2022, 6:00pm @ Brattleboro Music Center, VT
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Thresh & hold

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Movement of family and broken family. Those who migrated and those who stayed. What does the land remember and hear? Movement of personal healing and reflection in order to return ‘home’ to self and family.

Join Shirley Graham du Bois Creative in Residence poet Marlanda Dekine-Sapient Soul for an evening-length, multimedia experience centered around their new book of poetry Tresh & Hold.

​Spring 2022 @ The Boston Center for the Arts
Castle of our Skins is a Launchpad Resident at the Boston Center for the Arts.
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remembrance

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Lecture-performance with musicologist-pianist Dr. Samantha Ege, featuring works for strings and piano by Florence Price, Undine Smith Moore, Irene Britton-Smith, Hannah Kendall and Frederick Tillis.

March 24, 2022, 6:00pm lecture & 7:00pm concert @ The Boston Athenaeum

Plus, a NYC-debut with the Five Boroughs Music Festival, date/time TBA
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homeland

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Homeland explores home as a concept deeply based in past memory and present circumstances, one’s physical environment, the feeling of familiarity, and sense of culture. Curated and featuring flutist and composer Nathalie Joachim, Homeland features the works of Allison Loggins-Hull, Pamela Z, Nathalie Joachim, Valerie Coleman, Jessie Montgomery and Tania Léon.

April 10, 2022, 1:30pm @ Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
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for black people

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Featuring the world premiere of Daniel Bernard Roumain's Music for Black People written for flute, voice, piano and cello ​as part of Celebrity Series of Boston's Four by One project.

May 5, 2022, time TBA: Virtual Livestream
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University of Oxford Residency

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Lectures, performances and recording projects with musicologist-pianist Dr. Samantha Ege as an invited TORCH Visiting Fellow at Oxford University.

May 2-10, 2022, various times @ Oxford University, England
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2021-2022 ​SHIRLEY GRAHAM DU BOIS CREATIVE IN RESIDENCE

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The Shirley Graham Du Bois Creative in Residency program is generously funded by donors Arlene and Larry Dunn and invites creative artists to collaborate in various ways with COOS throughout the season.

​Meet our 2021-2022 Creative in Residence: Marlanda Dekine-Sapient Soul


Celebrating Black Artistry Through Music

Recent happenings

Love and Justice

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Featuring the debut performance of Shirley Graham du Bois Creative in Residence, poet Marlanda Dekine-Sapient Soul, this virtual performance includes original poetry and songs for soprano and piano with music by Margaret Bonds, Undine Smith Moore, R. L. Owens, and Adolphus Hailstork's MLK-inspired art song "Songs of Love and Justice." Musicians include pianist Julia Scott Carey and soprano Brianna J. Robinson.

July 27, 2021 @7:30pm: Watch HERE
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As part of the Apple Hill Chamber Music Virtual Summer Concert Series.

#BCMC 2.0

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Composers who identify as Black and part of the African diaspora are challenged to compose pieces for flute and harp! 

Each piece must be approx. 30 seconds or less and scored for solo flute (piccolo, C, and alto), 
solo harp, or flute & harp duo.

Questions? Please email anthony@castleskins.org.

The August
 1, 2021 by 11:59PM deadline has passed.
​For MORE INFO, please visit our BIBA Blog

Previous Concert & Education Series:

'20-'21
​
season vIIi

'16-'17
season iv

'19-'20
​
season vIi

'15-'16
​Season iii


'18-'19 season vi

 '14-'15
​SEASON II

'17-'18
season v

'13-'14
​SEASON I

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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ABOUT
WHAT IS COOS?
LEADERS
ARTISTS
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CREATIVE IN RESIDENCE
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SEASON
2022-2023 SEASON
MASSQ BALL
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EDUCATION
AS TOLD BY
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IN THE NEWS
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SPECIAL THANKS

STORE
A LITTLE HISTORY
X: CURRICULUM GUIDE
#BCMC VOL. 2 
#BCMC VOL. 1
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  • ABOUT
    • WHAT IS COOS?
    • LEADERS
    • ARTISTS
    • COLLABORATORS
    • CREATIVE IN RESIDENCE
    • CONTACT
  • SEASON
    • 2022-2023 SEASON
    • MassQ Ball
    • Black Composer Miniature Challenge >
      • #BCMC 1.0
      • #BCMC 2.0
      • #BCMC 3.0
    • Black Poet Miniature Challenge
    • BSU Fellowship
    • Card to Culture
    • REPERTOIRE
  • EDUCATION
    • EDUCATION
    • AS TOLD BY
    • BIBA Blog
    • RESOURCES
  • PRESS
    • IN THE NEWS
    • Videos & Images
  • CONTRIBUTE
    • DONATE
    • VOLUNTEER
    • Join the Board
    • SPECIAL THANKS
  • Store