SEASON 9 KICKOFF!!!

Hello BIBA readers! Our 9th season has already begun, and we are excited to share this season containing a mixture of both live and digital content. Last year forced the world to put on a giant creativity thinking-cap, and ... while some things worked and some things didn't ... we here at COOS cherished the journey of re-tailoring our season for you.

One big success during last year's adjustments was the power of the miniature. Castle of our Skins kicked off its first Black Composer Miniature Challenge (#BCMC), bringing 18 world premieres to international audiences! We followed up on this wonderful content by publishing an anthology for those interested in performing this miniatures either for fun, for community music programs, for intimate concerts, or even for giant stages! So how did COOS decide to continue this wonderful project? Well ... we invited students to send in their video performances of pieces from #BCMC 1.0, we created #BCMC 2.0 with works for flute and harp, AND our new Shirley Graham Du Bois Creative in Residence Marlanda Dekine helped design a #BPMC - a Black Poet Miniature Challenge! 

What does that mean? From September to December, Castle of our Skins will be bringing you miniature content in the form of music performances from students, poetry readings, and world premieres for flute and harp! ALL FALL, 71 videos!!! LOTS OF CONTENT OF EXCELLENCE!!! 

Tomorrow kicks off the first week of our miniature festival, and we'll be sharing student performances of some of the pieces featured in #BCMC 1.0, namely works by Che Buford, Mokale Koapeng, Juwon Ogungbe, and Shannon Sea! The students that will be featured come from three of Boston's most thriving organizations that help young students learn how to perform on an instrument and study music. These are Project STEP, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO), and the Boston City-wide String Orchestra. Stay tuned for videos from the following students:

​Alba Gilabert- Reid from Project STEP 
Nora Edouarzin from BYSO 
Abby Cambronero from BYSO
Angelina St. Louis from BYSO 
Lauren Brown from Boston City-wide String Orchestra
Karla Davis from BYSO 
Syndey Carroll from BYSO
Krystal Chen from BYSO
Reagan Jackson from BYSO

We hope you enjoy the performances, and if you would like to purchase the sheet music, be sure to use the discount code in the picture above for the month of September to get 50% off your digital download!! Next week's post will be about our first #BPMC, and we'll share some fantastic information on Haikus and Tankas, and some historical tidbits related to Black poets using short forms! Have an excellent week!