Footprints: Connecting Culture and Community Using Vocal Music

Andrew Smith, School of Music, Theatre & Dance

Collaborator: Reese Ford, Stamps 

The Footprints Recital Series is interdisciplinary, as each recital includes a component that enhances the audience’s understanding of the music related to my research. The first recital focused on African-American artists connected to Washington, D.C., my hometown. I invited a dancer to collaborate with me, presenting works by D.C. composers. His choreography aimed to extend the text and music, highlighting rhythm’s crucial role in Black culture. I will feature a live painter in my upcoming recital to further enhance the performance. This recital will explore Sacred Texts with Messages of Hope across various genres. I believe the live painter will provide an unexpected richness, harmonizing another artistic form with our music and deepening the audience’s sensory experience.

With this project, my only concerns involve communicating with the painter about the vision for the canvas and ensuring she has everything she needs for the piece. The church has already agreed to host us, so the venue is not an issue. One significant benefit of this project would be to exemplify what performance research can look like and how recitals can incorporate more than just music. Especially today, we must embrace diverse art forms and become multidimensional in performance spaces. By becoming multi-dimensional, we will cater to the audience in new ways, affecting their sensory experience on multiple levels.

I will perform my next recital in March and have already discussed details with the painter. She will creatively paint as I sing based on the music I will present. I believe that the audience will be surprised to witness this, as most DMA students in voice typically focus their recitals mainly on music. Since my research explores how vocal music creates culture and community, expanding my focus to include other disciplines introduces variety and highlights the accessibility of vocal music within the broader society. It will also showcase the versatility and accessibility of classical music in inspiring the artistic creations of other disciplines. I plan to use this research to continue publishing papers on how vocal music influences culture and community from a global perspective.

As a DMA candidate, I have studied music for over 18 years and gained substantial insight into musical interpretation as a performer and audience member. I have curated numerous recitals for myself, my students, and my colleagues, and I’ve realized that music communicates more powerfully when paired with another art form. Whether through dance, narration, or the visual arts, music becomes a more elevated art form when combined with others. Having a painter during my recital will deeply impact the audience in a very tangible way. They can interpret the music in new ways, going beyond the lyrics and melodies. Part of my research will involve conducting surveys, and I will include questions about how the painting influenced their perception of the performance and their emotional responses. This collaboration promises to be powerful, and I look forward to bringing it to life.