Your Gift’s Impact on Our Region: Connecting Communities
Last year, the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University presented a total of 43 performances enjoyed by nearly 40,000 people. A diverse array of touring artists from around the globe brought compelling artistry to Sonoma County. Additionally, 14 of the artists we presented led 59 different engagement activities for students of all ages, both on and off campus and online. Your support of this programming helps us to work toward cultural equity, contribute to the well being of our communities, and help build empathy in our multicultural world.
Your Gift’s Impact on Art: Presenting Three World Premieres
The Green Music center is about investigating ideas together in new ways. In three recent world premieres, we are stretching our abilities to bring the biggest challenges of our time into focus through live performance that involves artists creating their work with students and for audiences in new ways. Liz Lerman’s world premiere of Wicked Bodies (Sonoma) explored extinction and involved artists working directly with SSU students and faculty during weeklong residencies to create the new work. Vertical dance artists Bandaloop shared an early version of a larger, site-specific, new work to be built in collaboration with the Green Music Center. This new work, planned for the 23-24 season, will explore themes of climate change, drought, and fires. The third world premiere involved SSU’s Symphony Orchestra performing with DDAT to present a new work by Native American composer Franklin Piland.
Your Gift’s Impact on Education: Inspiring New Ways of Learning
In 2022, we established a partnership with the Cotati-Rohnert Park School District that enabled us to connect artists from DDAT with almost 900 K-8th grade students at four different schools, and a new connection with Kawana Springs Elementary, which resulted in a performance by Las Cafeteras for the entire school of 250 students, teachers, and staff. We also deepened our partnership with Loma Vista Immersion Academy through a day-long workshop with the Alphabet Rockers that resulted in an educational music video about working toward cultural equity.
Throughout the year, students of all ages are given opportunities to work directly with and benefit from professional touring artists, which aligns with Sonoma State’s strategic priority of Academic Excellence and Innovation, both by modeling high-quality, experiential learning and by showcasing how the Green Music Center is a resource that expands and informs the student experience.
