Esperanza Spalding

Songwrights Apothecary Lab Tour 2022

Known as a jazz artist — an important genre that explores the possibility of music in some of its highest forms yet amazingly ranks the lowest when it comes to popularity these days — Spalding began as a classical musician in her home of Portland, Oregon. Motivated by seeing the great cellist Yo Yo Ma perform and converse on the infamous children’s TV show “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood” as a kid, Spalding knew what her path would be at an early age. As a teenager, her obvious talent and growing abilities would lead to scholarships at schools such as The Northwest Academy and the Berklee College of Music located across the country in Boston. Mentored and encouraged by jazz legends and Berklee instructors Pat Metheny and Gary Burton, Spalding also cultivated her impressive multi-octave singing voice while expanding her bass playing style.

AntonioBrownDance

AntonioBrownDance was founded in 2013, and is composed of an incredibly talented group of performing artists from various cultural and training backgrounds. Connected together with a provocative movement vocabulary and emphasis on sound, the works of the company blend common human behavior with elements of social and political topics. Producing works that allow for the growing socio-political international climate to become conversation within our versatile communities.

Photographer: Chase Reynolds and the Appalachian Summer Festival