Bonnie Whiting - Through the Eye(s)
- BuzzSlayers
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Artistic collaborations always cross boundaries to some extent but rarely are those boundaries as substantial as in this case. Through the Eye(s) documents a unique work created with composers and writers incarcerated at the Indiana Women’s Prison. The project, facilitated by composer Eliza Brown, reveals the powerful perspectives of incarcerated individuals, in the form of a collective work for speaking percussionist, Bonnie Whiting.
The genesis of Through the Eye(s) was in 2019, when Eliza Brown taught a class on “Making Music for Percussion and the Human Voice” at the prison. Partnering with Whiting, a leading performer in the field of speaking percussion, the goal was to create a collaborative space for artistic expression, with the musical and poetic content entirely determined by the participants.
“We believe that all people, regardless of carceral status, have the potential for and right to artistic expression,” said Brown. “We trusted that a compelling work of art would emerge from the collective wisdom of the participants, and we were committed to bringing their work to the public. This recording is a testament to that commitment.”
Over time, the group established a shared vision, settling on the theme “calm and storm” as a unifying thread. Composers worked individually and collaboratively, writing texts and setting them to music using a limited percussion setup available to them in a prison environment: wooden blocks and file folders, as well as traditional instruments loaned by Whiting.
The resulting work, Through the Eye(s), is a deeply communicative suite of pieces. Whiting’s recorded performance captures the nuance, rhythm, and raw emotion of the scores, creating an album that is both a poignant musical document and a testament to the human capacity for creativity despite constraints.
In a collective decision, all proceeds from the sale of the Through the Eye(s) album and its sheet music will be donated to support public K-12 music education in the state of Indiana. The composers and writers who contributed to this extractable cycle of works for speaking/singing percussionist are:
Char’dae Avery, Whittney (CoCo) Bales-Malone, Eliza Brown, Amaris Rose Bunyard, Lara Campbell, Joyce (Potter) Hawkins, LaDawn Johnson, Marjorie Woods, Ashley Strong, Ingrid Swinford, Dawnetta Taylor (Shelton).
Bonnie Whiting performs, improvises, and creates new music for percussion, exploring intersections of storytelling and experimental music. Her work integrates text, movement, and technology. Her recent projects include collaborations with the National Symphony Orchestra and performances on the Harry Partch instruments. She teaches at the University of Washington.
The music of composer Eliza Brown has been described as “delicate, haunting, [and] introspective” by Symphony Magazine. Deeply interested in collaborative and interdisciplinary processes, they are an Associate Professor of Music at DePauw University.
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