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Andrew Swenson, of Postindustrial

Ben Barson and Gizelxanath Rodriguez

Although many of their in-person events got scrapped when the pandemic closed down the UW-Madison campus, spring interdisciplinary artists-in-residence Ben Barson and Gizelxanath Rodriguez still sparked creative collaboration while visiting Madison. The two musicians are co-founders of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, and for this residency they and students created a free jazz opera incorporating spoken word, hip-hop, jazz and dance in a class called "Artivism: Intercultural Solidarity & Decolonizing Performance." Help dream a better future and tune in on Facebook from the comfort of your own home to see the collaboration between these groundbreaking artists and many promising local talents.

press release: The final event of Spring 2020 Interdisciplinary Artists-in-Residence Ben Barson and Gizelxanath Rodriguez will be the online premiere of a free jazz opera. This is a new multimedia work that combines jazz, hip hop, spoken word, dance, and visual art animated and illustrated by students and guest artists. Barson and Rodriguez created the piece together with students from their "Artivism: Intercultural Solidarity & Decolonizing Performance" course. The new piece reflects themes of police violence, migrant justice, systematic racism, climate change, and visions of a new world.

The piece is student-driven, with their dedication and creative collaborations at the core of the work. Mentorship was provided by Ben Barson, Gizelxanath Rodriguez, and Peggy Choy, as well as guest artists Nejma Nefertiti, Charlotte Hill O’Neal aka Mama C, Rodrigo Carapia, Lacouir Yancey, and Adam Cooper-Terán. The online viewing is free and open to the public.

The music of the piece was performed and recorded by UW’s Contemporary Jazz Ensemble, directed by Johannes Wallmann. Choreographed by Peggy Choy. Visual art created by Kim Inthavong and Rodrigo Carapia, and animated by Adam Cooper-Teran.

The performance will premiere on the UW-Madison Arts on Campus Facebook Page. Followed immediately by a live Q&A session with the artists.