THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY PRESENTS DEAR HUMANITY YOUTH ART FESTIVAL & CONCERT APRIL 15–21 AT BENAROYA HALL, ALL FREE TO THE PUBLIC
ON APRIL 21, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE ANGELIQUE POTEAT AND THE 2020 COMMUNITY YOUTH CHORUS PREMIERE THEIR STUDENT-LED COMPOSITION ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE’S IMPACT
THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY PARTNERS WITH FIVE LOCAL ARTS ORGANIZATIONS TO PRESENT MULTI-DAY YOUTH ART FESTIVAL ON APRIL 15–21
Seattle, WA – The Seattle Symphony presents the Dear Humanity Youth Art Festival & Concert from April 15–21 at Benaroya Hall. This multi-day, student-led festival is free to attend as is the Seattle Symphony Community Concert on Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m., featuring the world premiere of 2022/2023 Artist in Residence Angelique Poteat’s Dear Humanity for Youth Chorus and Orchestra, written in collaboration with the 2020 Community Youth Chorus. Commissioned by the Seattle Symphony, Poteat began working with a group of 30 teens in the fall of 2019 to create a new, collaborative work. From its inception, this commission was intended to combine both musical craft and social commentary. The participating students identified the issues most weighing on their minds early in the composition process, ultimately deciding on climate change as the theme of their work. From there, the inspiration for Dear Humanity for Youth Chorus & Orchestra took off, with the students helping evolve the project into a multi-day art festival addressing the devastating impacts of climate change.
From October 2019 to March 2020, Poteat met weekly with the students and paired educational lessons with interactive tasks to create the overarching theme, spin melodies, write text, arrange that text into narrative, align that narrative with the energy of the musical movements, and plot a plan for orchestration and instrumentation. Dear Humanity for Youth Chorus & Orchestra is a massive accomplishment born between Poteat and the 2020 Community Youth Chorus, and demonstrates the significant impact that a group of youths in action can have.
Audiences can finally witness the powerful new work, three years after its inception and featuring the Seattle Symphony and University of Washington Choirs, on Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m., in Benaroya Hall’s S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium. Prior to the concert, audiences are invited to arrive early for pre-concert activities, which begin at 5:30 p.m. and include a youth panel discussion of environmental issues, a visual art exhibit, an interactive craft, and several information booths hosted by local environmental organizations. Tickets are free; ticket reservations are encouraged. On Saturday, April 22, the full Dear Humanity concert program will be available to watch on Seattle Symphony+, the Symphony’s new video streaming app that allows viewers to watch concerts performed by the Seattle Symphony, recorded live at Benaroya Hall, on mobile devices or on connected devices such as Apple TV and Roku. Dear Humanity will be available on Seattle Symphony+ until May 4.
In the week preceding the Dear Humanity concert, the Seattle Symphony is joined by TeenTix, Arts Corps, Speak With Purpose (SWP), Coyote and The Seattle Art Museum’s Teen Programs to support local youths as they address climate change using an array of media during the Dear Humanity Youth Art Festival.
Arts Corps’ Art 4 Life shares digital filmmaking, photography and performances with a focus on environmental justice issues in Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center on Saturday, April 15, from 3–5 p.m. Admission is free; walk-ups are welcome.
On Sunday, April 16, from 1–4 p.m., a range of youth projects on climate change and related topics — including spoken word performances, a one-act play, video presentations and musical performances — are presented in the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. Admission is free; walk-ups are welcome.
Benaroya Hall opens to the public on Tuesday, April 18, from 4–7 p.m., for a free exhibition day showcasing youth-created visual art and interactive activities in the Samuel & Althea Stroum Grand Lobby. Admission is free; walk-ups are welcome.
Dear Humanity Youth Art Festival Partners:
TeenTix builds a bright future for our region by empowering young people to take an active role in shaping their arts community as audience members, critics, influencers, advocates, patrons and leaders. Through the TeenTix Pass Program, ANY teenager, 13–19 years old, can sign up for a FREE TeenTix Pass, which entitles them to purchase $5 day-of-show tickets at any of our 70-plus partner organizations in the greater Seattle area. TeenTix also empowers young people through programming focused on learning and practicing arts criticism, podcasting, and leadership, as well as mentorship for BIPOC artists.
Arts Corps is a nationally recognized youth arts education organization that works to address the race and income-based opportunity gap in access to arts education. Through participation in its arts integration, out-of-school arts and teen leadership programs, youth experience the transformative power of creativity and gain a deepened belief in their own capacity to learn, take risks, persist and achieve.
Speak With Purpose (SWP) is the only youth public-speaking program incorporated into the public-school day with the purpose of reaching every child that is silent in the back of the classroom and inspiring them to step forward to become the leaders in the front.
Coyote offers pay-what-works-for-you creative classes to youth ages 10–15! We believe in the power of youth voices and minds, and strive to spark creativity in young people by putting tools in their hands to build skills and forge their futures.
The Seattle Art Museum's Teen Programs invite young artists, thinkers and innovators to make their mark on art. Itching to make art, express yourself, take over the museum? Join the Teen Arts Group (TAG) and make new friends, create art, plan events and ask questions about the world we live in.
Ticket Information
For more information on reserving free tickets for the Dear Humanity Youth Art Festival & Concert, please visit seattlesymphony.org or contact the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office. The Seattle Symphony Ticket Office is located in Benaroya Hall, at Third Avenue and Union Street. The Ticket Office can be reached by phone at 206.215.4747 during the following times: Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
ANGELIQUE POTEAT | COMPOSER
Angelique Poteat is from the Pacific Northwest. Her music has been recorded and performed in Australia, Germany, Lithuania, Hungary, Japan, Italy, Norway and all over the United States by ensembles including the Seattle Symphony, Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, Saratoga Orchestra, Woodlands Symphony Orchestra, North Corner Chamber Orchestra, CernaBella and the Enso Quartet. Some notable performances include Beyond Much Difference (2014), a piece commissioned and performed by the Seattle Symphony at their January 2015 Sonic Evolution concert with Mike McCready, Chris Cornell and members of the bands Pearl Jam, Sound Garden and more.
Poteat is the recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Composition for Beyond Much Difference, as well as grants from Seattle 4Culture, Artist Trust and the Allied Arts Foundation. She is also a 2015 CityArtist from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and the 2018 Composer-in-Residence for the New Music on the Rock Festival. She recently completed a work for Arx Percussion Duo and is currently working on a clarinet quintet for Seattle Symphony’s Dr. Robert Wallace Clarinet Laura DeLuca.
Poteat is currently the Seattle Symphony’s 2022/2023 Artist-in-Residence and the Director of the Merriman-Ross Young Composers Workshop. Poteat earned the degrees Bachelor of Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Master of Music from the College-Conservatory of Music. She has studied composition with Samuel Adler, Joel Hoffman, Mara Helmuth, Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, Shih-Hui Chen, Arthur Gottschalk and Samuel Jones. Many of her works are influenced by the natural world around her, often returning to the ocean and Puget Sound area.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY
The Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 27 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 750,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts, and through the Seattle Symphony+ streaming service, the orchestra’s concerts reach audiences at home and around the world.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY+
Seattle Symphony+ brings the Seattle Symphony’s dynamic performances to audiences anywhere in the world. Launched in 2020 to offer musical comfort amidst the pandemic, the digital streaming service reached a global audience with its live concerts, behind-the-scenes interviews, educational videos and more. With subscriptions starting at $12.99 per month, Seattle Symphony+ makes engaging with the orchestra’s exceptional musical content more possible than ever before.
###
DEAR HUMANITY
COMMUNITY CONCERTS
Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m.
Sunny Xia conductor
University of Washington Choirs
Gabriella Smith Tidalwave Kitchen
Tan Dun Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds
Michael Abels Global Warming
Angelique Poteat Dear Humanity for Youth Chorus & Orchestra
Sunny Xia’s position is generously underwritten as the Douglas F. King Assistant Conductor.
Delta Air Lines proudly supports the Seattle Symphony’s Community Partnerships for Youth and Education.
The Dear Humanity Youth Arts Festival is generously sponsored by Susan M. Coughlin and John K. Lauber.
Dear Humanity is presented as part of the Seattle Symphony’s New Music WORKS initiative, which is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. New Music WORKS features commissions, concerts and educational activities that use composition as a catalyst for collaboration and engagement in music.
The Seattle Symphony’s Family, School & Community programs are supported by 4Culture, Marco Argenti, ArtsFund, D.A. Davidson, Delta Air Lines, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, the Klorfine Foundation, the Merriman-Ross Family, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and individual contributions to the Seattle Symphony Annual Fund.