Canadian composer and scholar Corie Rose Soumah creates work that intricately weaves collectively the vastness of the pure world and the wealthy narratives of Afrodiasporic cultures. Her music embodies the essence of the skies, the floor, and the depths of the Earth, striving to unearth the buried tales and truths that lie beneath their magnificence. Soumah’s work is an excavation of those truths, revealing the deep connections between the pure world and human expertise.
Curiously, Soumah attracts influences from sudden sources, resembling Korean dramas. In an interview with Saad Hadad, she shared that this style serves as a permanent touchstone in her life, influencing items like SPINNING, TOUCHED, UNDREAMT; SNOW- (2022). For Soumah, her compositions are rooted within the current however are additionally a bridge to the previous; they replicate not the fractures of identification inside the African diaspora however reasonably the constants that unite numerous experiences.
Soumah is outspoken about her want to keep away from getting used merely as a token for illustration. She has, up to now, declined commissions that might not honor the depth of her artistry. Her music isn’t just showcased; it serves a function—it invitations research and engagement. She strives to keep away from filler in her painstakingly crafted works, guaranteeing that her presence in any live performance area carries real significance. As a part of the upcoming 2025 TIME:SPANS pageant, the Worldwide Modern Ensemble will current the U.S. premiere of her piece Tossed Parachutes of Lilacs and Lungs. We had the chance to talk along with her about this new work, her collaboration with the ensemble, and her inventive course of.
How a lot of Tossed Parachutes of Lilacs and Lungs displays the place you’ve been and the place you’re going as a composer and a scholar? What approaches or sounds are you experimenting with on this work?
My creation of Tossed was extra about felt experiences than heard sounds, which was stunning for me, as I usually start with a transparent auditory imaginative and prescient of my items. At the moment, I used to be navigating a non secular relationship with ideas of time and routine amidst numerous unrelated musical habits. This duality was each unsettling and comforting. It turned important for me to return musically to an area the place a number of imagery states might coexist. The work explores being and locations, specializing in the unusual whereas additionally delving into private development by means of spirituality, in a fashion akin to bell hooks’ philosophies. The 5 tableaux in Tossed function sensory home windows into my each day life, incorporating therapeutic sounds from my childhood, such because the Kora and poetry by Nicky Beer.
I was involved about being “irrational” with sounds and presenting them with no recognizable type that might enable listeners to trace their evolution. Years later, I’ve let go of these worries and now embrace creating music that doesn’t conform to rationality, no less than as I as soon as outlined it. This piece encompasses the pressing, the corporeal, the non secular, and the unstable points of expertise.
“I’m fascinated with shaping contrasts which have little interest in mixing collectively as a way to create some kind of inner motion, breaking uniformity.”
Throughout the strategy of making ready this new piece with the Worldwide Modern Ensemble, what new views did you choose up about collaborations, or what previous views did it’s a must to put down?
Working with ICE was a simple course of; I composed the piece, which was commissioned after which delivered to the ensemble for efficiency. They debuted it in Darmstadt, which was a rewarding expertise. I significantly recognize listening to an ensemble’s sound previous to writing something, soaking of their repertoire. ICE’s in depth documentation allowed me to discover numerous sound worlds, inspiring me to do the identical in my very own work.
Regardless of my standard strategy to collaboration, I view the rating as a way to amplify the person voices of the musicians concerned. I place vital worth on notational hybridity, because it visually and sonically liberates performers to sculpt intricate textures. In Tossed, every motion consists of graphical parts shared among the many musicians. Moreover, my items typically emerge from interactions with prior collaborators. Within the case of Tossed, I am grateful for the chance to workshop sounds with earlier collaborators, like Jay Sorce from Hypercube. His steerage on the electrical guitar section has been pivotal to the piece.
What does it imply to compose from the angle of Afrodiasporic geologies? And the way does that affect the model, sound, methods, or instrumentation of your work?
“Afrodiasporic geologies” is a time period I coined after encountering Kathryn Yusoff’s transformative guide, A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None. It encapsulates the interconnectedness between ecological and colonial narratives that I’ve lengthy grappled with. Yusoff traces the hyperlinks between white settler geological terminology and the historic destruction of ecosystems and communities. This prompted me to examine a counter-concept—one that means boundless potentialities of existence amongst human and non-human entities, therefore the time period “Afrodiasporic geologies.” In a few of my works, I incorporate this concept extra overtly, generally referencing vibrational shells or Antarctica. Moreover, it represents my want to create distinct moments, specializing in shaping contrasts reasonably than mixing them right into a uniform sound.
Are there musical languages you wish to be taught (or unlearn)? What are you gravitating in the direction of, or what’s pulling you in towards your will?
Previously, I used to be drawn to shorter musical varieties, which I nonetheless discover difficult. Nevertheless, my strategy to longer compositions has shifted considerably; I now embrace increasing the concepts I encounter, no matter a bit’s size. This shift compels me to make decisive selections for shorter works, thereby enhancing the readability of the ultimate piece. My ongoing journey entails unlearning the concern of showcasing my obsessions, even when they appear trivial. To me, essentially the most compelling works are those who unapologetically specific what captivates their creators, a philosophy I aspire to embody in my artistry.
Musical languages are sometimes racially outlined, and also you’ve talked about that folks typically assume you’re drawing from jazz influences even if it’s by no means been your faculty of research. How is your relationship to modern classical and Afrodiasporic musics impacted by expectations of you?
My musical upbringing was closely influenced by artists just like the Kora Jazz Trio, Diego el Cigala, Charles Aznavour, and Nina Simone, making my later discovery of classical and modern music a singular expertise. Modern music has profoundly formed me, alongside the varied influences I’ve cherished earlier than that point. My intention is to embrace these connections reasonably than conceal them. I typically discover my work is simply too advanced to suit right into a single class; it blends numerous influences, together with acousmatic music, Senegalese kids’s songs, and references to Sciarrino.
Throughout my undergraduate research, I encountered disappointment when critics famous a perceived lack of jazz affect or an absence of connection to my cultural roots in my work. Whereas I initially discovered this wounding, I now strategy it with amusement, recognizing that such feedback stem from presumptions based mostly on my look as a Black lady. They illustrate a failure to have interaction deeply with my music. Finally, my aim is to create one thing significant, and I hope that intent resonates with listeners.
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN is an editorially-independent program of the American Composers Discussion board, made attainable by beneficiant donor and institutional help. Opinions expressed are solely these of the creator and will not signify the views of ICIYL or ACF.
You’ll be able to help the work of ICIYL with a tax-deductible present to ACF. For extra on ACF, go to composersforum.org.
