ReImagine! unites Cava Lee Menzies with the Community Music Center, allowing the artist and organization to instigate 100 new works, made in collaboration and presented online.
This project evolved from online collaborations that Menzies created in the initial weeks of the COVID-19 shelter-in-place period, a process that enabled her to connect with other musicians, former students, and colleagues around the country. Her postings of the short works online led organically to international collaborations. She now seeks to expand on the process, focusing on the theme of reimagination and instigating new online collaborative pieces with diverse artists from different musical styles, cultural traditions, and worldviews. Menzies will develop the model in a residency with the Center’s Young Musicians Program, engaging approximately 50 middle and high school students in making works, and expanding it to include compositions by community leaders, and with other artists across the country and world. The project’s culmination will be shared as part of the Center’s centennial celebration.
Cava Lee Menzies is a multidisciplinary musician, visual artist, and educator, who hails from a long line of creators. Her musical directing and arranging work have been featured in performances with Chris Martin, Coldplay, Daveed Diggs, Kehlani, and many others.
Community Music Center makes high-quality music accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, regardless of financial means. Each year at the Center, 3,500 students, aged 0-99, benefit from the expertise of 130 teachers of 30 different instruments and voice.
Photo credit: Byron Malik