DunDun Queen Gerri McCritty on Music, Art & Healing in Liberia and Lancaster, PA

June is Black Music Month.  I’m excited to introduce West African drummer and multi-disciplinary artist Gerri McCritty.

In our interview we touch on:

• Are there really female dundun drummers in West Africa?

• What’s being done about the thousands of child soldiers in Liberia?

Geri McCritty, a female dundun drummer from Liberia joins Music Un-Tuxed for a conversation about creating new traditions and bringing healing to communities in Africa and Lancaster, PA.

Gerri, a female dundun drummer from Liberia was born to a musical family and a deep drum culture. Her parents hosted music legends Nina Simone and Hugh Masekela while they were in Liberia.   

But Gerri broke with tradition and decided she wanted to play the dunduns, a type of drum reserved for men.   

🌏︎ Find out how she broke down gender barriers in traditional drumming and how she carries forward her mother’s legacy to rehabilitate former child soldiers.

 This episode will open your ears and heart to a story of resilience, rhythm, and redemption.

If you want to hear Gerri make music, check out this video of our improvisation

🔔 Subscribe and join us for a journey where music is more than sound—it’s life giving.

#MusicUn-Tuxed #AfricanDrumming #ChildSoldiers #WomenInMusic #MusicHealing #Podcast

Celebrating Willie Ruff

CELEBRATING WILLIE RUFF!

I will miss Willie Ruff.

Incredible person and extraordinary teacher, Willie was my teacher and friend.

I took every class he offered while I was a student at Yale School of Music. His fearless enthusiasm, generosity, encouragement and authenticity are just a few of the qualities I appreciate so much.

He even invited the students in our orchestration class to perform in a sold-out concert with his famous Mitchell-Ruff duo while I was a student at Yale.

And the way Willie communicated with an audience was amazing. I will always hear him saying from the stage "shoot me while I'm happy" as he performed with the incredible pianist Dwike Mitchell. 

Long after graduating from Yale, Willie would travel to Lancaster to perform and receive my calls and encourage me on my various projects.

The way Willie reacted to one project I was creating with Amanda Kemp has had a deep impact. 

On our way home from New Hampshire after creating a new work called the Chaconne Emancipated at an artists retreat, we stopped by Willie's office.

At the end of our visit Willie agreed to listen to this mix of Bach and spirituals and Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech.

At the end of the performance he was in tears. "I haven't cried for music in years, Mike."

And invited us to perform on the Duke Ellington series he directed at Yale.

Willie never stopped encouraging or supporting, he made me feel like anything is possible. I never made it down to Alabama after he retired from Yale, but we kept in touch through phone calls.

I continued learning from Willie long after my time as a student at Yale. I am learning from him right now and I miss him.

Willie Ruff, I am so grateful to you.

Thank you for teaching me. 

Yesterday Amanda and I listened to Billy Strayhorn's last major work which he wrote for Willie and Dwike right before he died.

It's a beautiful piece of music, played by two virtuosos. Click the video on the left to hear for yourself! The video on the right is a feature from Yale.

End of Year Gift!

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for all of the encouragement and support you've given me and all of our music and community-building over the year!

Please check out the video below of Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor by Richard Field.

I'm sharing it with all of you this holiday season as a token of our appreciation for all the encouragement and support you've given us.

Share it with your friends, relatives, acquaintances and even total strangers.

This is one of three pieces composed for me this year by my dear friend Richard Field, a former piano student of my mom's. 

My mom and I are looking forward to collaborating with Richard on his second sonata and piano trio in April and May of 2024!

We performed at Cathedral Village in Philadelphia (see review at end of video) as part of a program that also featured pieces by Fritz Kriesler and César Franck. 

Let me know what you think!

Please share the link!

LOOKING BACK!

We had a fun and awesome performance at the Pennsylvania Governor's Holiday Open House. Click on the pic below to hear us!

MFE students and their families traveled to Harrisburg to perform holiday favorites including A La Media Noche and Hallelujah.

COMING UP... Kwanzaa!

December 28th I’ll be performing an excerpt from the Chaconne Emancipated with my wife and frequency partner Amanda Kemp. 

We are part of the community’s celebration of Kwanzaa. Come join us on Thursday, December 28th.

Bright Side Opportunities Center

515 Hershey Ave, Lancaster, PA 17602

It's free and open to the public!

MFE Faculty Concert Recap and December Gigs!

I haven't been in touch for a while because I’ve been busy–PLAYING THE VIOLIN!

One of the shows I performed in recently was the Music for Everyone Faculty Concert! A couple of days ago I got to bring the many generations that I work with together. It's so great seeing both my colleagues and students coming together to perform and celebrate community with one another.

A highlight of the program for me was performing with Rick Ferrarelli (bass clarinet), Keith Colon (violin),  Angela Lansinger (viola), Tom Klimek (cello) performing Mark Mellits clarinet quintet, Titan.

The video is below!

COMING UP IN DECEMBER

I’m excited to take the Music For Everyone kids to the Governor’s Mansion in Harrisburg, PA. Gov. Shapiro’s staffer came to our summer concert and asked us to perform at their Holiday Open House on Dec. 10th!

In addition to our Music for Everyone performances, on December 28th I’ll be performing an excerpt from the Chaconne Emancipated with my wife and frequency partner Amanda Kemp. We are part of the community’s celebration of Kwanzaa. Come join us on December 28th.

Bright Side Opportunities Center

515 Hershey Ave, Lancaster, PA 17602

It's open to the public!

I’m thankful for you!

I want everyone to feel special.

What's Harder? F flat or E natural

It depends on how you look at it! They are virtually the same but the label can make one seem harder than the other.

This came up for me when I got frustrated while working on a new sonata by my childhood friend Richard Field.

Before I say more about the music, let me tell you about me and Richard.

We met when I was six and he was five learning piano with my mom.

Since then, we’ve had a lot of creative ventures.

When I was 16 I starred in his film: Space Sketch—a send-up of Star Trek, where I played the Captain.

Richard also managed my campaign to be mayor of Lancaster during Government Youth Day. We ran on the Toga Party ticket.

Guess what we wore?

Now forty years later, Richard and I are teaming up again!

But this time no bedsheets or space suits.

Richard has written two sonatas for me and my mom.

So, back to the first question.

I’m reading his sonata and getting frustrated by the F flat in a key signature which already has 6 other flats.

But then I just shifted it to an E Natural and it flowed.

I realized I could change all those flats in my mind. It’s not a big deal!

This isn’t new to me but it shows you the power of perception.

And, a reminder that the ink on the page isn’t the actual music. It’s just inkblots on a page. The notes are instructions or a bridge between the composer and the player.

Agree? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

We started the recording process last week.

Here’s a sneak peek of our rehearsal video!

Interested in hearing more? Check out Richard Field's promo video by clicking on this link!

All the best,

Michael

P.S.--Thanks for being in community with me. Stay tuned for my new patreon channel where I’ll have even more music and videos for you!

What's in the next galaxy? Building music through community.

As August descends upon us, I reflect on past summers at music festivals with dark skies.

After a long day of music making, I’d lie down and look up at the stars.

I’d see shooting stars and expanding galaxies that go on forever.

This year it's been an incredibly busy heart opening and fulfilling summer.

I’ve been expanding and receiving my ventures–saying yes to people and new experiences.

For example, we changed how we conducted the Music for the Everyone (MFE) free Strings and Percussion summer camps.

This year we incorporated poetry and added more improvisation opportunities.

We focused on building the community and creating a context where the kids and teachers could connect with each other as people rather than just jumping in to learn music.

Imagine 100 kids and teachers experiencing a daily sound bath or opening up about our challenges and strengths by using a poem prompts.

This is definitely not how I was trained but it was so much better!.

By the end of the strings and percussion camp, the kids trusted each other and the adults. This trust and acceptance made it easier to learn and more fun for everyone.

We even created an impromptu faculty community concert that was truly an MFE “vibing” event. It was an informal gathering of community members, parents, kids, and performers–all in different stages of musicianship. We were in a cool eclectic space...keeping it real and having fun.

So, I invite you to expand and say yes to something new!

Check out my new videos of sunrise plus music at Inkwell Beach in Martha’s Vineyard.

As we head into August, I’ll keep you updated on playing violin at Inkwell Beach in Martha’s Vineyard, new musical partnerships, and tips for how to use youtube when you are learning music!

Egocentric Molecules

Picture Credit: Keith Colon

Before I can dive into music authentically there’s so much I need to shed.

I’m sharing this because I hope it will help you to see if there’s something you can let go of so that you can get back to enjoying the process of music making as well as your end results.

For example, when I was recording the Franck and Grieg sonatas with my mom, Frances Veri this summer, I had to let go of my defensive ego. I consciously told myself to “give up the fight and listen” in an accepting way. When I did this, I could feel the music going through my body and I could embrace the moment.

This is definitely not how I used to be.  I used to be out of body when I played and it showed up as tension and nerves and I couldn’t play as well.   I remember recording in New York, and I was filled with “egocentric molecules” –to quote Jean-Luc Ponty.  My heart would pump fast but my arms wouldn’t move right.  I’d get upset and not be able to articulate my thoughts to the other musicians.    And even more frustrating, I couldn’t play how I wanted to play. I was stuck.

All of the work I’ve done on myself as a person helped me to approach this recording session differently.  Shedding the defensive ego is a process.  It’s part of who we are as humans.  But going through it with awareness and acknowledging that one side of myself.  Recognizing my “egocentric molecules” are being activated I can take a breath, get in my body and decide to give up the fight..  We had a great process.  (Now we are waiting to get the take from the recording engineer!)

Check out this youtube snippet of our rehearsal:

All the best,

Michael

Celebrating AAPI Month

I was thrilled to conduct the McCaskey H.S. orchestra in a world premiere of Francis Wong’s Joseph Pierce at Appomatax, an arrangement for a string orchestra.  We will be recording this piece for the MFE Songs for Justice series this summer.

This piece follow’s Joseph Pierce’s journey from China to Connecticut and from Connecticut to the several battles of the Civil War.  Young Joseph was sold to an American ship captain when was about ten years old.

You can watch the performance below!

It was a pleasure to see so many of you at the very first Rainy Day Listening Room.

I’ve decided to make this a monthly show via youtube. So please hold the date: Sunday June 18th for the next experience.

All my best,

Michael

P.S.-- Subscribe to my youtube channel so you can get notified whenever we drop new musical performances like Joseph Pierce at Appomatax.