Monday, November 14 2022 at 8 PM
“Ecstatic Listening” hosted by Jess Speer
103.3 Asheville FM
The 2022 Black Mountain College Radio Artists have been selected by BMCM+AC, AshevilleFM, and Make Noise for a series of innovative works for the radio inspired by the experimental spirit of BMC artists. This year’s open call for artists expanded beyond Western NC and was open to all.
BMC Radio Artists’ work will be featured in various programs on Asheville FM with an exclusive interview kicking off their featured month. At the completion of the broadcasts, a culminating listening session will be held at Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center to celebrate the work of the six radio artists: Casey Edwards, Erika Funke, Kamikaze Jones, Brett Naucke, Joo Won Park, Jonah Rosenburg, and charles theonia.
Casey Edwards is an interdisciplinary academic who has achieved graduate degrees in both library science and music. As a librarian, he specializes in archives and special collections; as a performer, he concentrates on the vocal tenor repertoire and participates regularly in various music endeavors in the Greater Asheville area.
In this archival amalgamation, Casey Edwards creates and combines recordings of himself interpreting items from the archival collections at Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. The selected items include one art song for tenor and piano and two letters, written and composed by Merrill Gillespie in the 1990s (piano part interpreted by David Berger on the recording). The amalgamation reflects revelations provided by archival research into the art song, such as the motivation behind its composition after an extensive period of creative inactivity as well as the composer’s mindset at the time. In one of the letters, Gillespie makes a poignant reference to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, comparing the tragedy to the Holocaust. Edwards attempts to build on Gillespie’s comparison with recent news broadcasts to consider the repetitive nature of human history as observed in current events, such as how both the COVID-19 and monkeypox pandemics have been handled due to apathy and disinformation.