(uplifting music) - [Host] Illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson brings characters to life in comic books and graphic novels.

Conductor Tamara Dworetz discusses the rise of female conductors and catch a performance from SIRSY, it's all ahead in this episode of AHA, A House for Arts.

- [Announcer] Funding for AHA has been provided by your contribution and by contributions to the WMHT venture fund.

Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, Chet and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi, the Alexander and Marjorie Hover Foundation and the Robison Family Foundation.

- At M&T bank, we understand that the vitality of our communities is crucial to our continued success.

That's why we take an active role in our community.

M&T bank is pleased to support WMHT programming that highlights the arts, and we invite you to do the same.

(uplifting music) - Hi, I'm Lara Ayad, and this is AHA, A House for Arts, a place for all things creative.

Let's send it right over to Matt for today's field segment.

(gentle music) - I'm here in Rexford, New York to get a look at the work of illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson.

Let's go.

(gentle music) - I work in a few different styles.

I love to paint and do what I think if you had to put in a box where people would term fine art but I also really love illustration.

I love telling stories.

(gentle music) When I was little my cousin introduced me to comic books and I was hooked like, you know, I would look at them.

I didn't just read them, I would look at them and I would study them and look at the, you know title page as far as like who the different creators were, pencilers, inkerers, letterers.

So, I thought backwards and I would just try to figure out like how these books came to be.

Most kids draw and color and love to create things.

I just never stopped.

I went to college for illustration, not specifically comics.

So, I kind of got a broader view of the arts.

(soft music) One of the things that I oftentimes really try to communicate in my work is, you know, a love of like, you know, black people, black culture, et cetera.

And it came from a need to, I think, like provide positive images when you know, society oftentimes is not doing that.

It shows up in my paintings, in a lot of my drawings, in my fine artwork.

10 years ago, a friend of mine, a good friend of mine, we decided to start a self-published comic book together.

Snow Days was really the starting point for me as an adult creating comics.

And as soon as I did it, I was like, okay, all right, I also want to make this a part of my career, my work.

Comics kind of energized me to begin drawing and getting into art and so I really felt blessed when I could do that as part of my career.

After that I had an opportunity to work on a graphic novel series for kids, just an all ages, detective story about two junior high detectives named Cash and Carry.

And that was a lot of fun.

And you know, it was a different style of comics.

Snow Days is black and white, Cash and Carry is full color.

It's about kids, you know, it's a little bit more of a Saturday morning cartoon type vibe.

From Cash and Carry I went on to most recently work on the Black Panther Party graphic novel history.

It's a project that is definitely really near and dear to my heart.

I worked on it with David Walker.

Even before working with him, he was one of my favorite authors and writers.

The Black Panther Party for those who don't know, was a group of black people who organized around the ideas of social, racial and economic justice in the community.

You know, there's a lot of images that people having ahead of the party of just being, you know militant people with guns and berets.

But, you know, there was so much more to the party as far as like, you know starting breakfast programs, health programs in specifically in, you know, black communities, you know that were facing economic challenges.

The Panther's history is very complex and misunderstood.

So we really wanted to use the book as an opportunity to give people a full picture.

(gentle music) So my style on the Black Panther Party in particular, I wanted to have something that was more realistic.

I wanted to, first of all make sure I was capturing people's likenesses so they'd be recognizable.

One of the challenges with doing a comic like the Black Panther Party is there's a need to capture the likeness, but capture it over and over and over again, you know, from multiple angles and kind of turn this real life figure who I'm keeping recognizable into a cartoon character, basically a comic book character.

I would do a lot of like designs and drawings of them and try to boil down like what are the most distinguishing features for each person?

So, it's basically translating each person into my style and figuring out how to represent them repeatedly and consistently.

A lot of my work deals with black history.

And it's very much a part of me and a part of what I do.

So, in order to be able to marry that with my interest in comic books, you know like that was like perfect to me.

I'm very excited that David Walker and I have another big graphic novel also with Ten Speed Press that we'll be working on later this year, that one's even longer than the Black Panther Party.

So, I definitely have my work cut out for me, but I'm looking forward to it.

- Tamara Dworetz is the conductor of the Rensselaer orchestra and concert choir at RPI.

And she is one of 14 candidates selected worldwide for the 2022 La Maestra conducting competition for women conductors.

What are some of the biggest changes that Tamara would like to see in the world of orchestra conducting?

I spoke with her to find out.

Tamara, welcome to A House for Arts.

It's such a pleasure to have you.

- Thank you so much, it's great to be here.

- You wear so many different hats in addition to the sleek black jacket that you wear when you're conducting musical orchestra.

Let's first start with your new role at RPI.

- Yeah, so, I became a professor.

I joke with my husband to now call me doctor, maestro professor.

- Cause you just finished your PhD, right?

- Yeah, my DMA, I actually got the job before I finished.

So as I was finishing my last semester of my DMA the first semester I was being a professor but at RPI I conduct their orchestra and the choir, as well as taught a class in the fundamentals of music for students who don't have any experience.

And this semester I am coaching and leading a chamber music class.

- So, how did this all begin for you?

Did you grow up listening to orchestral music?

Where did this all begin for you?

- Yeah, definitely my mom filled our house with classical music and made it a value.

I mean, instead of like a living room, we had our, a music room in our house.

So like she kind of forced me to start piano lessons in first grade, which I'm glad she did.

And then picked, she kind of manipulated me to pick the trumpet because.

- She had a lot of manipulation.

Isn't that what parents are for though, they get you to do the things.

- Positive manipulation, yeah.

- Yeah.

- I do thank her for it.

She was one of the first women in the Michigan marching band.

And so, but she was a saxophonist, which you can't really hear and they're kind of like in the back because, you know the sound doesn't travel like a brass instrument, so.

- Or the drums or something like that.

- Or the drum, yeah.

So I think she picked the trumpet for me because she knew it gets the melody.

And also I was a tomboy and you know, it's getting better, but at the time it was certainly a male dominated instrument.

So, I think it was a good choice.

It fit my personality a lot, so.

- You know, when I've watched video clips of you conducting orchestral music especially for a live audience and for recordings and you were so embodied, I mean every single inch of your body just expresses every nuance and every tone and every feeling that's coming through in the music.

And I'm just curious, Tamara, you know, why are gestures and the movement of the body so important when you're conducting orchestral music for a live audience?

- Well, it's so important because well, first of all, the way that it's the physical connecting with the emotional is I think what drew me to conducting in the first place.

And I really love the idea of connecting those two things.

You know, as a conductor, there's different lines, different parts happening at the same time, you know you have a score and there's the melody and then you have a harmony and you have, maybe a rhythmic part, maybe another part.

And those are all kind of pieces of the puzzle.

And each musician, they only really have see their part of the puzzle and the conductor's job is to kind of physically show how those all fit together.

- So, you're taking different threads in a sort of warp and weft, right?

If you had like a loom.

- [Tamara] Yeah.

- And you're weaving them together.

- [Tamara] Yeah.

- You're helping weaving them together.

You got all the elements and then you put them together into like a beautiful tapestry.

- Sure, exactly.

And I think, you know, the musicians they could all play their parts and they would all go together without me being, without a conductor needing to be there.

But the role of a conductor is to really provide a vision and a unification, it's almost kind of like a coach of like a football team.

You know, the coach isn't necessarily like a better quarterback or a linebacker than the players themselves, but they can see the whole picture and how they things fit together in a way that the perspective of the individual players can't.

So that's kind of, I do see it as kind of a coaching and a coaching role as well.

- So this is really interesting.

Speaking of that type of coaching role, Tamara I know I've heard you in an interview with Meta Artist International, talk about the psychology of the orchestra, which just, that was so intriguing.

Can you explain what the psychology of the orchestra is and how you see that unfold in your own work as a conductor?

- Yeah, so in my training, as a conductor, it's all about the music and I've seen these conductors who are just able to, in addition to being great musicians and great conductors though, they are able to get the best out of the people sitting in front of them.

And on the other hand, I've seen great musicians who you know, just the orchestra, they don't look like they wanna be there.

And, but we're never, in the training of conductors we're never really taught the psychology and the leadership part.

And so, I really wanted to look into that.

I'm always interested in, you know, how can we work together as a team and how can I get the best out of everybody.

And I think that's a lot of the job of the conductor.

So you know, when you're in a very vulnerable position when you're holding a musical instrument in your hand.

- As a musician.

- As a musician and you're performing, and a lot of the culture around classical music is perfection and you know, getting it right.

And then everybody's judging and listening to each other and that can.

- And don't people also practice kind of on their own a lot of the times.

And then they come together in more rare moments.

So there's always this focus on like individual perfection.

- Individual, exactly.

So, and that can create a lot of tension when people are aiming for perfection and they're afraid of what the conductor might say to them or what the flutist thinks of how they just played that crescendo or something.

So, I think part of the role of the conductor is to make everybody feel at ease so that they can be free to perform their best and also.

- What's one way that you actually help musicians feel at ease, especially when they're all together?

- Yeah, so I think helping them feel seen and valued.

So for instance, I try to look in the back of this sections.

That is something I was actually trained to do, like the back of the violin section.

I think eye contact goes a long way 'cause it's like, "Hey, I see you and I'm listening to you."

And I also think, you know, as a conductor I could be just giving information all the time.

- Right.

- But that's just a one way relationship.

It's gotta be, you have to be listening and open, it's a back and forth.

- Right, it's like there's a symbiosis between the conductor and the musicians, right?

- Absolutely, yeah.

- That's fantastic, and then, you know, kind of going to your role and the mark that you're making in the larger world of orchestral conducting and musical orchestra, you're one of 14 international candidates that's been chosen as part of the international La Maestra conducting competition for women Maestros.

So tell us about the importance of this competition and why it's specifically so important for women conductors today.

- Yeah, so it has gotten a lot better.

There are more women conductors than ever before.

- Right, because it's a traditionally very male dominated field.

- Very traditionally male dominated profession.

I mean, you can still, you can find videos on YouTube of like a completely male orchestra, you know, not to mention the conductor, the one leading them.

So, but it's, we're still very, very behind.

Marin Alsop was you know, famous as a great, breaking the glass ceiling for being a first conductor of a major U.S. orchestra, now we have Nathalie Stutzmann with the Atlanta symphony but that's kind of it for major orchestras and there are women conductors and it is getting better, but this competition provides the opportunity, it's not just an opportunity for women to conduct, it's an opportunity to celebrate being a woman conductor.

You're not just the one woman there, like trying to fit into this like world and how do I fit in, but you're there and all, everybody's women and, and of course there's different version of what it means to be a woman.

- Right, but you're all there to kind of witness each other, support each other because you all know going in like, "wow, like I'm going into something that this is kind of unusual for someone like me to do this."

- Yeah and I think that's a, you know, in a versus another competition like that is not based on being all women.

I think that adds another dynamic to it that we are all like, it's already a win just to be there enjoying and yeah, as you said, witnessing each other, so.

- Yeah, so what are two of the, it sounds like you've already named one of the changes you'd like to see in the world of musical orchestra, but what's another big change that you'd like to see?

And, is there anything that you might be doing to work towards that big change?

- Yeah, The Albany symphony actually does I think a great job of this, but I think reaching out into the community, a lot of times orchestras are expecting the community to come to them, but I think the orchestras need to be serving their community, serving the city and that includes everybody in it, you know.

It's almost like the baseball team of the city.

Like its job is to serve and I think it can be a source of huge pride for the city.

And so something I'm doing, I mean, I've taught I've done my role in small ways like teaching, I taught public school and orchestra and band and RPI, I even consider that, I also mentor some younger women conductors but on the other hand, I really want to get to a like a podium that has more power to have more impact.

So, I'm working on myself still right now to be able to get to that position.

And I really hope to kind of be a model to be working with an orchestra that is, has that mindset to be reaching out into the community and, you know, performing at lots of different venues in high schools and churches and doing.

- Bringing the performance to people who may not traditionally have went and moved themselves over to.

- Exactly.

- The orchestra at the traditional venue.

- Exactly.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And not in a way of proselytizing, but in a way of enriching.

- Amazing.

- [Tamara] Yeah.

- Well, Tamara, this was such a fantastic conversation.

- [Tamara] Thanks so much.

- I feel like I have even more knowledge and appreciation of orchestral music.

So, thank you so much for being on A House for Arts.

- Thank you so much, it was great to be here.

- Please welcome SIRSY.

- Hi everybody, we are the band SIRSY.

We are so happy to be here on AHA today.

We're gonna do a song that is called Like a Drum.

And this is a song that is about getting through the hard times by doing the thing that brings you joy and for us, that is playing music.

So let's make a little joyful noise together.

♪ Beat the troubles ♪ ♪ Like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles, like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-Ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles, like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ I will beat this like a drum ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Hard times are weighing on my mind ♪ ♪ Heavy is the heart that doesn't pick the fight ♪ ♪ What don't kill us makes us stronger, right ♪ ♪ Well, we ain't dead yet tonight ♪ ♪ Ooh-Hoo ♪ ♪ Oh-ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Hard times will bring a body down ♪ ♪ Heavy is the heart that's given no way out ♪ ♪ All that we've got baby is right now ♪ ♪ So come on and sing it loud ♪ ♪ Ooh-Hoo ♪ ♪ Oh-ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho ho-ho ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm free when the beat goes on ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Ooh-hoo ♪ ♪ Oh-ho, ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho ho-ho ♪ ♪ Beat my troubles like a drum ♪ ♪ Oh-ho ho-ho ♪ ♪ Let my beat go on and on ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ This is a song of ours called Brave and Kind.

And it's become a bit of our anthem.

It's a song that Rich and I wrote the first time that I survived cancer.

And we learned through the pandemic that it inspired quite a few SIRSY tattoos.

So we are honored and we thought we would do it for you today.

♪ One for strength ♪ ♪ Two for joy ♪ ♪ Three for better days ♪ ♪ All that I ♪ ♪ Counted on ♪ ♪ Seems so far away ♪ ♪ So here I stand ♪ ♪ On foreign ground ♪ ♪ Trying not to sway ♪ ♪ With nothing left to lose ♪ ♪ But everything ♪ ♪ Dare me to try ♪ ♪ To make me whole ♪ ♪ And I will fight ♪ ♪ I will try ♪ ♪ To be brave and kind ♪ ♪ And make me whole ♪ ♪ And I will find ♪ ♪ I will try ♪ ♪ To be brave and kind ♪ ♪ One for hope ♪ ♪ Two for grace ♪ ♪ Three for chancing it ♪ ♪ All that I counted on ♪ ♪ I took for granted ♪ ♪ With this scar ♪ ♪ I am found ♪ ♪ I am branded ♪ ♪ With everything to lose ♪ ♪ This is nothing ♪ ♪ Dare me to try ♪ ♪ To make me whole ♪ ♪ And I will fight ♪ ♪ I will try ♪ ♪ To be brave and kind ♪ ♪ And make me whole ♪ ♪ And I will find ♪ ♪ I will try ♪ ♪ To be brave and kind ♪ ♪ 'Cause I am blood ♪ ♪ And I am bones ♪ ♪ But I am not afraid ♪ ♪ I am blood ♪ ♪ And I am bones ♪ ♪ But I am not afraid ♪ ♪ I am blood ♪ ♪ And I am bones ♪ ♪ But I am not afraid ♪ ♪ But I'm not afraid ♪ ♪ 'Cause I am blood ♪ ♪ And I am bones ♪ ♪ But I am not afraid ♪ ♪ I am blood ♪ ♪ And I am bones ♪ ♪ But I am not afraid ♪ - Thanks for joining us, for more arts visit wmht.org/aha.

And be sure to connect with us on social.

I'm Lara Ayad, thanks for watching.

(uplifting music) - [Announcer] Funding for AHA has been provided by your contribution and by contributions to the WMHT venture fund.

Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, Chet and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi, the Alexander and Marjorie Hover Foundation and the Robison Family Foundation.

- At M&T bank we understand that the vitality of our communities is crucial to our continued success.

That's why we take an active role in our community.

M&T bank is pleased to support WMHT programming that highlights the arts, and we invite you to do the same.