Broadcast from Home
A work in response to the coronavirus crisis featuring contributions from the public
by Lisa Bielawa
with Kaufman Music Center in New York City as Lead Partner
Begun on April 9, 2020, Broadcast from Home is a large-scale work that was open to contributions from people around the world, which evolved and premiered in sections here on this page. A concert version incorporating both live performers and archival audio is in planning. The entire project archive is now part of the Performing Arts Covid-19 Response collection at the Library of Congress.
YOUR TESTIMONIES, reflecting on personal experience during this time of pandemic and global activism, and YOUR VOICES singing melodies that I wrote using these testimonies, were the building blocks of the new work, which was released in the CHAPTERS on this page, along with VIDEOS animating these words.
Broadcast from Home was made possible with funding from Nancy and Joe Walker, Jim Rosenfield, and an Anonymous Donor.
Participating organizations: Mannes School of Music, New Amsterdam Singers, University of South Florida Chamber Singers, University of South Florida University Singers, Kaufman Music Center, Face the Music, Fifth House Ensemble, The Walden School, Fresh Inc. Festival, The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, The Walden School Online Creative Musicians Experience, The Walden School Online Young Musicians Experience, zFestival, The Concert Singers of Cary, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
UPDATE: After Chapter 15, submissions remained open and I have continued reading everything that comes in.
– Lisa Bielawa, July 16, 2020
Chapters
Here is what we have created together. Your words and your voices, your experiences of these unprecedented times, are at the core of each chapter.
CHAPTER 15:
”After-lives”
JULY 16, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
We are seeing our former lives through a new lens now, as we begin this new phase. This Chapter is dedicated, with love and gratitude, to the hundreds of you who participated in this collaboration.
CHAPTER 14:
”Still”
JULY 9, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
People are looking back at the enormity of this crisis, so for the first time this Chapter looks back too, to include two testimonies from mid-April.
CHAPTER 13:
”Where is Everybody?”
JULY 2, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
Many people in the US are frightened and angry.
CHAPTER 12:
”Today is Enough”
JUNE 25, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
While many are engaging more with the world now, through activism and renewed employment, others - particularly the elderly and the jobless - are acclimating themselves to a continued retreat from the world.
CHAPTER 11:
”Throw a Prayer”
JUNE 18, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
Faith is at the center of this chapter - some people are turning to, or returning to, their Faith, while others are questioning what they do (or do not) have faith in.
CHAPTER 10:
“The City is Not the Same”
JUNE 11, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
This chapter reveals that we are all noticing how our world has changed, as we tentatively emerge from lockdowns around the world.
CHAPTER 9:
”Hear me, hear me, hear me”
JUNE 4, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
At its core is a testimony from an Anonymous 15-year-old in Brooklyn, who writes, "'Justice,' for too long, has been a faint hum… Hear me, hear me, hear me."
CHAPTER 8:
”Who Knows?”
MAY 28, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
All of this week's testimonies are from teenagers, who are trying to look towards a future that is constantly shifting. Uncertainty is uncomfortable!
CHAPTER 7:
”Look Up and Look Around”
MAY 21, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
This week is about exhorting ourselves to do positive things for ourselves, even though the world is a mess right now.
CHAPTER 6:
”Morning Again”
MAY 14, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
This chapter listens to the fears – from low-grade to acute – that we are all facing every morning these days.
CHAPTER 5:
”Are We What Happens?”
MAY 7, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
This week’s chapter reveals that we are all losing our sense of time. The music, like time, seems to be going at different speeds at once, while melodies (and a 4-part canon) suddenly go backwards.
CHAPTER 4:
”I Miss All That”
APR 30, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
Chapter 4 meditates on all of the things that we miss, closing with a beautiful testimony from our furthest-away contributor, Edith Magak, who is sheltering in place in Nairobi, Kenya.
CHAPTER 3:
”The New Abnormal”
APR 23, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
So many testimonies voice disgruntlement and frustration - this week we are letting off steam!
CHAPTER 2:
”Tiny, Powerful (for A.S.)”
APR 16, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
This week’s chapter meditates on families’ experience of loss.
CHAPTER 1:
”That Other You Still Exists”
APR 9, 2020
TEXT / CREDITS
Chapter 1 is a setting of a text message I received on March 23 from Westchester County, NY, one of the earliest regions to shut down.
Your Testimony
How is our world changing? What happens next? What does your heart say? How do you mark time? Your testimonies formed the libretto for Broadcast from Home.
Your Voices
Vocal submissions to Broadcast from Home are closed.
Listen to Vocal Phrases for Chapters 1-15:
Your Videos
Watch word animation created for Broadcast from Home chapters by Cynthia Flaxman Frank and University of North Carolina, Charlotte students.
View the complete playlist on YouTube or stream the videos below.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed their voices to Broadcast from Home.