How Harpist Emily Levin Is Bringing Composers Back Home With GroundWork(s)
Emily Levin (left) and Angélica Negrón.
I'm always curious how many frequent flier miles composers rack up in a year. That's because, to hear a new work performed live, they need to travel to where the concerts are happening. And often times that's major cultural hubs like New York City, London, Berlin, or Tokyo.
But an inventive project from harpist Emily Levin is bringing composers much closer to their home turf. GroundWork(s), which Levin founded in 2022, is commissioning 52 composers — one from each of the 50 states, plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico — to write new works for the harp. But what makes GroundWork(s) unique is that each piece receives its premiere in the composer's hometown, showcasing the artistry of the composers in the cities that first inspired and supported them.
"Because musicians are so transient, moving to wherever the job or the performance is, it's rare that we end up in our hometowns," Levin says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "So the idea is to bring composers back to these first communities that celebrated them — to celebrate the composer and the community that helped foster their love of music."
For the third GroundWork(s) commission, Levin tapped Puerto Rico–born composer Angélica Negrón, currently the composer-in-residence with the Dallas Symphony, where Levin is also the principal harp. Negrón's new work for harp, violin, cello, and electronics, Ave del paraíso, takes its inspiration from the Bird of Paradise and even includes field recordings of birds native to Puerto Rico.
For Negrón, the GroundWork(s) project represents the first time she's received a premiere in her hometown of San Juan. In addition to having family and friends be among the first to hear a work of hers performed, Negrón also saw the premiere earlier this year as a unique opportunity to dissolve the borders often placed between musicians and the audience.
"I think in a lot of new music, the importance of the personal connection between the music, creator, and audience gets a little lost," Negrón says on the podcast. "It's great to come back to that and have the experience be about those shared lived experiences, and about the intersections in our identities. That feels way more meaningful to share my music with them, hear their thoughts, and spark their curiosity to come back to other concerts."
In this episode, I talk more with Levin and Negrón about how the San Juan premiere came together and what's next for GroundWork(s) in the coming months. Plus, Levin shares her fascinating strategy for engaging audiences with new music by putting the focus not on the music — but on the people involved in the creative process.
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