For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) Episode 33: Dawn Norfleet (part 8)
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In this week’s episode, we talk to Dawn Norfleet about how the pandemic has affected her compositional life and how to remain creative. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Dawn Norfleet, check her out here: music.columbia.edu/bios/dawn-norfleet . Parts of this episode originally premiered on January 2022, found on Youtube, click here.
This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!
Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022 Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021
Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes Interns: Roziht Edwards and Merve Tokar
[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, artistic executive director of Ensemble For These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Dawn Norfleet, who we spoke to in January 2022[INTRO MUSIC ENDS]. Has the pandemic affected your creative process or caused compositions to be canceled or postponed?
Dawn Norfleet:
Well, um, interestingly, I got my first two commissions during the pandemic, yeah, what? Well, when was the ACO commission, American Composers Orchestra commission? And that one was, I composed two pieces for vocalist, pianist Clarissa Yesod. And, that's it. Yeah, she's, now that was intimidating, because she's a composer, too. So, yeah, so that she was so amazing. And she, she, she even created little videos of my, my, of her performing my composition. So what I'm trying what I'm dealing with now is being ah, I miss performing I miss working with people collaborating in person, with people with humans. And in LA. Between COVID and just the lack of spaces for people to perform. It's, yeah, it's causing me to think of, like, ways, like, alternate ways of, of getting my music out. So. So that's kind of where I am now. Like, okay, I am a creative person out it's great to, to, to compose, but I also want to create with human beings.
Nanette McGuinness:
What do you have coming up that you're excited about? What are you working on?
Dawn Norfleet:
For my next few months, I'll be kind of like, in putting my academic hat on my scholarly had teaching classes. I have the college course, like the jazz history course, teaching remotely 200 students, and then I'll have my teaching artists load, which is teaching fifth graders, so So that tends to kind of take, you know, takes some of my energy getting other people to create, and then the the academic world, that's a whole other kind of things that's still uses, I still use creativity, you know, in, in how I teach. So as far as like, composition, I have the the, the GLCAM composition to think about, and I'm looking forward to, you know, finding out what my ensemble will be, and, and creating carving space in my schedule, like I did when I was grad in grad school, that's something I'm going to need to do like to carve space to, to compose to just be free and just in a right, so right now, I do. I do record my thoughts, you know, on my phone, and then, you know, I'd still have manuscript paper in different places around my home. And yeah, just just being just being open to that, but I am going to have to actually schedule time to do that.
Nanette McGuinness:
Right, time management as we get older, especially, but all the way through, to be honest, to be creative. If we don't make space for it, right?
Dawn Norfleet:
Yeah. Especially when you don't have a specific deadline looming, that I'm thinking, Okay, well, I have to do this. I have to do all of this other stuff, I have to, but but even I found that I find that the more I have to do, the more stuff I actually get done. So it's just everything. Everything is flowing all at once. So Um, so in the slow times than the slower times, I have to also just use that as the reset time, you know, even though I might not be able to, you know, drive up the coast, like I used to be able to do, you know, the other concern was, when it was fire season, you know, the places that I wanted to drive to, they were prone to, you know, we hit fire instead of moping when it's slower, and being impatient to embracing that time a bit more, you know, and and using that time as as a different kind of reset, you know, because it when it when, when the activity hits it's going to hit. And, yeah.
Nanette McGuinness:
[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure, and a special thank you to our guest, Dawn Norfleet for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT Our concert season online and in the Bay Area where to make a tax deductible donation, please visit us at www.E4TT.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. "For Good Measure" is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and designed by Brennan Stokes. With special thanks to audio engineer extraordinaire Stephanie Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]