We Will Not Be Composed

We Will Not Be Composed is a multimedia performance created in collaboration with saxophonist and composer Stevie Manning, author and activist Soraya Chemaly, and projection artist Xuan to challenge gendered perceptions of anger in America. Audience members simultaneously experience a live performance of a musical score by Manning featuring ondes Martenot, projections of light and texture from Xuan, and recorded voices of women and non-binary people expressing their experiences with and ideas about anger in immersive spatial audio. Whether these expressions of anger are startling, familiar, or provoking, audience members discover how collective recognition and expression of anger in the face of abusive power and domination can become a catalyst for justice and change.  

Drawing from jazz, experimental improvised music, and chamber music, the instrumentation of We Will Not Be Composed features the recorded voices and a six-piece ensemble with Manning on alto saxophone, Jessica Ackerley on electric guitar, two cellists, double bass, and Suzanne Farrin on the ondes Martenot, which can sound like a surrealistic portrayal of a human voice.