Artist Engagement Activities
Professional artists performing at the Green Music Center participate in residency activities such as lectures, demonstrations, workshops, and conversations with students, faculty, and staff across campus. These activities are designed to develop creative capacities, critical thinking skills, and encourage participants to investigate communal and personal values.
Past examples include (but are not limited to) artists from:
- The U.S. and Mexico leading discussions about issues impacting Latine and immigrant communities;
- Ghana visiting environmentally-themed courses to discuss the impacts of climate change and globalization on indigenous fishing communities;
- Ukraine connecting with general education classes to demonstrate contemporary approaches to historic roots music, and impacts of war on their communities;
- Harlem (via Liberia) inspiring students to persevere through adversity; and
- around the globe leading conversations about the historic and present-day role of art as a catalyst for impacting change in a society.
Contact the Green Music Center's Engagement Director Becky Cale at becky.cale@sonoma.edu to learn more about connecting artists with your classes or student success program.
“I think that the in-class activity was very enlightening. I felt that the way Las Cafeteras engaged with the audience with the sort of questions they asked helped me better understand how this work impacts people today.”
“The most memorable part of this class was having Michael Mwenso come and speak to us. I think he had a lot of really interesting things to say about everyone having the ability to be a leader. … This meant to me that the ideas that we had been discussing in class are ideas that are actually applicable in real life and in real leadership experiences.”
“It was incredible. I’ve learned so many things about how to be a better performer and human in general.”
“Liz [Lerman] did a brilliant job connecting to the students and integrating her workshop with our course theme. ... Several of my students mentioned it as a high point of the course, and ... felt the workshop and the performance piece were transformative experiences for them. The workshop with Liz was one of the most creative, inspiring and meaningful experiences I have had in an educational setting. Thank you!”
“It was a good experience. It opens your eyes to different perspectives and pushes you to try new things.”
“DDAT was amazing to speak with, learn from, and watch perform. … I made extremely useful professional connections through their visit and thought they were magnificent ….”