Up to the Challenge
Despite pandemic, Ashleigh Gordon celebrates black musical artistry
QUICK NOTES: Violist Ashleigh Gordon is co-founder of Castle of our Skins and the Black Composer Miniature Challenge.
Ashleigh Gordon is a professional musician. The violist needs to play. And so, pandemic be damned, Gordon has found new, adventurous ways to perform.
Gordon has had a storied career. She has recorded with Switzerland’s Ensemble Proton and Germany’s Ensemble Modern. She has performed with Grammyaward winning BMOP and Grammy-nominated A Far Cry string ensemble. But in Boston, Gordon may be best known as the cofounder and artistic and executive director of Castle of our Skins — a local concert and educational series devoted to celebrating Black artistry through music.
Gordon, who also plays viola with Castle of our Skins, has stayed true to her organization’s mission while at home pioneering the Black Composer Miniature Challenge. She talks about the video series and other art she’s indulged in the latest in our series on what local arts leaders are doing these days (check bostonherald.com /entertainment to read installments featuring Keith Lockhart, Mikko Nissinen and more).
#BCMC
Gordon and fellow Castle of our Skins co-founder Anthony R. Green have used the Black Composer Miniature Challenge to premiere short pieces written specifically for them.
“We put out a call to composers who identify as being from the African diaspora to write 30-second solo or duo pieces for us,” Gordon said. “Not quite sure what to expect or who would answer the challenge, it was thrilling to receive 18 submissions from composers all over the world ranging from quite young, the youngest being an 11-year-old boy, to quite seasoned. When you’re staying home, anxiously looking at a dry-erased calendar, and feeling like your creativity is on hibernation, the project was a great spark of inspiration.”
The simplest way to find the mini challenges is to friend Castle of our Skins on Facebook or punch #BCMC in Facebook’s search field.
Atimefor exploration
For the busy, in-demand musician, learning to appreciate a calmer pace of life has taken a while. But she’s managed to fill her days with kora music, (socially distanced) outside time and plenty more.
“While uncomfortable at first given my always-onthe-go, pre-pandemic lifestyle, slowing down and taking advantage of time in other ways has been quite illuminating,” she said. “It’s allowed me time to explore Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, watch African films and engage with history and culture, cook, and eat a ton of Jamaican food.”
Summer book list
“I usually have a collection of books, about three, that
I’ve started but never finished,” Gordon said. “They have a near permanent home next to my bed. This time has allowed me to dust them off and even add new ones, with the time to actually finish!”
Her current rotation features a wide range of essays, texts and narratives including “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man” by Henry Louis Gates Jr., “Black American Music Past and Present” by Hildred Roach and “Black Notes” by William C. Banfield.