Composing While Black Kaufman Music Center New York, NY November 1, 2023 Performed by:  Vimbayi Kaziboni, conductor Damian Norfleet, voice Laura Cocks, flute/piccolo Kemp Jernigan, oboe Joshua Rubin, clarinet Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet Jacob Greenberg, piano Ross Karre, percussion Gabriela Díaz, violin Clare Monfredo, cello Randall Ziegler, double bass Follow us on social media for more @intcontemporary ! Adegoke Steve Colson's MIRRORS is commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation. This performance is made possible, in part, due to support from the Fromm Music Foundation. The International Contemporary Ensemble’s performances and commissioning activities during the 2023-24 concert season are made possible by the generous support of our board of directors, many individuals, as well as the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc., Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, Amphion Foundation, The Cheswatyr Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Siemens Musikstiftung, New Music USA, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, BMI Foundation, as well as public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the International Contemporary Ensemble.

These excerpts are from a performance that was presented live in Roulette's theater in Downtown Brooklyn. Roulette’s mission is to support artists creating new and adventurous art in all disciplines by providing them with a venue and resources to realize their creative visions and to build an audience interested in the evolution of experimental art. These recent works by George Lewis are part of the composer’s ongoing exploration of what decolonization might sound like. Performed by International Contemporary Ensemble Apis (2019): Baritone, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet in B-Flat, Trumpet in C, Trombone Creative Construction SetTM (2015): Open instrumentation

This is an improvisation performed on Ensemble Pi's 2020 Reparations Now! concert. The piece, a tribute to Elijah McClain, reimagines his final words on earth as his first words in heaven.

The University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Kiesler, performs Nkeiru Okoye’s Invitation To A Die-In, a sung story, written in direct musical response to recent murders of unarmed Black men at the hands of police officers or vigilantes. Interdisciplinary performer-composer-improviser Damian Norfleet, for whom the piece was written, performs the original text by David Cote. This live audio recording is from a performance at the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium on Sunday, October 8, 2023.

Excerpts from composer Jeff Scott's settings of two Pablo Naruda's poems— "La Noche en Isla Negra" and "Las Viejas del Océano"—arranged for vocalist Damian Norfleet. They were performed and recorded live on July 11, 2019 at the Society for Ethical Culture in New York City during the Dream Unfinished Orchestra's Deep River concert . TDU is an activist orchestra, and the concert featured works by composers hailing from communities impacted by climate change and other environmental issues, which included Laura Kaminsky, Roberto Sierra, Harry Burleigh, and new orchestrations of works by Trevor Weston, Jeff Scott of the Imani Winds, and Zenobia Powell Perry. Guest artists included baritone Damian Norfleet, concertmaster Kelly Hall-Tompkins, and conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni. Speakers included Commissioner Mitchell Silver of the NYC Parks Department and Leslie Velasquez of El Puente de Williamsburg, who will provide local and global perspectives on climate justice. Hosted by Terrance McKnight.

This is a clip from The American Opera Project, Hunter College, & The National Opera Association's reading of the new chamber opera: PRECIPICE by Susan Zeeman Rogers (Concept & Design), Rima Fand (Music), and Karen Fisher (Libretto) featuring Alice Tolan-Mee as Ana, Daisy Press as Ana's Mother, and Damian Norfleet as Ana's Father. The reading took place on April 23, 2023 at Lang Recital Hall in New York City, New York.