My Creative Plans for 2021

As with any new year comes plans for new things. I learned a lot about myself in 2020. The main thing that I learned about myself was that I love to create things. I love creating music, obviously. Aside from that though, there are tons of other things I like creating and those things are what I want to spend most of my time doing.

With creating comes the practice of shipping or publishing. Seth Godin, a prolific writer and speaker, talks a lot on his daily blog about the practice of both creating a thing but also about shipping a thing. Shipping can also refer to publishing or basically putting something out into the world. I have lots of ideas and joke that in another life, I should be employed by a progressive think tank because of how many ideas I have just floating around in my brain. Just because I have lots of ideas though, that doesn’t mean that those ideas ever see the light of day. Actually most of them don’t, which is the point. I think the point is to have the ideas and to be able to continue to generate lots of bad ideas so that you can eventually ship or share the good ones. So after thinking about how I want to spend my time and want I want to do creatively for 2021, I have come up with a plan.

My plan for 2021 is to publish or to create something everyday. A big plan indeed! Now, I know what you’re thinking. If you’re anything like me you’re thinking, Ciyadh, that is A LOT and you’re already doing so much, how could you have time for more?! At least, this is what I’ve been saying to myself. Even though I know I’m already doing a lot, I want to create something everyday. I want to put something out into the world every.single.day and this blog will be my way of doing that.

Everyday you can expect something to show up here on this blog. I’ll be creating a variety of things really. Some of those things will be more thought out and polished while others will be musings and made more on a whim. In other words, there will be some really long and other posts will be really short. Honestly, I am not worried about length really. I’m most concerned with iterating and shipping content on a consistent basis and daily basis.

Now, I do as you might have expected, in addition to my plan for creating something everyday on this blog, I have a plan and schedule for what types of posts will appear here. It’s not set completely in stone and I’ll be using January as a test to see how to best go about this little endeavor.

Here is the list of things that I’ll be publishing or creating:

• Blog Posts

• YouTube Videos

• Podcasts

• Newsletters

• Essays

• Streams

• Social Media Posts

My hope is that I’ll be able to link each of these types of posts here on the blog, obviously if they aren’t blog posts. I might miss some and that is okay! If I do miss linking the posts daily, I’ll do a weekly round-up, probably on Saturdays or Sundays, of what I did publish / create during the week.

I’m telling you because of public accountability. I am a person who thrives on accountability and while sometimes I fail or don’t meet the intended goals, I want to hold myself accountable to you and that is what is most important to me.

Part of all of this is about you, my dear reader. Please, please if you have any feedback, do let me know. You can use my contact page to send me an email, send me a DM, telegram, note by carrier pigeon, etc. This and any of my projects are as much yours are they are mine.

So there it is, these are my creative plans for 2021. In the coming weeks I’ll go more in-depth about the different types of posts / content I’ll be creating and how that fits into my work as a creator, so be on the lookout for those!

If you’d like to support the blog you can always share or visit my Ko-fi page.

Until tomorrow!

The Blog is on Ko-fi!

Thank you so much for continuing to support and read this blog! I'm really going to be posting A LOT more in the next year, which I am really excited about doing. People have been asking how they can support this blog and of course, the primary way that you can support is by sharing with a friend! I have also set-up a Ko-fi page which allows creators to receive support from individuals. I’ll be updating that page and adding context exclusive to my Ko-fi page in the future, but for now, nothing here will change so except the same content that was always here to still be here.

Click this button above to visit the page.

Expect more posts to come!

I'm on twitch!

If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, and you should be if you’re reading this, you’ll know that a few issues back I announced that I’ve joined twitch as a creator! Twitch is a live-streaming platform known mostly for creators to livestream different games. In recent months though, more and more creators who do other things have joined the platform including me. There are people there who just chat which is just chatting with people in the stream. There are creators there who live stream themselves doing things such as crocheting or building mechanical keyboards for instance. It’s a really cool space and I’ve enjoyed it a lot so far from the perspective of a consumer.

Now, you might be wondering what I am going to be streaming and the truth is that I won’t be streaming any of the things I’ve mentioned above! I’m really into all things productivity and creativity, no surprises there, so I’ll be streaming some productivity content and things that fall into the just chatting category. I’ve watch people taking book notes, studying for tests, planning projects, and other seemingly mundane things that are actually riveting. Of course I’ll be sharing some music there too! I find it both simultaneously fascinating and frightening to practice in front of other people so practicing live on twitch will be an exercise in concentration.

Ultimately, my twitch channel is going to be a mixture and catch all of all of the things that I do and want to talk about just like this blog. 2020 taught me that I really do enjoy creating things and so 2021 means that I’ll be creating even more! If you have any suggestions or ideas that you’d like for me to cover in future streams, please let me know! I’m currently planning my content there for next year and it’s looking like my streams will be once or twice a month. Go ahead and subscribe at Ciyadh.live and I’ll see you in the new year.

-Ciyadh

Blog Post Feature: CreatureKind

If you haven’t already heard, I’m a CreatureKind fellow! CreatureKind is a wonderful organization that works at the intersections of faith, justice, and animal welfare. I’ve known about the organization for a few years and it’s been great to be a part of the cohort. As a fellow we get to do lots of really awesome stuff including write blogs and produce a capstone project…more on that later! In any case, I wanted to share the post that I wrote called “Faith. Food. Family”. I’ve linked the post below. Let me know what you think!

Read the post here.

I MADE A PODCAST

It’s been a long time coming but I’m super excited to announce my new podcast, Musically Cogitating. It’s a multi-modal show where I’ll be sharing lots of my thoughts on all things music. The first episode is out today and you can listen to it here. I’ll share more about why I started the show soon but for now, enjoy!

P.S. Subscribe to the podcast newsletter here.

Idea Lab Conversation: Ciyadh Wells

I'll be giving short talk / presentation THIS WEDNESDAY 9/9 at 2pm EST about how creative practitioners and organizations are managing current conditions. Thank you so much to Ideas for Creative Exploration and Idea Lab for inviting me to give this chat! For my first two years at UGA I was a Graduate Research Assistant in Interdisciplinary Arts Research and I learned so much about what it means to be a creative artist and leader. See the information below to register. Open to anyone!

Idea Lab Conversation: Ciyadh Wells
Wednesday,September 9 at 2 PM
Zoom registration:https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIscO-vrTIrGtGh_jjrnc0QxBXBhrOZCf7H

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/814445022696843
Website: http://ideasforcreativeexploration.com/idea-lab-conversation-ciyadh-wells/

The Research Diaries-Introduction

Welcome to the first post in the Research Diaries! I introduced this series a few months ago, but wanted to introduce this series a little more right now as I start doing more research.

The research diaries will be just what you think. This series of posts will be an exploration into what I’m researching, why I’m researching topics, how I go about my research, and so on. I find reading about the workflows and how-to’s of other individuals in similar fields helps so much when trying to grapple with complex research ideas. While I have taken a few research courses during my studies as an undergraduate and graduate student, I have found that learning from other practitioners and then actually doing the work has really informed the way that I work for the better.

Also, I love writing. I’ve always been a writer and wanted to be a writer so this series allows me to write and to share that with you all. I’m not a diarist per se, although I’ve thought about becoming one, but these posts will be me thinking in written form about what I’m exploring and discovering.

I would say that there are a lot of myths out there about what research actually is and though I’m not sure I can bust those myths so to speak, I hope to give life and opportunities to learn about what research means beyond comparing the reviews of a vacuum on Amazon.

The next few posts will explore what research actually is and what is helps us to do.

-Ciyadh

P.S. Have an idea of something you’d like me to write about? See me a message and you might see a response on the blog!

Guitar Music by Black Composers Website and Database

In my latest post I mentioned that I had some new projects that I’d been working on that have been released into the world. Guitar Music by Black Composers is one of them! Guitar Music by Black Composers is a website and database that features works for and including guitar exclusively by Black identifying composers. I had been wanting to do a project like this for along time and had never quite found the right time until Neil Beckmann, the other person who works on this project, made a post about doing this. He and I connected via the internet and a few weeks later the project was up and running!

Database projects are complicated and for various reasons, but I hope that people see this as a resource to start learning about the work of composers whose work is incredibly important. This is by no means a complete database and we do not share the work of any composer or artist without their expressed written consent because we would never want to share someones work without them agreeing. To that end we also have a submission form which can be located by clicking hereclicking here if you’d like to submit a work to the database.

With that said, please feel free to contact us with any questions. We also do repertoire and project consultations if you feel like you need some help in navigating the programming and commissioning process. Just email us at guitarmusicbyblackcomposers@gmail.com

Have a great day!

-Ciyadh

P.S. We also made companion playlists for the website. Check them out here and here.

Some 2020 Mid-Summer Updates

Things have picked up over these last few weeks and it’s been super exciting! Here are a few of those things.

I had the pleasure of giving a conference presentation at the Guitar Foundation of America’s online conference. I spoke about diversity and inclusion in the guitar community and about the steps that I believe the guitar community can begin taking in this direction. It was a super fun experience and I look forward to doing many more things like this in the future. You can rewatch that entire presentation here: Creating a Diverse and Inclusive Guitar Community by Ciyadh Wells

I made a companion resource for the presentation here which I would also love for you to check out.

The day after my presentation I was asked to be a part of a roundtable discussion titled, “ Racial Disparity and Inequity in Classical Guitar: A Conversation with Thomas Flippin, Christopher Mallett, Judicaël Perroy, and Ciyadh Wells”. It was a really great experience to be able to talk with some of my guitar heroes about their experiences in the guitar community. That recording is also available here: Racial Disparity and Inequity in Classical Guitar Conversation

My partner in crime, Jamie Monck, also gave his GFA presentation that very same day which you can view here: Jamie Monck Lecture Q&A

Speaking of my partner in crime, or in world guitar domination as we like to call it, Duo Charango had the privilege of performing for this year's New Music Gathering. We had originally planned to premier the Neoteric Guitar Project during this event, but due technical challenges, we took a different approached and played two new to us works. You can check them out on your YouTube channel here: Duo Charango YouTube Channel

Since then, last week, lots of other awesome things have happened as well which I will detail in further posts. For now, enjoy the things I’ve posted above!

-Ciyadh

Juneteenth

As one might think, today is a day that brings up many complicated feelings. What seems to have become a perpetual state of mourning mixed with one of the very few days during the year in which Black life and Black freedom is more widely celebrated honestly and authenically is complex. My feelings are in the middle. Daily the challenges by people who look like me and sound like me are supposed to be lessening because thousands of people have posted black squares on their timelines in what is supposed to be seen as an act of solidarity. Performative gestures by many, the donations will continue to dry up and unfortunately more will likely die at the hands of a powerful state force which was created during slavery to do the very job that they continue to do today. But as I listen to the words of the Negro National Anthem, Life Every Voice and Sing, I find some hope. Hope that more people will come to know this day as a celebration. Hope that no other Black person has to die on camera in order for more people to care and to make it seem like their life matters. Hope and celebration that came like when the proclamation of freedom was read to those who should have already been free and who resided in the same state as I know live. That’s what I’m hoping for today. Black Lives Matter “Let us march on till victory is won…” - James Weldon Johnson from the Negro National Anthem

Freedom Should Be Free

Freedom should be free. Over the past few days I’ve found myself coming back to this statement, a phrase that drives the work of The Bail Project. Freedom should be free. Freedom to not be held in jail cell without bail because of a system that has been intentionally designed to keep you there. Freedom to exist in a world where you can simply purchase something from a store without being harassed. Freedom to be able to take a jog and with full confidence assume you’ll return home as you’ve done a thousand times before. Freedom to be able to exist within what should be your safest place on earth, your home, but now is the place where numerous of Black women have taken their last breath. Freedom should be free.

As a Black person, I think a lot about what freedom means to me and it means everything. Freedom should be free, but…it isn’t. We’ve lost thousands of Black people, may of whose names we will never know, to those who are in power. Freedom should allow each person to receive the justice that they deserve and only after ,what seems like Black death on camera , have we started acknowledge that this justice doesn’t come for those of us who have dark skin.

Freedom should be free and I, while mourning the lives of all Black people who have died due to state violence or even COVID-19, remain hopeful that we will start to believe this phrase in my lifetime. To Mr. George Floyd, Ms. Breonna Taylor, Mr. Ahmaud Arbery, and to those of you whose names I do not know, I am sorry that we have failed you and taken that freedom away from you. You deserved to be able to take part in the most scared of moments of life and you were robbed of that. Keeping those Black lives at the front of my mind, we must uplift and acknowledge that we must do better and we must call on each other to do so.

Freedom being free starts with us.

-Ciyadh

How to Make Change:

Learn more about The Bail Project here: The Bail Project | Freedom should be free.

You can buy the sweatshirt I’m wearing in this photo here: The Bail Project | Bonfire

Please join me in supporting the Minnesota Freedom Fund and organizations in their community doing important work here: Minnesota Freedom Fund

For more resources: Listening to Black Voices Amid Murder, Violence, Protest, and Pandemic

I wore this to the Margins Guitar Collective launch event. The Margins Guitar Collective is an organization that I founded in 2018 to create and support a diverse and guitar community.

Analog Practice Workflow

You likely already know this by now, but I’m very much into productivity. Whether that means reading about productivity, trying out different tools, or listening to and creating a micro-cast, if it’s about productivity, I want to know about it. At any given time I’m likely working on 2-3 long term projects in addition to my school work and work work so being organized and being productive are super important if I want to make progress on those projects.

In any case, I love hearing about peoples workflows. When I think of workflows I think of the tools and systems that people use to get the things that they need to do done. I’ve seen A LOT of these types of posts on the internet, but haven’t seen too many from musicians and even fewer from the perspective of a classical guitarist so here’s my current practice workflow.

Here’s a picture of all of the things that are in my current analog practice workflow. You could also say that these items are part of the system that I use for setting up successful and productive practice sessions.

Analog Practice Workflow Stuff

Metronome

The first and largest part of this set up is my metronome. This particular metronome is actually the most recent addition to this set up. This is the Dr. Beat DB-90. It’s expensive and admittedly doesn’t make me a better guitarist, but I’ve been looking at it for the past few years and some saving and budget adjusting allowed me to make the purchase. Besides pencils, the metronome is singlehandedly the most important part of my practicing. workflow. I am a huge advocate of using a metronome during practice. Of course, you don’t need to spend money on a metronome. I used a free version on my iPad for the past 3 years and was able to make the same amount of progress in terms of practicing. I just wanted this and liked a lot of its capabilities.

Timer

Since I’m no longer using my iPad as a metronome and timer, and am trying to cut down on phone usage, I needed a timer. This isn’t likely something that most people have in their practice setups, but I am a huge fan of the Pomodoro technique which is basically alternating work and rest sessions. I believe officially the work sessions are supposed to be 25 minutes with a 5 minute break and after the 3rd session you get a 15 minute break, but I practice in 30 minute periods and rest whenever I need to. I’ve been doing this type of practicing since college, the first time, and it’s really helped me to stay on track and keep me honest about how much time I’m actually practicing and not how much time I’m procrastinating watching YouTube videos. I also use toggl, but that’s for a different purpose.

Pencils and Analog Corrector

Yes, I do have an iPad that I use for practicing and that I LOVE, but during the early stages of learning a piece I use physical copies of the music to write in fingerings. Using paper, while taking up space, helps to reduce the strain on my eyes. I say all of that to say that using paper means that I need pencils. Other posts have discussed my love of pencils so I won’t wax poetic too much here about that, but I love pencils. Pencils are great because they allow you to write in and erase ideas. I, of course, have a system for what the different colors mean and I’ll talk about that in another post. Since I have pencils that means that I need an analog correct or as most people call it, an eraser. This particular eraser is clear, super cool, and does a great job at not reminding of all of the mistakes that I’ve made when I’m trying to fix them.

Sandpaper

If you’ve ever met a classical guitarist you’ll learn within about 5 minutes of meeting them that we have an obsession with our nails, particularly those on our plucking hand. In short, the sandpaper or nail buffer helps to smooth out the tips of the nails to help produce a more pleasing and soothing sound. There are endless videos and reviews of different types of nail products, nail shapes, and so on, but I find myself coming back to this sandpaper often.

So here it is. This is my analog workflow / system for practicing. If I make any changes to this, I’ll be sure to update this post.

Thanks for enjoying!

-Ciyadh

P.S. This is the eraser listed above. Seed Clear Radar 150 Eraser | JetPens

The Next 30 Days

So, it’s not May 1st when I’m writing to you. It’s May 10th and I’m just now setting up some goals for the next 30 days and that’s okay! This year, I’m doing my goals in cycles of 30 days, not in months so whenever I want to start working on something, I just start from whatever that day is, go 30 days and see what happens. Below you’ll find what I’m going to be prioritizing for the next 30 days. 31 days from now I’ll update you on how things went.

Goal #1-Do Yoga Everyday I’ve played around with yoga and doing this challenge a lot and now seems like as good a time as any to do it. I’m doing this alongside one of my best friends and we’re using the Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel to do it. It’s linked here: Yoga With Adriene - YouTube

Goal #2-Morning Pages In the online productivity space, where I spend way too much time, a lot of productivity gurus talk about Julia Cameron’s practice of morning pages which she talks about in The Artist’s Way. I haven’t read her book yet, it’s on my list, but I’ve heard nothing but great things about adopting this practice which is to basically write 3 pages as soon as you wake up. It doesn’t matter what you write, you just have to write. I’ve been experimenting with this over the last month and want to try doing it for at least these next 30 days even though I already know it’s something I want to keep doing. Morning Pages | Julia Cameron Live

Goal #3-Finish Some Books Life is too short to read bad books and I agree, but sometimes I think we leave books unread under the guise that it’s not a good book rather than just finishing a book that we know is going to be worth the time spent so this month I’m finishing 3 books, two of which I’m close to finishing and the other I just started, but love.

Here’s to the next 30 days!

-Ciyadh

P.S. This is one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

Artist Statement

I’ve been working on giving life to an artist statement for awhile and this is where I landed! Will post this on my about me page too, but wanted to share here too. I’ll intro this by saying that this is where I am as an artist right now .It’s a really interesting exercise to do as someone who has never published something like this so far. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes and how this changes even in the next year.

As a guitarist, my work and creativity most often and most importantly seeks to address and ask critical questions not only of myself, but of those who have graciously chosen to engage with me and my art. I want to ask deeply important questions and have meaningful conversations about art and the work that art does for all of us. As a collaborator and curator, my goal is to continue to tells stories and create moments of thoughtful engagement and that largely address resiliency and the change that we can enact socially as a means of creating a liberated world. With resiliency comes justice and the ideas about how we as musicians and more broadly, as artists, can continue to work towards creating a society that is free for everyone. Through my various additional roles whether they be administrative or in other capacities, my hope is that these ideas of resiliency, justice, hope, freedom, and togetherness permeate and largely influence the way that I interact with others and my work as a creative shows up in the world.

In the last few years, I made the decision to consciously and purposefully work towards thinking more deeply about the impact that my work as an artist can have on the world and in terms of the justice I seek for everyone. The Margins Guitar Collective is a collective of artists, justice advocates, and community members who are committed to creating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive guitar community. For me, starting this collective is a way to bring issues of diversity and inclusivity and equity to the forefront through supporting artists and the important work we do in our communities. Currently, I am the executive and artistic director of this project overseeing the operations of making our mission and vision a reality.

Additionally, as 1/2 of the guitar duo, Duo Charango, we focus almost exclusively as a duo premiering, commissioning, and advocating for the work of living artists. Two of our latest project include Taking Imperfect Action, an artists conversation series, and the Neoteric Guitar Project, a project that in its first iteration commissioned three living women composers to write music for electric guitar duo.

In all that I do as an individual artist and collaborator, I hope that I am continuing to ask deeply thoughtful and meaningful questions about the necessity of art and about how we have to include everyone in that art if it is to be as meaningful as we hope. Collaborating, creating, and reimagining what it means to be an artist, to be a Black artist are things that I am most concerned with especially as it relates to our society and culture and the impact that I hope to leave on the world.

P.S. Go listen to some new music.

30 Blog Posts Later

Getting back into blogging has been so awesome so far. I have to admit when I recommitted myself to writing daily that I was terrified. I, like a lot of people, sometimes have lofty ideas about doing all of the things that I’ve committed myself to doing. For instance, I’m working* on probably 8 projects right now all at various stages in development which means that some days there are lots of things that I need to get done for those things. Adding an additional daily task, this blog, seemed nearly impossible, but I did it and I’m going to continue to do it because it’s something that I really enjoy doing and I’d get to the point where I’m doing even more of it. I’m sure that things will change over time and I don’t know what that looks like but I’m excited to continue this journey for the next 30 days and beyond and see where things end up. To blogging!

-Ciyadh

P.S. Go outside and social distance!

Musing #3

Tomorrow is the last day of April and what a wild ride it has been! It’s during the last week of the month where I try to think about what well went over the last month and if there’s anything I want to focus on for the upcoming month. I hope to also do this on a weekly basis, whether or not that happens is questionable. Lots of things have changed over the last month so it’s been a challenge to get some things going while other things have taken off exponentially. I do though want to do this more intentionally and actually plan what I say I’m going to plan. I’m considering some type of monthly goals / accountability post here so that I can keep a more public record and track of what I want to be doing. Even if I don’t end up publishing it here, I do want to make more of an effort to continue revisiting those goals and working towards them too. So be on the lookout for some follow-up post to this in the next few days!

-Ciyadh

P.S. Wash your water bottle

I Like Vlogs!

I like vlogs! Watch the one to know what I’m talking about. Would you like to see some vlogs from me? Drop me a line and I’ll see what I can come up with!

-Ciyadh

P.S. Sparkling water is amazing.

Taking Imperfect Action

I’m super excited to announce Duo Charango’s latest project, Taking Imperfect Action. Taking Imperfect Action is an online artists series hosted by Duo Charango. Through a quick submission process, artists will be chosen to do a live online showcase of their art and then be asked to participate in a conversation moderated by Jamie and myself. The goal of this project is to provide other artists with the opportunity to share their art with more people. Jamie and I both love all types of art and there are so many people doing so many cool things that we wanted to provide other artists like ourselves with the opportunity. The performances, showcases, and discussions will take place live and be recorded for later distribution. The first livestreams will be announced soon.

If you’re interested in submitting to this project, please use this submission form and we will be in contact soon.

This is open to artists of any medium.

-Ciyadh

P.S. This is cool. How to Take Smart Notes: A Step-by-Step Guide - Nat Eliason More on this later!

30 Day Music Challenge Part #2

It’s here! I completed the 30 Day Music Challenge in 2 days! I’ve shared it all as a playlist below. It’s got everything that I love all in one place! I would say that this list is representative of all of the different styles of music that I listen to on a regular basis.

1.Eliot Fisk - The Red Violin Caprices - Arranged By Eliot Fisk

2.Brian McKnight - Back At One

3.Beyoncé - Summertime (feat. P. Diddy)

4.Adele - All I Ask

5.Drake - The Motto

6.Destiny's Child - Jumpin', Jumpin'

7.John Mayer - Clarity

8.John Mayer - Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey

9.Snarky Puppy - Quarter Master

10.Stevie Wonder - Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer

11.Stevie Wonder - My Cherie Amour

12.Destiny's Child - Say My Name

13.Earth, Wind & Fire - SEPTEMBER (Live at Budokan, Tokyo, 1994)

14.Victor Wooten - Overjoyed

15.Eric Clapton - Autumn Leaves

16.Nat King Cole - Unforgettable

17.Nickelback - Photograph

18.Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart

19.Ariel Posen - Fade

20.Raphaël Feuillâtre - Aquarelle: II. Valseana

21.Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe - Live at the Fillmore East, NY - 1/1/70 - 2nd Set

22.H.E.R. - Sometimes

23.The Lone Bellow - I Can Feel You Dancing

24.Destiny's Child - Survivor

25.Jacob Collier - Make Me Cry

26.Marvin Gaye - What's Going On - Live At Oakland Coliseum, CA/1974

27.Bill Evans - When I Fall In Love

28.Emeli Sandé - Selah

29.Whitney Houston - Count On Me

30.Twista - Hope

31.Kane Brown - Weekend

-Ciyadh

P.S. New project announcement coming tomorrow! Stay tuned.

Some Video Updates

The 30 Day Music Challenge will be up tomorrow. I’m taking one extra day to make sure it’s just right for you all!

In the meantime, I’ve been spending some time uploading some videos of some performances I have done in the past and thought I should share them here.

Video #1

I’m the Executive and Artistic Director of the Margins Guitar Collective. The collective works to create and support and inclusive guitar community. One of the primary ways that we do this is through commissioning composers and creating performances on our concert series that features these works.

This video is of me performing abo ibawo by Brittany Green. This was the first commission that the collective ever did. I had such an awesome time learning and performing this piece.

Video #2

This piece is not a commission by the collective, but a piece by one of my colleagues who I met in Athens. Annie’s piece, Spread, addresses some themes of sustainability and environmentalism.

These videos live on the Margins Guitar Collective’s YouTube channel. You can check out the rest of the performances here.

If you’re interested in contributing to our commissioning fund, drop me a line on my contact form and I can direct you to accordingly.

-Ciyadh

P.S. Bear is my current favorite note-taking app. It’s sooo good.