Join Violinist Christian Howes and Pianist Joseph Williams as they celebrate classical music's underrepresented composers during a live radio broadcast on the show "Unmute The Voices" on Classical King 98.1 FM.
February 24, 2023 @ 7:30 pm
Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University
The concert is free, and no advance registration is required.
The concert is sponsored by the Pigott Family Endowment for the Arts at Seattle University and produced by Quinton Morris, DMA, Associate Professor, Violin.
The Artists
Violinist, educator and composer, Christian Howes was voted #1 in the Downbeat Critics Poll (“Rising Stars/Violin”), named among the top three jazz violinists in the JazzTimes critics poll, and nominated for Violinist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association. He received the Residency Partner Award through Chamber Music America, earned a USArtists grant through the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and was invited by the U.S. State department to teach and perform as a cultural ambassador twice, in Ukraine and Montenegro. His release on Resonance Records, “Southern Exposure” earned recognition in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Downbeat, Jazz Times, as well as a six-night run at Lincoln Center. His release, “American Spirit” was named among the Best Jazz Albums of 2015 by the Huffington Post. Howes is the founder of “Creative Strings“, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to expand music education through the creation of online curriculum, an annual summer conference, and dozens of visits to schools annually teaching improvisation, contemporary styles, and related subjects. He endorses Yamaha violins and D’Addario strings.
Joseph Williams is a passionate advocate for accessible, high quality music education in South King County, WA. He is founder and director of Tukwila Kids Make Music, a free after-school music mentorship program offering piano, guitar, voice and violin lessons to 50 children every week, year-round. He is proud to be an instructor at Key to Change, a nonprofit violin and viola program that aims to inspire underserved youth through world-class music instruction and support their development as self-aware leaders. Mr. Williams also serves on the Community Music faculty of the University of Puget Sound where he instructs children and adults of varying abilities and musical interests. Mr. Williams curates artists for Musical Conversations, a series of concerts at Lakewold Gardens, prioritizing dialogue and highlighting diversity in music-making. Committed to inclusion, he has been a behavior therapist for children with Autism and regularly mentors youth of color on becoming the music educators of today and tomorrow. He envisions a world where classical music curriculum is decolonized and master-apprentice models of music pedagogy are dismantled.
The Producer
Quinton Morris, Associate Professor, Violin, at Seattle University is a multifaceted teacher and performer. He is the inaugural Artist-Scholar-in-Residence at Classical KING, where he hosts “Unmute the Voices,” an audio and video project celebrating the music and performances of BIPOC composers and performers with dedicated space for BIPOC artistry. He is the executive director and founder of Key to Change, a non-profit violin and viola studio serving South King County that focuses on creating opportunities for young musicians of color and those from underserved, lower socio-economic backgrounds. He recently graduated from the business management program at Harvard Extension School and received the Pathfinder Award from the Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa. He holds a doctorate in violin performance from the University of Texas at Austin and is a voting member of the Recording Academy (The Grammys). He has performed recitals and given master classes around the world including venues at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Louvre Museum. He is also a former co-chair of the Seattle Arts Commission and resides in Seattle.