Emma Thackeray

Artist's Statement

In my time as a music performance major at Utah State University, I have had several opportunities to learn about using music as a tool for activism thanks to my mentors, the Fry Street Quartet, and the composer-in-residence, Gabriela (Gabi) Lena Frank. Gabi’s music is extremely contemporary but, unlike other extremely contemporary music, it is often easier to understand as it is often accompanied by descriptive titles and straightforward program notes. Generally, the music focuses on an earth-centered topic related to her Peruvian heritage and culture which Gabi largely identifies with.

In Suite Mestiza, a solo suite for violin, Gabi explores different themes of Peruvian culture. The seventh movement is titled “luciérnagas” which means fireflies. The program notes indicated that the movement represents the “fleet character of fireflies that are encountered everywhere in peru.” These insects are not just fascinating to watch, but hold cultural significance to many people as well.The music that is written captures this character but has several triple to duple rhythms that make it seem on edge or anxious. I have connected this to the environmentalist aspect of Gabi’s works becasue in the music I feel a sense of urgency and anxiety around these fireflies. Several firefly species make up part of the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species and are part of the major biodiversity loss problem that we have created for ourselves within this climate crisis. Losing these species not only means more biodiversity loss, but cultural loss as well. We must make a change.

This piece and movement are a solo work and I hope to use my voice as an artist, although small and individual, to raise the volume of the climate crisis conversation through my performance as well as supporting Gabi as a composer in her environmental activist efforts. I also hope to inspire others to use their individual voices to begin making change. Many people do not understand contemporary music but by planting the seed of my interpretation in the listener's minds, perhaps they can find connections not only from sound to music, but music to the world we live in.