Who am I? My name is Travis Branam. I’m the Founder and Executive Director of a modern youth choir movement called Vocal Coalition.
What am I planning to make? This year, we plan to present our third annual Black Music Matters concert at one of the best concert halls in Denver. Black Music Matters tells a community-curated story of the Black experience from Africa to Colorado and will feature over 150 young people performing with Colorado artists to tell that story for the community through music, narration, and dance.
Where did this project come from?
In 2017, Black Music Matters was originally the brain child of Colorado artist Larea Edwards of Denver gospel group Spirit of Grace. Larea had two children in the Vocal Coalition choir and reached out to me about her idea. Larea’s vision has evolved into Vocal Coalition’s most impactful event in our history, prompting our students to want to make the event bigger and better than ever this year.
What’s the plan, and what’s the schedule?
Here’s what the timeline has looked like:
What’s the budget?
Why do I care?
As Vocal Coalition’s Executive Director, it’s my task and duty to find individuals and businesses who want to support this kind of community-unifying work. I’ve seen the impact Black Music Matters has on students and our community. But you don’t need to take my word for it: read this unsolicited thank you letter from a Black Music Matters 1.0 youth participant, and hear about the event’s impact for yourself:
Like VOCO, our rewards give you the opportunity to experience community in new ways. Whether you purchase concert tickets, attend the exclusive house concert or becoming our presenting sponsor, I want to express gratitude to you for your support by inviting you more deeply into our community. I want to connect with you, and I fully believe that music- and maybe some food and drink- will bring us together. :-)
Common risks and challenges:
1. Curriculum creation. In the past, Vocal Coalition music curriculum has been taught to participating students mostly through rote learning. For an event on this scale, Vocal Coalition has contracted with local composers to get all music learned by students for Black Music Matters transcribed into sheet music form. This will help with consistency of learning across a wide range of partners, and will empower participants with new tools that will make the learning experience more streamlined and successful. :-)
2. Logistics. With more partners and artists involved in Black Music Matters 3.0 than ever before, we’ve brought on someone to help us coordinate the many moving parts that go into putting on a production of this scale.
3. Moving into a large venue. As we move this event into a larger venue, we’re partnering with Denver Arts and Venues through Denver’s Imagine 2020 Cultural Plan- as well as additional partners- to spread the word about our event and to secure additional resources to bring this event to life in impactful ways.