We Will Not Be Composed
We Will Not Be Composed is a multimedia performance created in collaboration with saxophonist and composer Stevie Manning, author and activist Soraya Chemaly, and new media artist Xuan to challenge gendered perceptions of anger in America.
During the residency, Xuan will bring original visual art, including moving image media, projections and on-site installations tailored to the premiere's score and themes and the unique presentation capabilities of Studio 1, while Manning will be rehearsing along with the other members of the six-musician ensemble. Additionally, they will work with EMPAC's Wave Field Synthesis and ambisonic audio systems to situate the recorded voices throughout the venue and will record the score to allow the work to travel as an installation in the future.
Main Image: We Will Not Be Composed. 2025. Pictured (l-r): Soraya Chemaly, Stevie Manning, Xuan. Courtesy of the Artists. Photos by Elizabeth Dranitzke, Elle Walton, David Lawrence.
The musical score for this work is supported by a 2021 NYSCA Composer Commission. We Will Not Be Composed also received 2020 and 2021 awards from the MAP Fund, which is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Manning began composing the score during a five-week period in the fall/winter of 2021 as a Composition Fellow at MacDowell in Peterborough, NH.
