ARTIST STATEMENT

"If there's a book you want to read and it is not yet written, write it yourself."
- Toni Morrison

As the musical landscape of both band and orchestra becomes increasingly inclusive, many of us still struggle to find that sense of belonging we all naturally crave. In the age of Simon Sinek’s famous Find Your Why and the exploration of personal values in the workplace, we must also ask ourselves what is missing from our field, our ensembles, our repertoire, and our role within our larger community. How can our individual human experience–our unique “Why?”– contribute in a meaningful way to our collective art form? We saw representation within our Minneapolis community as our guiding principle. Breaking from the typical concert format and venues, our mission was to create community events that highlighted women artists and proprietors. Again, questions arose from these principles: 

• What are the most important aspects of our performance?

• What kind of spaces do we find inviting?

• Who is our potential audience?

Thus began LADYBAND, a feminocentric wind chamber group dedicated to promoting and celebrating women through wind chamber music in distinctive spaces. We partner with local, women-owned venues, creating programs consisting of largely–and often solely–women composers. The instrumentalists are also exclusively women. Each performance amplifies the voices of women within our Minneapolis community.