Buffalo String Works
Buffalo String Works is a creative, grassroots program serving refugee students in Buffalo, New York, inspired by the international El Sistema model which cultivates students to be agents of social change. Founded and led by local musicians, Buffalo String Works (BSW) fosters hope and compassion through high-quality music instruction for refugee children arriving from nations including Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Thailand, Sudan, and Somalia. Recognizing the significance of music as a universal language, we offer a creative outlet for children and their families who are searching for a sense of belonging in their new home.
Building on a partnership since 2017, Buffalo String Works hosted workshops for thirty students in collaboration with a UB alumnus Michaela Neild to create a movement score inspired by the patterns of planets, the theory of general relativity, and interstellar communication in the form of electromagnetic and gravitational waves to be performed as apart of the 2019 festival.
Monochord Quartet
The Monochord Quartet was formed in the Spring of 2019 by Stanzi Vaubel. The quartet came out of the monochord instruments designed by University at Buffalo piano technician Devin Zimmer. A monochord is a one-stringed instrument that was used throughout the middle ages as a tool to explore the relationship between mathematics and sound. The quartet players include: Devin Zimmer, Stanzi Vaubel, Matias Homar, and Tomek Arnold.
Matias Homar's score for monochord was featured in the 2019 Indeterminacy Festival.
Our Lady of Hope Youth Choir
"The members of Our Lady of Hope’s youth choir, who escaped as children from villages or refugee camps in Africa and Asia, were once strangers in a strange new place called Buffalo. But after years together as members of one of the city’s most diverse congregations, they’re now close friends. And they have staked their claim on this multicultural corner of Buffalo, under director Jennifer Serniuk." (Buffalo News)
Youth choir members will enter into their second year of IF involvement, this time learning a vocal score and join The Indeterminacy Ensemble, Buffalo String Works, and the Monochord Ensemble for the 2019 performances.
Starlight Studios
Starlight Studio and Art Gallery is a cooperative environment that supports adults with disabilities in their artistic development. Through technical assistance by professional artists, on-site and off-site exhibitions and other opportunities for representation and sales, the Starlight artists hone their artistic interests, become stronger advocates and better integrated citizens.
Starlight Studio members will enter into their second year of festival involvement, this time designing parachutes reflecting on what images and ideas they would wish to communicate beyond earth.
The Parkinson Dance Ensemble
Formed under the direction of Cynthia Pegado in 2015, this dance group for people with Parkinson’s disease creates opportunity to work through challenges of neurological movement disorder disease to re-discover the joy of artistic, expressivity in movement. The group performed in Ms. Vaubel’s 2017 Indeterminacy Festival and created an original multi-media work for the Burchfield Penney’s Front Yard. Invited into the world-wide arena through renown choreographer Mark Morris’ "The Bourrée Project”, the ensemble participated in his global film performance collage. Through Global Water Dances, presented at Canalside, the ensemble used the language of dance to advocate for remediation of local polluted waters while commemorating our region’s water history and successes.
The Parkinson Dance Ensemble will learn movement structures to be performed during the festival weekend.
Five Loaves Farm
5 Loaves Farm redeems vacant lots on Buffalo’s Upper West Side by creating sustainable market gardens that produce healthy foods, along with spiritual, educational, & economic resources for our neighbors.
Just as Jesus’ first followers looked at the hungry masses and humbly offered five loaves of bread and two fish to feed them, we too have responded with compassion by bringing what started as five city lots and two community gardens to feed the hungry.
5 Loaves Farm will host a workshop during the festival focused around composting, soil contamination, and urban gardening, culminating in a communal meal.
Cradle Beach
Cradle Beach serves the needs of children with disabilities and those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them reach their full potential. We provide a healthy environment and organized activities to promote socialization, self-worth, and decision making, in an atmosphere of love and acceptance through all four of our programs.
Cradle Beach will host two events during the festival with Living Classroom leader Intefada Wardia who will teach the general public about topics from recycling to stars and constellations.