Inherited Trauma Informs New Music

Flutist and composer Allison Loggins-Hull is one of four artists commissioned to create a new work for the orchestras of NC State during this “20 for ’20” themed season.

The 2019-20 academic year marks the fifth consecutive season with new compositions performed on each concert – four new works per year, for a total of 20 premieres in the last five years – by the Raleigh Civic Symphony and the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra. The ensembles are conducted by Peter Askim, director of orchestral studies in the NC State Department of Music.

Supported by a grant from New Music USA, Loggins-Hull is creating a new work – titled The Inheritors – for the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra based on her personal experiences as an African-American woman in today’s cultural landscape. The new composition will premiere on Sunday, April 5.

For her first orchestral composition, Loggins-Hull will explore the concept of the intergenerational transmission of trauma, drawing on the stories of descendants of victims of slavery and the Holocaust. Previous commissioners of her new works include the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Carolina Performing Arts.

Askim is eager to share the vision of Loggins-Hull with students, orchestras, and audiences.

“Allison’s music is so rich, powerful, and from the heart,” he said. “It will be exciting to see what she does with the palette of colors, sounds and textures available when composing for the orchestra.”

Building on a relationship that Department of Music head Dan Monek established with the NC State Counseling Center, Askim is planning campus-wide collaborative events on the topics of trauma and mental health.

This article was originally published in the spring 2020 issue of #creativestate, the official magazine of Arts NC State.