Artistic Partners Bring New Voices to Meany

Rhiannon Giddens has many artistic identities: singer, composer, banjo player, music historian, Beyoncé collaborator, director of the Silk Road Ensemble, MacArthur Fellow. And this year, artistic partner at the University of Washington’s Meany Center for the Performing Arts.

Meany Center, based in the UW’s College of Arts and Sciences, presents world-class artists through more than two dozen concerts annually. The Artistic Partner program adds new voices and fresh perspectives to Meany’s offerings.

“We wanted to develop a program where we could bring in new curatorial voices on an ongoing, renewable basis,” says Michelle Witt, executive and artistic director of Meany Center. “We wanted to think about what it means to partner with an artist in a way that is integral to the organization, integral to the fabric of how we think about our work. Because artists are incredibly innovative and creative.”

Giddens is Meany’s third artistic partner. The first was renowned choreographer and dancer Bill T. Jones, a longtime friend of Meany Center. The Artistic Partner program was not yet formalized when Witt invited Jones to collaborate on programming, but she had faith that they could figure it out together. Jones jumped at the chance.

“Bill was a great artist to start with because we’ve presented his work over many years and already had a strong relationship with him,” says Witt. “I felt like we knew him well enough that I could tell him if something just wasn’t going to work, and he would respect that. At the same time, it was important for us to listen to what he wanted to do. We wanted to do something that was exciting to him.”

Jones wanted to highlight experimental artists pushing the boundaries of performance. That translated to five small-scale experimental works at Meany — curated by Jones — during the 2022-23 season. Jones also connected with the campus community and the greater Seattle community through events organized by Meany, including a talk at Langston, a dinner with arts organization Wa Na Wari, and a campus/community dance party.

“One of the advantages we have as a performing arts organization is that we’re situated on the campus of a major university,” says Witt. “We have incredible faculty, fantastic students, and this wonderful arts community of Seattle, so we were looking for ways to bring those groups together. That’s been exciting to us.”

It would be logical to think that the format of the Artistic Partner program would follow a consistent pattern after its successful inaugural year. But a foundational tenet of the program is embracing each artistic partner’s vision, which can mean taking a different approach every time.

The second artistic partner, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, had been leading workshops with Meany staff for nearly a year through Sozo’s Healing Forward program when Witt approached him about collaborating as artistic partner. “It seemed absolutely natural that we would work with Marc because he knew us so well,” Witt says of Joseph, director of social impact at the Kennedy Center and a spoken word artist.

Rather than curating a slate of performing artists, Joseph’s main focus was working with Meany to explore the healing potential of the arts, particularly related to student mental health. As part of this exploration, Joseph met with UW faculty, staff, and students; convened several groups of University leadership; and gave a UW Public Lecture at Town Hall. He also premiered a new work at Meany, Carnival of the Animals — an intentional response to the January 6 insurrection.

Current artistic partner Rhiannon Giddens, like Jones two years earlier, focused on introducing new artistic voices to Seattle audiences. “We asked Rhiannon to suggest artists that she thinks are important for our communities to be hearing from,” says Witt. “She chose to center her work around the idea of making art in community and uplifting marginalized voices.”

Giddens also wanted to highlight artists who mix artistic genres and traditions. “I’m interested in people who are standing in crossroads and represent a very strong tradition but are also very interested in other traditions and where they meet,” Giddens says. “As a mixed person, as someone interested in a lot of things, I respond to that.”  

Five concerts in Meany Center’s current season are the result of Giddens’ vision, ranging from “Indigenous Women,” a concert in partnership with Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, to “Black Banjo,” featuring musicians Leyla McCalla and Taj Mahal. Three performances curated by Giddens are still to come, with tickets still available.

Plans for Meany Center’s 2025-26 season are now being finalized, with Peter Sellars as the next artistic partner. Sellars, a theater director and MacArthur Fellow known for his unique stagings of classic and contemporary operas, is expected to once again lead Meany in new directions.

Witt hints that Sellars is working on two projects for Meany’s 2025-26 season, involving classical music, movement, and dramatic staging and lighting. “We have this incredible stage at Meany and technical capabilities that many arts organizations that present classical music don’t have,” Witt says. “I thought, ‘What would it mean to bring Peter in to help us think about the embodiment of classical music?’”

As in past years, exploring new avenues with Sellars will present challenges. “We have to be open-minded, flexible, and collaborative as each artistic partner entrusts Meany Center with their creative vision,” says Witt, who believes the creativity that artistic partners bring is well worth the extra effort.

“Was it easier when we knew what to expect in our process every season? Yes, it was,” says Witt. “But we’re committed to diverse artistic partners and all that they bring to our campus and communities. They have become catalysts for Meany’s season planning, like dropping a pebble in a pond and seeing the ripple effects. To be truly open to ideas artists bring forward can be messy, yet engaging another’s point of view in a really substantial way is what keeps our work authentic and relevant. That’s what this program is all about.”