2nd Annual Black History Festival of the Arts 

 

2nd Annual Black History Festival of the Arts 

In collaboration with AACM and Modern Black Music Ensemble

Renee Baker, music composer/director

February 20th 2026 @ 8pm - 9pm 

OH Art Foundation, 2n fl. Gallery of Zhou B Art Center 

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The OH Art Foundation is proud to present ​2nd Annual Black History Festival of the Arts. 

In collaboration with AACM and Modern Black Music Ensemble, Renee Baker music composer/director is featuring Dee Alexander, Rae Myra Hilliard, Edwin Daugherty, Alex Wing, Taalib-Din Ziyad, Karl E. H. Seifried, Bruce Nelson, Carlos Pride, Percussion Ensemble Ingrid J Krizan Ugochi Nwaogwugwu and Cornelius V. Johnson. 

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About Renee C. Baker

Renee' C. Baker stands as a towering figure in multidisciplinary artistry, transcending the boundaries of music, visual art, film, and composition with unparalleled finesse. Her creative journey unfolds like an epic saga, with over 2000 orchestral and chamber ensemble compositions serving as a testament to her boundless imagination and relentless pursuit of innovation.

 

As the founding music director and conductor of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project (CMOP) and MODERN BLACK MUSIC ENSEMBLE, Baker orchestrates a symphony of genres, seamlessly weaving classical elegance with the improvisational spirit of jazz. Her conducting baton becomes a wand of transformation, conjuring surreal landscapes where sonic and visual realms intertwine in a mesmerizing dance. A true Renaissance artist, Baker's canvas knows no limits, as she melds movement, film projections, and sound into a breathtaking tapestry of sensory delight. Her compositions invite exploration and interpretation, blurring the lines between classicism and experimentation, subjectivity and objectivity.

 

Baker's influence extends far beyond her compositions, as she nurtures and cultivates new ensembles with the same fervor she brings to her craft. From the Mantra Blue Free Orchestra to the Bleueblue Walkers/Bass Kollektief in Berlin, her ensembles forge new paths in the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary music.

 

Perhaps Baker's most profound legacy lies in her gestural conducting language, CCL/FLOW, a symphony of movements that transcends words, guiding ensembles through her painted score exploratorium pieces. In her hands, music becomes not just a performance, but a transcendent experience, a journey into the unknown where every note is a brushstroke.

 

A visual artist, film artist, composer, and recontextualist, Baker is a true engineer of multidisciplines. Layering movement and film projections, she creates an exquisite arena of surrealistic activity within a sonic theatre. Her compositions, crafted with careful construction, allowing indeterminacy, experimentalism, classicism, subjectivity, and objective interpretations to coexist. Both performer and audience are cast into unknown roles, inhabiting a temporary environment of limitless potential.

 

Baker is a member and interim Chair of the renowned Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Her graphic score novels have received critical acclaim from performances in Berlin, Poland, London, Scotland, and Vietnam.

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Inquiries - info@ohartfoundation.org

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