Curated by Julia Bullock and Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY, the Rock My Soul festival celebrates the collaboration and community formed by B/black woman-identifying artists.

ROCK MY SOUL was a music festival inspired by the friendship between composers Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, whose mutual support helped them break down barriers to have their music heard in the classical music world of the early 20th century. The almost month-long festival, held in the fall of 2022, celebrated historical and present-day collaborations between b/Black women artists, and included live performances featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic, world premieres, film screenings, and group movement and music sessions. 

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CURATORIAL STATEMENT by Julia Bullock

The phrase “Rock My Soul” has a long lineage and legacy: It is the leading lyric of a traditional Black American spiritual about expanding one’s being in every dimension and direction imaginable. The song title was later utilized by philosopher and educator bell hooks, who communicated about the importance of understanding the pursuit of love, a sense of community, and commitment to continuous exploration. So for me, the sentiment of “Rock My Soul” isn’t an ethereal, intangible endeavor … it’s a call to express yourself, engage with everything within and around you—and find enjoyment while doing it.

The Rock My Soul Festival with the LA Phil offers a diverse range of music with messages about historical recognition, liberation, and fierce self-empowerment; and highlights artists who speak to our need for accountability as a human collective.

When the LA Phil asked me to curate this festival, I was excited, because the artists that precede and surround me who identify as B/black, American, and women have deeply impacted my musical life. However, like many artists, I don’t want to be positioned, even if what I choose to share is geared in a certain social or political direction. That said, there’s no denying how strong bonds in personal relationships, claiming one’s identity, and reflecting and considering past and present circumstances impact what art that is made and offered.

Rock My Soul focuses on the connection, collaboration, and mutual support shared between artists—and celebrates voices who incorporate a vast scope of influences and inspirations in their work.

FEATURED ARTISTS & EVENTS

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Red Cat, The Ford, California African American Museum

Vocalists
Chaka Khan
Rhiannon Giddens and Resistance Revival Chorus
Meshell Ndegeocello
Danielle Ponder

Contralto Jasmin White
Soprano Michelle Bradley
Mezzo soprano J’nai Bridges
Pianists Michelle Cann, Avis Reese, Doug Peck
Organist Nathaniel Gumbs
Bassonist Monica Ellis
Conductors Lidiya Yankovskaya, Jeri Lynne Johnson

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Yoga Instructor Lauren Spearman

COMPOSERS 

Florence Price
Margaret Bonds
Valerie Coleman
Courtney Bryan
Arrangements by Jannina Norpoth and Michael-Thomas Foumai

Essay contribution by Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle “Florence Price and Margaret Bonds: A Musical Sisterhood“ 

Importance of Film Screenings
by Julia Bullock

Rituals memorialized in music and film; and connection to past, present and future were integral in the curation of the Rock My Soul Festival; so a screening of Director Barbara McCullough’s early work felt like a powerful and important contribution. 

I first encountered McCullough’s work back in 2019, at The Black Archives in Amsterdam while performing at the Dutch National Opera. Along with a moderated conversation with McCullough herself was a screening of these two films: 

— Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite of Purification (a 6-minute short, 1979)

— Shopping Bag Spirits and Freeway Fetishes: Reflections on Ritual Space (an hour-long documentary, 1981)

They were raw, humorous, touching, and about music, movement, poetry, women’s empowerment and self-actualization. This was  particularly evident in the short where the female protagonist urinates in the LA demolition site, or “urban ruin”, making it a representation of cleansing and release. Although I didn’t think either film required explanation, McCullough mentioned in her post-screening talk how surprised she was to have received backlash from members of the more conservative B/black community about a statement of purification; because for McCullough and performer Yolanda Vidato, these were reflective acts of emancipation — not an attempt to deface or debase anything.  

After the Amsterdam screening, I only shook Barbara McCullough’s hand and said “Thank you.” But her films and gentle manner of communicating stayed with me.  This LA-based director was associated with the members of the LA Rebellion (or Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers); was dedicated to promoting other Black women directors; and acknowledged the many roles artists take on in their lives

McCullough has left a tremendous and profound impression in the arts and upon anyone who encounters her work.  If you do attend a screening or encounter in another way, I hope you’ll find Barbara McCullough’s films as fierce and resonant as I did upon first viewing. I love them, learn something from them each time I’ve watched, and am so glad to have had the opportunity to share these films, which were so deeply rooted in LA, during the Rock My Soul Festival!