In 2023, Black Moon Trio began facilitating Water(color) for the Soul; a series of music composition workshops for outpatient Veterans from the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center and other local Veteran organizations. In collaboration with world-renowned visual artists, poets, and community organizations, the musicians of Black Moon Trio explore music composition using graphic notation - a way of expressing musical ideas using shapes, colors, and images rather than traditional Western systems that take many years of study to understand.
No experience in music is required for participants as they are guided through the basics of music visit by visit. Topics include melody, harmony, leitmotif, rhythm, ostinato, mood, character, timbre, and orchestration, among many others.
The culmination of each series showcases the creation of 10-20 original pieces of music all created by the Veteran participants, performed by Black Moon Trio, and displayed in a pop-up exhibition in gallery space at Brushwood Center in Riverwoods, Illinois.
The name Water(color) for the Soul was inspired by the poem Water for the Soul by Chicago author, Michael Tyler, who’s poetry was the underlying through-line for the first iteration of the project.
Learn more about each of Black Moon Trio's Water(color) for the Soul projects including viewing and listening to the participant-created graphic scores.
explore the series
Click on the images below to learn about each iteration of Water(color) for the Soul including viewing and listening to participant created works.
This program generously funded by
