What does a genius sound like? Two Big Ears performers named MacArthur Fellows
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Defining “genius” could be as simple as checking the Oxford English Dictionary, which calls it “showing or suggesting great cleverness, skill or originality.” Knowing when you’ve witnessed a genius at work is sometimes harder. But as it turns out, Knoxville routinely welcomes them to its Big Ears Festival.
Regular Big Ears performers Ikue Mori and Tomeka Reid both have been named 2022 MacArthur Fellows, an award commonly known as "genius grants."
The award is given to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits” and have potential to produce even more inspired and innovative work.
“The term ‘genius’ is indeed impossible to define, and I’m not going to try,” Big Ears founder Ashley Capps told Knox News when asked what makes Mori and Reid musical geniuses.
“There is no song or single performance that comes close to capturing the breadth and depth of either of these musicians' work.”
Capps noted that the way Mori – a composer and electronic musician – has influenced percussion and improvisational music using digital techniques is evidence of her genius-like creativity and innovation.
“(She) has explored the sound creation possibilities of computers and electronics for more than four decades in collaboration with other musicians, as well as creating remarkable, richly detailed sound environments in solo concerts.”
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And Capps says Reid – an accomplished jazz cellist and composer – has given some of the most memorable Big Ears performances with the late bassist Henry Grimes, The Tangents trio, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and with poet Nikky Finney just last year.
Mori and Reid are the most recent Big Ears performers to be named MacArthur Fellows, but the festival has attracted several others in the past, including jazz pianist Jason Moran, writer Hanif Abdurraqib and composer and performer John Zorn.
For a little insight into Zorn’s musical mastery, he will perform eight completely different shows at Big Ears in 2023 to celebrate his 70th birthday. The musician tackled a similar feat early this year when he held nine separate performances.
“The fact that a composer and musician like Zorn can perform at least 17 distinctly unique concerts of his work over a two-year period speaks to the challenge of representing these musicians’ artistry in a single song or performance,” Capps said.
Though “genius grant” is only a nickname, MacArthur fellows are exceptionally creative, innovative, and known beyond their fields. The honor comes with an $800,000 stipend dispersed over five years to be used toward furthering their work.
Recipients have been artists, writers, scientists, philosophers, social scientists, humanists, teachers, lawyers and entrepreneurs. There have been 1,061 MacArthur Fellows since the honor was first awarded in 1981.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Big Ears performers named MacArthur Fellows, receive ‘genius grant’
