Foundation
Guided by the theme “Foundation,” the DC Music Summit’s 2022 summit, it's fifth annual conference was a collaborative effort between DCMS and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. The Duke Ellington students were fully integrated with the core DCMS team of volunteers putting on the summit. Its Technical Design and Production (TDP) students worked along side professionals and volunteers doing the tech work necessary to put on the summit. The students, particularly, the senior members put on a masterclass on professionalism. For all of the Duke Ellington 125+ TDP students, student performers, and other student volunteers, the summit was an opportunity to grow their pre-professional skills working alongside industry professionals.
The 2022 Summit was held over 3 days site on Duke Ellington's campus. Over 250 DMV-based attendees, session leaders, panelists, and volunteers joined us. Major sponsors included: Chuck Levin's, Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA), the DC Office of Creative Affairs, Humanities DC, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Levine Music, Pie Shop, Alchemical Records, Machine Room Studio, Mars Arts DC, DC Strings Workshop, Vetrepreneur, Lucid District, DC Now Events, CLE Business Services, DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment, the Musicianship, Message in the Music, Jabert, and Rep It Social.
The Summit featured hosts Pi-Anir [Pioneer](Poet), Little Bacon Bear (On-air personality 93.9 WKYS FM) and TolumiDE (Award-winning singer-songwriter); and keynote speaker Anwan "Big G" Glover.
Programming included educational sessions, interviews with local artists and local music industry leaders on Instagram Live with the DCMS Speaks team, and art activations including:
Becoming a Creative Entrepreneur by Yudu Gray Jr.
Music and Creativity for Healing, by Tamara Wellons
Songwriting: Tips to Increase, Improve, and Ignite Your Musical Output, by Sarah Fridrich
Intellectual Property: Protecting Your Business's Assets, by Adia B. Coleman
How to Book a Successful Tour, by Amy K. Bormet
Racism in Children's Music: Liberating Music for the Black Child, by Devin Walker (Uncle Devin)
Building Youth Power through Music, by Noel Schroeder & Shad Rose (Girls Rock DC)
Byrdland Records Presents Pressing and Distributing Vinyl Records panel (featuring Joe Lapan and Phillip Basnight & Rebecca Silverstein of Broke Royals)
The DCMS oral history project "You Gotta Leave DC to Get Love." It's commonly thought that artists need to leave DC in order to grow creative businesses. The oral history project addressed and challenged his notion by showing the wonderful work being done to help artists succeed in DC.
The District of Misfits live podcast show. The District of Misfits are made up of four co-hosts Marcus Bradley Donovan (Pasteurized Chef), Damon “Boo” Dixon (Crushing Boo), Valerie Torres, Jamie Roderick, and our sound engineer Nick “Boozy Bastard” Romero. The are verything DC and all of the DMV, focusing on the local restaurant/bar industry, musicians, artists, journalists, and people doing good in the DMV.
"Fresh Convos: A DC Hip Hop Oral History" is a short-form documentary produced in partnership with Humanities D.C., the DC Oral History Collaborative, the DC Public Library, and the AMPHBNS collective. The film, which premiered at the Summit, captures a remarkable period in the D.C. region when HIP HOP artists from the area came together at numerous locations along the U Street corridor to produce what is now known as "the golden era of the DMV." JoeyTooFresh, the host of the "Fresh Convos" podcast, gathered the information required to produce a film that vividly depicts the thriving existence of Hip Hop culture in the D.C. Metropolitan region in the mid-1990s.
There was of course music, including live performances, by local DJs and artists:
The Duke Ellington School of the Arts Radical Elite, Jazz Combo, and Voices in Motion Show Choir
Fleetwood DeVille
DJ Franky J
Ruciano
King Dullah
DJ Artis
Veeta Venom
&amo (Andamo Ford) and
Charlie Cornwell
and the Music Industry A-Z” panels—consisting of DC music industry experts:
Beau Young Prince
Davy Fresh
Allison Balance
Chantilly "Cleva Thoughts" Kornegay
Oliva Fox
Hoang Nguyen
The Media Prince
Eric Liley
Emanuel Clarke
DJ Heat
Edley Shine
Adam Levin
Dorothy Malone
DJ Face
Stanley Bobby Daniels
Moderated byAsia
Moderated byPstewandSteph Lova
On Thursday, March 3rd from 7-11 pm the “For the Love of Music Gala” will be a grand in-person affair with a red carpet, romantic decor, live performances, light fare, silent auction, live painting, and inspiring presentations in an effort to share the mission and vision of DC Music Summit. The gala’s theme is “For the Love of Music,” which encourages evening attire with creative expression—red, black, and romantic in honor of love and music.
The gala will be hosted by comedian Anthony Oakes, with performances by Duke Ellington School of the Performing Arts students, DC Grammy Chapter Governor and artist Deborah Bond, Billboard-charting violinist, vocalist, and educator Chelsey Green, and the ethereal music of Washington Women in Jazz.
The location, the Church of the Holy City, is a historic spiritual innovation center dedicated to building community in the arts.Additionally, the 2022 Summit will be an educational opportunity for students and faculty. The 2022 Summit sessions are free to all Ellington students and faculty. Session tracks at the 2022 Summit include: community development, youth development, business management, marketing, wellness, professional development, and thriving through difficult times. The Ellington students will gain access to a diverse community of industry professionals and artists from the D.C. area. Like all Summit participants the Ellington students and faculty will have the option to attend the three-day event or create a custom schedule based on an array of programming, including workshops, information sessions, industry panels. Emerging Ellington talents will have networking opportunities, attend live performances by some of the biggest names in the local scene; and be given the opportunity to participate as vendors during the Summit.
In addition to working and participating in the weekend sessions Ellington students will also participate in a for-student only panel on Friday, October 14, 2022. Ellington faculty members will participate on the Friday panel and the Saturday arts education panel. We look forward to our collaboration with the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
Key Note Speaker: Anwan ‘Big G’ Glover
Where: Duke Ellington School of the Arts
