Elizabeth Start, executive director of the Connecting Chords Music Festival and a recipient of the 2024 Community Medal of Arts Award, discusses the recognition and upcoming festival events in a conversation with Cara Lieurance.
Reflecting on her surprise at receiving the annual award presented by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, Start said, “I feel like I scramble around under the radar a lot and pop up over here doing this and over here doing that.” The award, which she learned of while at a conference, recognizes her extensive contributions to the Kalamazoo arts community.
Founded as the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music, the festival was rebranded to Connecting Chords to better encompass its mission to explore music of many traditions. She says there is “a lot that’s sacred that is not directly tied to a faith tradition.”
Start’s journey with the festival began in 2001, when she was recruited as a community arts liaison and later took on the executive director role in 2004. Since then, the festival has grown, showcasing a diverse mix of global and local artists.
This year’s lineup includes free performances by artists like Samite, a Ugandan singer, storyteller and multi-instrumentalist. His upcoming concert at 3 pm on Saturday, Nov 16 is at the Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church. At 4 pm on Sunday, Nov 17, Texas-born and southern-raised Jewish musician Joe Buchanan will sing songs “steeped in Torah” in a country style. That takes place at the Congregation of Moses.
A free sound immersion event, "Awaken to Sound," will take place Wednesday, Nov 13 at 6 p.m. at the Kalamazoo Public Library, offering a sound bath experience.
The full festival schedule and further details can be found at ccmusicfest.com.
