Perfect Day Music Foundation champions underrepresented voices in classical music

BY LEAH BLANKENDAAL

Perfect Day Music Foundation’s mission is to champion the work of underrepresented people in classical music.

Formed in January 2020, PDMF came to life in one of the most turbulent years in recent memory. It was co-founded by first-generation Romanian-American pianist Irina Meachem, who regularly plays music by Romanian composers; and Grammy Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem, who seeks to perform diverse vocal works.

We chat with Lucas and Irina about supporting the work of “people from all walks of life, not just for the privileged elite”, adapting to our new normal of online performance, and facilitating a voice competition in a pandemic.

You describe your most pressing goal to be “to represent the diversity of today through all walks of life”. Tell us more about what this means to you.

LUCAS: Classical music itself is based on its historical fortitude and its evolution over the centuries. Sadly, classical music has not evolved as quickly as it should with regards to human rights and representation, therefore lacking in truly reflecting certain progresses that humanity has made and giving them the opportunities to be heard.

Through music, those stories can be shared and spread across this artform to create a positive and necessary change.

Perfect Day Music Foundation’s first project was to facilitate a virtual voice competition “designed to showcase underrepresented composers and poets”. Why start here?

L: We wanted to inspire a change somehow, and we created a platform for what we hoped would reinvigorate standard vocal repertoire by getting the music learned, sung, and heard. The quickest way possible in our eyes was through the power of social media. Singers from around the world submitted videos of themselves performing an art song, aria, or spiritual written by a composer or poet of African descent.

IRINA: They shared their videos to their own account and then PDMF shared it as well, which increased the view count so that it was heard by many viewers, as well as possibly inspiring a singer to explore a piece they may not have sought out on their own. Importantly, there was no application fee since PDMF does not believe that singers are a source of profit, and we rely on private donations for financial support. Also, this ensures that no singer would be excluded due to their economic status, therefore the best possible singer would be recognised for their vocal talents.

L: The two winners [Blake Denson and Jacqueline Piccolino] featured music by two living composers of African descent [Shawn E. Okpebholo and Jerrell R. Gray], so these two current composers had their music presented and shared on our growing platform. Also on the platform, PDMF took the opportunity to educate followers by featuring all of the composers and poets who were presented by applicants in informative posts.

How has the foundation dealt with pandemic life?

L: The pandemic has severely affected all performing artists and institutions. Working around such setbacks, the competition was able to flourish as we received over 130 applicants. Difficulties do exist for the applicants, as they tried to find and meet with pianists to record their entries. But PDMF allowed recorded accompaniments and judged them no differently.

Donations have been understandably harder to rely on during this economic crisis, so it has been challenging to launch a few of the other projects at PDMF. We are nonetheless optimistic and hopeful for the future.

What’s next for PDMF?

I: Looking at what’s next, the second instalment of the competition is in planning mode, and we are so excited to share with our followers the new theme, as well as many new collaborations ahead.

We are so thankful to the many supporters and followers, especially to those who took the time to share their music in the competition. We are so grateful to have experienced their singing and the glorious repertoire.