State of the Arts has been taking you on location with the most creative people in New Jersey and beyond since 1981. The New York and Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award-winning series features documentary shorts about an extraordinary range of artists and visits New Jersey’s best performance spaces. State of the Arts is on the frontlines of the creative and cultural worlds of New Jersey.
State of the Arts is a cornerstone program of NJ PBS, with episodes co-produced by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Stockton University, in cooperation with PCK Media. The series also airs on WNET and ALL ARTS.
On this week's episode... New Jersey Heritage Fellowships are an honor given to artists who are keeping their cultural traditions alive and thriving. On this special episode of State of the Arts, we meet three winners, each using music and dance from around the world to bring their heritage to New Jersey: Deborah Mitchell, founder of the New Jersey Tap Dance Ensemble; Pepe Santana, an Andean musician and instrument maker; and Rachna Sarang, a master and choreographer of Kathak, a classical Indian dance form.
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts is hosting quarterly Teaching Artist Community of Practice meetings. These virtual sessions serve as a platform for teaching artists to share their experiences, discuss new opportunities, and connect with each other and the State Arts Council.
Register for the next meeting.
The State Arts Council awarded $2 million to 198 New Jersey artists through the Council’s Individual Artist Fellowship program in the categories of Film/Video, Digital/Electronic, Interdisciplinary, Painting, Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts, and Prose. The Council also welcomed two new Board Members, Vedra Chandler and Robin Gurin.
Read the full press release.
These monthly events, presented by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, are peer-to-peer learning opportunities covering a wide range of arts accessibility topics.
Before adding the instrument, sing the lines. His melodies are highly vocal and blues-inflected.
Many of his compositions feature cues like Open Vamp or Improvising Textures . Do not treat these as standard solo sections. Use the preceding melody as a thematic anchor to guide your improvisation. Conclusion
Immanuel Wilkins represents a shift in how we view the "lead sheet." In his hands, a lead sheet is not just a loose guideline for improvisation; it is a detailed script for a spiritual and emotional journey. Treating the page with the same respect he treats the composition is the first step to mastering this modern repertoire. immanuel wilkins lead sheet work
features a central 20-minute suite consisting of "The Key," "Saudade," "Eulogy," and "Guarded Heart". Spiritual and Social Themes
Wilkins’ melodies are deeply vocal, rooted in the Black Gospel church tradition, yet highly angular and technically demanding. When looking at his lead sheets, several melodic signatures stand out: Wide Interval Leaps Before adding the instrument, sing the lines
Explore how his composition style has changed from his first album to the latest. Let me know which of these you'd like to do next! Immanuel Wilkins Discusses "Liberation Music" | NYU SPS
Immanuel Wilkins’s lead sheet work is a compact map to his compositional voice: sparse, harmonically daring, rhythmically elastic, and deeply tied to emotional narrative. Whether you’re a performer prepping for rehearsal, an arranger exploring his material, or a listener wanting closer musical insight, these are the key features and practical notes to make a thoughtful post or caption about his lead sheets. Do not treat these as standard solo sections
Unlike standard lead sheets that only feature a melody and chord symbols, Wilkins' charts frequently include specific bass lines, counter-melodies, or rhythmic cells essential to the identity of the song. Core Compositional Elements Found in His Work
Is this for , performance preparation , or general interest ?
The album's conceptual architecture is structured like a "conveyor belt," where the first six movements are precisely composed, and the final seventh movement is entirely improvised. To accomplish this, Wilkins designed an intricate metric framework: each piece is rhythmically related to the next by a triplet meter, creating an "upside-down triangle" of modulation before dissolving into free time.
Pay strict attention to the extreme dynamic markings. The transition from a whisper-quiet sub-tone to an explosive, full-throated cry is central to the emotional delivery of his work.
