The Code Listen ensemble has developed through several series of workshops from a citywide police ensemble (2016) to an ensemble of police and teen artists (2016), to an ensemble of police, teens and homicide survivors (2017-current) who create original songs together, build relationships and dialogue, and perform for audiences across the city and the country including the Kennedy Center in Washington DC in April 2019.
Excerpts from original performance by Code Listen ensemble at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum December 2018. See the whole show at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC from April 2019.
Summer 2016, first series of Code Listen workshops and performances with Boston police musicians and teen artists from Teen Empowerment. Designed and facilitated by 2016 Boston Artist-in-Residence, Shaw Pong Liu.
Workshops for Police and Teens
Over the summer 2016, musician Shaw Pong Liu led two series of song-writing and creative music workshops for police officers and teens to share their personal experiences and build mutual understanding around challenging topics of gun violence, racism, and law enforcement practices.
The first series was 7 workshops with BPD musicians from districts around the City and musician-teens from Teen Empowerment and the Mattapan Teen Center in late July and early August, leading up to 4 community performances.
The second series was a 5-day intensive in August with 7 B-3 Mattapan officers and 15 youth, with co-teaching artists Herman Hampton (Berklee School of Music) and Willie Jones, Jr. (South End United Methodist).
Both series included guest lectures on racism and racial justice by Dr. Atyia Martin, City of Boston's Chief of Resilience and Racial Equity, and draw from Teen Empowerment's strategies for police-youth dialogues.