ARTIST’S PROJECT INTENTIONS

My interest in a residency such as the Minnie Jane Artist-in-Residence scholarship has grown over the years, as my commitments to both the expression of the arts and of Quaker practice have unified within me over time. My goal, through time spent in study, practice, and experience at Pendle Hill, is to create a collection of songs and instrumental pieces exploring any or all of the following: meditation, non-violence, human relations, spiritual experience, mysticism, relationship with nature, Quaker history, philosophy, love, and social activism. I’ll be able to implement the compositions I create into my continuing work with non-profit, environmental, and social awareness organizations, as well as incorporate them into my own performances and workshops. At the close of the residence I’ll compile the collection in music notation form for a music book with an accompanying recording, to be shared free of charge with Quaker meetings, and hopefully beyond Quaker circles. — Kate MacLeod

ARTIST’S BIO

Originally from the Washington, DC area, Kate relocated to Salt Lake City in 1979 to study violin making and has resided there ever since. A long and winding road of work, including teaching at the Violin Making School, teaching private music lessons, raising a family, and eventually performing internationally, has led her to her current vocation as a full-time musician.

As violinist/fiddler, singer, and guitarist, she’s studied and performed an eclectic range of music including Classical, Celtic, Bluegrass, Klezmer, and is sometimes touring and recording as a violinist for other artists in a variety of genres. Kate has composed a large repertoire of songs and violin instrumental pieces from which music has been recorded and performed by other artists and chosen by organizations for activist events and environmental awareness. Her creations are inspired by nature, human experience, philosophy, history, biography, and story.

She is a member of the Salt Lake City Monthly Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT.