Q&A with JM Taylor ’27MMA: Bridging Music & Community

In Astrid Baumgardner’s class, 21st Century Arts Leadership, students consider new models for classical music engagement in a post-pandemic world. They develop key leadership skills, focusing on communication, persuasion, motivation, conflict resolution, innovation, and teamwork. The concepts are actualized in a semester-long group project — pitched, iterated upon, and fully implemented — resulting in a novel artistic program or product. For example, some students have created an intimate salon-style concert series, while others have put on an interactive performance. 

Ultimately, by tackling the big questions and problems facing the classical music field today, students come together to imagine — and work towards — a more robust and more sustainable music ecosystem.  

In this Q&A, JM Taylor ’27MMA speaks about how Baumgardner’s class empowered him and his peers to create a new chamber ensemble, pursue meaningful collaborations, and translate vision into action.  

 

You don’t often think of a leadership class as a regular part of a music student’s course schedule. What made you want to take this?  

JMT:   When I was getting my master’s at Michigan State University, I was doing a lot of work with grant projects, starting chamber ensembles, doing education programs. And I was a graduate assistant at the Running Start program for music entrepreneurship. I was looking for something similar at Yale. I got in touch with [Associate Dean for Student Life and Community Engagement] Albert Lee, and he recommended Professor Baumgardner’s class.  

What was the class like?  

JMT: As soon as the class started, it became very clear that it would be a discovery process for each of us. Because it’s so tailored, it allows for the best of ourselves to come out.  

You start by figuring out who you are as an artist and what you’re about: What’s your life’s purpose? What are your values? What’s the mission statement that you derive from that? Once you know that, then you get to a point where you can seek out others who share your interests and start developing a project to collaborate on.  
 

 

The class centers around a group project that tries to move the needle in the classical music space. What did your group come up with?  

JMT: I always had a passion for mixed contemporary ensembles. I love yMusic, Eighth Blackbird, Alarm Will Sound, Bang on a Can. And I knew some of my classmates had an interest in contemporary music, too. What materialized over time was Solaris, a chamber ensemble made up of nine incredible musicians, with a focus on community.  

At Yale, there’s a commitment to connect all its graduate professional schools through a social innovation framework. So it made sense to start tying in the work we were doing with Solaris with the work of venture social innovation work happening at Tsai CITY. It can be nebulous to see how an arts ensemble can fit into the business side of things, so a lot of the semester has been about defining the value we’re providing outside of just a concert experience.  

What’s next for the project? Is it done, or does it have a life beyond the class?  

JMT: Our work on Solaris connected us to people who were doing cool projects all across campus. We’re starting a joint venture with people from the Jackson School of Global Affairs. We’re working with a social psychologist interested in doing a polarization workshop to see how communal arts experiences can prime people from different backgrounds to have open dialogues. And in January, we’re working alongside the Cultural Innovation Lab at Yale Ventures and their artist-in-residence James Rhee, to help launch a new project based on his book, red helicopter.  

What’s been the most surprising thing you’ve learned from this experience?  

JMT: For all of us in Solaris, we were surprised that there were a lot of people really valuing what we have to say, and that people were very open to talking with us about anything. We can really lean into the insights of everybody around the University; people are open to dialogue, they’re open to the arts.  

A lot of people were only an email away — I don’t want to understate the value of that. You can send a message to someone that you’ve never met, and they’ll be open to grabbing coffee and talking.  

Other than Solaris, what’s going to stay with you from the class?  

JMT: The conversations that we’re able to have at this University with everyone that’s here make me feel tremendously empowered to go and make more of a difference in the arts than I would have thought possible before I came to Yale. And I think it’s been one of the most liberating things about deciding to come here.  

Professor Baumgardner’s class enabled us to ask questions, without fearing what answers may come. And I think all of us in the arts can ask more questions about what is possible right now. The work around visions, values, life purpose, and mission statements — those are some of the deepest quests that can fuel us.  

I’ve come to realize the true extent and power we wield as artists. This kind of coursework instills a belief in ourselves that is a lot more empowering and a lot more positive — and it helps us take ownership of this world that we’re creating together. 

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Solaris’s members are:  

• Michael Bridges ’27MM, cello 
• Jolie Fitch ’26MM, flute 
• Josephine Kim ’27MM, violin 
• Leona Liu ’27MM, violin 
• Ian McEdwards ’27MM, clarinet  
• Hirad Moradi ’27MM, composition 
• Logan Stokes ’27MM, bassoon 
• JM Taylor ’27MMA, trumpet 
• Hao Yang ’26AD, guitar 

Learn more about the ensemble here.