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Matthew J. Jones (left) and John Seesholtz (right)

Houston-based musicologist Matthew J. Jones and CU Director of Vocal Pedagogy John Seesholtz will present, “Music and HIV/AIDS – A Look at Then and Now,” online on Monday, October 12 at 5:30 pm (MST).  This public and interdisciplinary discussion will look at the intersection of music and the HIV/AIDS crisis, in light of the global coronavirus pandemic.  

Dr. Jones will kick-off the discussion with his talk “Love Don't Need a Reason: The Life and Music of Michael Callen,” also the title of his , soon to be published by Punctum Books this November, 2020.  , a musician, author, activist and person who lived with AIDS, wrote songs about AIDS and was an important figure in the early response to the epidemic in America. 

“Michael is a saint! And by that, I mean that he is a real hero of the gay community and the AIDS community,” says Jones. “I think it's time for a Michael Callen renaissance!”  Jones, whose work explores the relationships between LGBTQIA+ culture, music, media, and activism, expressed that “music played a role in AIDS activism, from chants at rallies to the use of existing folk and protest repertoires.”  

Much of Jones’s research was gathered thanks to the immense help of Callen’s surviving partner, Richard Dworkin’s private collection of the singer-songwriters personal materials including, unreleased recordings, lead sheets from studio sessions, photographs, home videos, and soundboard recordings. “It was extraordinary to hear him working on music, cultivating a style, making choices that would become part of his aesthetic as a gay musician and a musician living with HIV/AIDS,” noted Jones. 

 (pictured left, standing) will continue the discussion with his presentation, "The Lost Songs of the AIDS Quilt Songbook," uncovering some of the music written in response to the grief caused by the spread of HIV/AIDS. These songs were inspired by the experiences of those living with, coping with, and dying from the disease.

Of the 67 musical additions gathered since the AIDS Quilt Songbook formation in 1993, only 18 of them are published.  Seesholtz noted that the project was “created to parallel the AIDS Quilt NAMES Project as a never-ending work whose meaning and spirit is renewed and redefined with every addition."  Dr. Seesholtz, a dramatic baritone with operatic performances in Madame Butterfly (Sharpless), Florencia en el Amazonas (Alvaro), Verdi’s Otello (Iago), and many others, will perform a few selections of the Songbook’s unpublished music during his presentation.  He is also the author of the musical collection entitled, “The Lost Songs of the AIDS Quilt Songbook, Vol 1.”