Core

Hi Stacy! Thank you for being part of Core. Can you tell readers a little bit about yourself and all of the things that you do? 

Hi! My name is Stacy Busch and I am a composer and performer. I moved to Kansas City in 2014 to pursue my Master’s degree in Music Composition from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Much of my work utilizes the human voice with electronics to build unique sound worlds. I am also the Co-Founder and Executive Director of No Divide KC, an arts non-profit that unites underserved communities through artistic programming. I love the artistic community here in Kansas City and collaboration is a large part of my work. Personally, my work as an artistic collaborator and musician led to being selected as a 2022 Global Fellow of Music Leaders for the OneBeat Virtual Residency Program. I was also awarded the 2020 Charlotte Street Foundation Generative Performing Artist Awards and in 2023, and I received an Artistic Innovations Grant from the NEA and Mid America Arts Alliance for my new opera “She Breathes Fire.” No Divide KC’s mission is accomplished through collaboration as well and we have partnered with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Kansas City Ballet School, InterUrban ArtHouse and many others. I love solving problems using the arts and thinking about big artistic projects.

How do you define yourself as a composer/performer? You released an album last year, is that correct? Can you tell us about Finder and other projects you have going on?

I didn’t grow up studying music and my path has been long and windy. I think this is part of my identity as a composer, especially having ended up going through music school despite my background. I believe that I am a storyteller. I tell these stories by creating music  performances of varying types as a composer and performer. Conceptually, my work deals with the human condition and I am passionate about breaking down social stigma and fostering greater awareness around mental health. My personal experiences with addiction, bipolar disorder, and queerness instigated this artistic imperative to share truths that are often not expressed. 

Now, I am focused on specializing in the human voice. I work with the voice because language and text is important to me but also because there are so many possible sounds that are specific to the performer. My EP Finder was written during the OneBeat residency where a collection of musicians from over 40 countries came together to collaborate. Each track on this EP is created using the samples of musicians in their home countries. The track titles are the names of the home cities where the samples are taken.

My most recent project, “She Breathes Fire” is a full-length opera written for women’s  octet and electronics. In this work, all of the electronics are generated from the voices of the 8 singers. In this way, the entire world and every single sound in the piece is created using the voice. The opera premiered in October with Owen/Cox Dance Group and I am now planning on workshopping the piece in San Francisco, New York, and Amsterdam. 

You are also the co-founder and Executive Director of NoDivide KC, a nonprofit that focuses on community building for underserved or misrepresented communities in Kansas City. Can you tell us about NoDivide KC and where people can find more information or get involved? 

No Divide KC was founded by me and my spouse, Emily Spradling, to effectively partner the arts with advocacy. In each event, we work with local organizations and commission local artists. Our programming includes exhibitions, documentary series, concerts, festivals, other live events and community art classes. In 2023, we worked with and paid over 60 artists, reached an audience of over 1,000 and provided music-based therapies to over 200 at-risk youth. Our annual programs include the Queer Narratives Festival and Come as You: Vulnerability in the Concert Space which is in partnership with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. We also have arts education programs such as the Bilingual Poetry Program and arts, health & wellness programs that are in partnership with Synergy Services and KU Medical Center. We are gearing up for our 2024 Season starting in January! If you’d like to get involved, please follow us on Instagram and sign up for our newsletter at NoDivideKC.org. You can always reach out to us at info@nodividekc.org as well.

Here is the place to tell us all about upcoming events, plans for 2024, and all of the social media/website information so people can follow and keep in touch! 

I am excited to launch No Divide KC’s 2024 Season and we will have many artist calls, events and ways to get involved!

IG: nodividekc

Nodividekc.org

Please join our newsletter!

I’m also really excited to take the next steps in the world of “She Breathes Fire” and there’s a few things I’m not able to talk about yet, but it’s going to be great! 

IG: @stacy_soundz

Stacybusch.com