Hold Wichita State University Accountable for Exploiting Music Alumni
THE BREACH
Dr. Timothy Shade elects for the WSU Wind Ensemble to do a recording of Khronos instead of doing a spring concert at the university in May 2022. After the recording session is over, Justin Noel Hall and Da’Kneisha Nikoyle Blount approach Dr. Shade to discuss the recording and compensation for KHRONOS. As discussed previously on June 24, 2021, Justin asked Dr. Shade how he wanted to handle the compensation of $10,000 for the commission of KHRONOS on the agreed upon “$500/minute of written music” rate. Upon hearing this question, Dr. Shade made an expression of disbelief, and retorted something to the effect of, “I don’t have that kind of money. I mean, I might be able to $2,000, maybe $3,000, but’s there’s no way I can pay that amount [$10,000].”
THE BACKSTORY: NIKOYLE NOEL
These two young Kansas musicians don’t knock Bach, but they want to stretch classical music to include hip-hop and R&B influences. Da'Kneisha is a soulful songstress scribing stories of both reality and escape. Justin is an aural architect erecting edifices of awe-inspiring soundscapes. Two kindred souls. One dynamic symphony.
There’s a conversation going on within the classical music community that concerns itself with the lack of racial and gender diversity with personnel both on and off stage. Although women have made significant strides as conductors, musicians and composers, we’re not seeing enough music written by Black composers played by orchestras and chamber groups.
Dr. Shade remarked about the importance of spotlighting new composers and talent, particularly in the current time we were in. He made a point to recognize the racial and gender identities of the two composers as well; Da’Kneisha is a dark-skinned, Black woman and Justin is a Black man and how that plays a role in the creation and presentation of the music, and how he wanted to champion their unique perspectives specifically.
In a system that continues to place the music of 18th-century European musicians in the forefront, we’ve chosen to compose and perform original works of art that share Black stories told from Black perspectives to relate classical music to Black audiences and foster a desire to study music amongst young black students.
THE WORK
KHRONOS - for Solo Soprano and Wind Ensemble
THE DAMAGES
Without receiving the agreed upon amount of $500 per minute of written music, Da’Kneisha and Justin had no monetary gain from their eight months of work writing a new composition for Dr. Shade and the WSU Wind Ensemble.
Without a recording of their composition, Da’Kneisha and Justin had no proper record of their music from the premiere performance at the Collegiate Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) 2022 Southwestern Conference.
Da’Kneisha and Justin had to discover a recording of their piece existed on Dr. Shade’s YouTube channel months after it was online, only because a colleague mentioned to Justin that he wanted to listen to their music on Spotify.
Without receiving any money from Dr. Shade, Da’Kneisha and Justin’s momentum of their music ventures came to a halt because of a lack of funds.
Justin suffered a “creative” depression due to his disappointment and betrayal of a trusted and esteemed former professor.
Da’Kneisha and Justin feel there’s both racial and gender discrimination occurring due to another colleague, who happens to be a white man, receiving his full compensation of $5,000 and them not receiving any compensation, especially since both agreements were made for the same concert performance.
At the end of the day, they felt they were manipulated, taken advantage of and gas-lit into working for free to make the university and Dr. Shade look good at CBDNA. Mark Spede, then-president of CBDNA, remarked to both of them how much he enjoyed their piece, "Khronos." Justin also had an existing professor-student relationship with Dr. Shade that he feels was abused and manipulated because of his reverence to Dr. Shade and the work-relationship they had built over the years; Justin was the percussion section leader for a year in grad school, and also the music office graduate staff-assistant his second year. Da'Kneisha and Justin both feel they were seemingly spot lit because of our identities, and then simultaneously unpaid in spite of those identities.
THE PROOF
Written document showing notes from a BRAINSTORMING CONVERSATION BETWEEN DR. SHADE (in person), JUSTIN (in person) AND DA’KNEISHA (via phone) detailing "$500 per minute of music written rate suggested by Dr. Shade after Justin asks what would be an acceptable rate to charge for the piece of music to be written. Original piece length was agreed to be 10-15 minutes; estimating a commission of $5,000-7,500 upon completion.
A former grad student recounts Dr. "Shade 100% talked to me all the time about how he was PAYING you to write that piece."
Another commissioned composer and former WSU student begrudgingly received their full amount of payment without a signed contract (for the same job, same pay rate and concert cycle), even after the aforementioned party initiated the deal with their own contract of which Dr. Shade refused to sign.
Another former grad student explained, "I DID want to also do the consortium for Khronos and I asked, but Tim told me no, he said he would do it and that he was handling that project himself. To the best of my memory and understanding, it was his intent to pay Justin for Khronos just as Robert was meant to be paid. Both pieces were commissioned at basically the same time, for the same CBDNA program, and Tim and I were meant to each organize consortiums for them. I always assumed he was working his own network for that and trusted that it would get done, so I never asked him about Khronos or discussed the consortium/commission for Khronos."
Dr. Shade to this day has us listed on his website as a commission: "The promotion and creation of new music is a passion of Shade's. He has been involved in over 20 commissions and has worked with composers such as David Maslanka, Andrew Boysen Jr., Steven Bryant, Edward Largent, James Leatherbarrow, Jonathan Newman, Christopher Rouse, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra, Paul Rudy, Steve Danyew, Derek Jenkins, Justin Hall, Robert Tindle, Thomas Sleeper, Paul Dooley, and James Syler. Shade’s recent world premiere performances include La Finta Giardiniera by W.A. Mozart-transcribed by Shade, Orbits by Robert Tindle-transcribed by Shade, and Symphony No. 2 by James Syler. Current projects include a new work for wind ensemble and voice by Justin Hall (Nikoyle Noel), a new work for wind ensemble by Robert Tindle..." (via https://www.timothymshade.com/bio)
FULFILLMENT
$30,000
A proper audio recording of KHRONOS from the PREMIERE PERFORMANCE at CBDNA and/or RECORDING SESSION if available.
An APOLOGY