Gentrification Storytelling

Ted Hearne

Ted Hearne is a composer, singer, bandleader, and recording artist. Inspired by the overlay of different viewpoints and their sonic possibilities, he creates personal and multi-dimensional works that often explore unconventional interactions of text and music, and that are rooted in a sense of inquiry.

The New York Times has praised Hearne for his “tough edge and wildness of spirit,” and “topical, politically sharp-edged works.” Pitchfork called Hearne’s work “some of the most expressive socially engaged music in recent memory—from any genre,” and Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that Hearne’s music “holds up as a complex mirror image of an information-saturated, mass-surveillance world, and remains staggering in its impact.”

Hearne’s Sound From the Bench, a cantata for choir, electric guitars, and drums, setting texts from US Supreme Court oral arguments and inspired by the idea of corporate personhood, was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize. Place, Hearne’s work written with poet Saul Williams and director Patricia McGregor, was nominated for two Grammy Awards and was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize.

Commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Barbican Centre, and Beth Morrison Projects, and scored for 18 instrumentalists and 6 vocalists, Place was premiered to critical acclaim in October 2018 in the BAM Next Wave Festival. “Place takes shape in songs that emerge like a graffiti mural as repetitive gestures gradually bloom into vibrant, brash statements in high-volume color. The six singers bring with them deep familiarity with diverse vocal styles… but it was impossible to ignore the presence of the real Mr. Hearne at his command post conducting the musicians, manipulating the sound and driving the auto-da-fé of his own orchestration… It always felt as if Hearne was questioning his own comfort and—in the final moment—his own power” (The New York Times).

Nicole Montojo

Nicole Montojo is Housing Research Analyst for the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley. As part of the California Community Partnerships team, she supports collaborative research projects that examine the legacy of exclusionary housing policies and explore ways of transforming existing housing systems and frameworks that perpetuate racial and economic injustice.

Montojo has experience in policy analysis, qualitative and quantitative research, grassroots advocacy, and organizational capacity-building via the philanthropic sector. Her past research has focused on displacement and gentrification, equitable planning and governance, affordable housing policy, and structural inequalities in public finance and law enforcement systems that shape the experiences of marginalized communities.

Originally from Southern California, Montojo traces her inspiration and roots in social justice work back to the community of grassroots organizations within Los Angeles’ movements for immigrant rights and racial justice. She holds a master’s degree in City Planning from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Urban Studies from Scripps College.

Isaiah Robinson

Isaiah Robinson, tenor, is a Grammy-nominated, multi-talented musician who was born in Chicago into a musical family of singing parents. As an actor, he was featured in Steven Spielberg’s 1991 film Hook, playing the role of Pockets. He also appeared in several radio and television commercials as a child, most notably “That’s My Baby” for Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, a Polaroid commercial featuring the comedian Sinbad, as well as advertisements for Kraft, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, JC Penny, Sears, and Eagle Foods.

As a vocalist, he was primarily trained singing in church by his parents and his siblings, which lead to his performing on several jingles and voiceovers for various products and companies. He has performed with numerous musical artists, including The Barrett Sisters, Darius Brooks, Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Rascal Flatts, Joan Collaso, Mavis Staples, Janis Siegel, Chaka Khan, Yo-Yo Ma, Chance The Rapper, Queen Latifah, Ted Hearne, and was on a year-long tour with Room Full of Teeth vocal ensemble.

Robinson and Hearne have a long-standing musical relationship and friendship going all the way back to years together in the Chicago Children’s Choir. He feels privileged to have worked with Hearne on a number of projects, including Katrina Ballads, The Source, and many other works that predate his professional career as a composer. Robinson is humbled that Ted has faith in him and feels he has been made a better musician because of their collaborations.

In addition to his collaborations with Hearne, in recent years, he has received recognition as the featured vocalist at the inauguration of Rahm Emanuel as mayor of Chicago. He also performs with and facilitates workshops for the Chicago Children’s Choir, and is on staff as a musician/organist and choirmaster at the Life Center C.O.G.I.C in Chicago, where he has served for more than 20 years.