Dear Friends,

For those who may not know me, I'm Cotati, CA resident and artist Merlin Coleman. I am so excited to share my latest work with you. I invite you to share in what is a new, creative presenting process for me. 

I have spent the past few years developing new and original methods of composing and creating, the results of which include more human beings! The ways in which this new work, DISPATCHES FROM the CHARCOAL FOREST, differs from my past projects are many: I am placing my vocal compositions in the hands of a new ensemble of six singers to perform live. The group includes Kelly Atkins of the Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble , who helped me form the ensemble and now lends her musical direction as well as her voice. I feel blessed and thrilled to be working with her.

This all means a whole new level of production technically, musically, and performatively, with the integration of my prerecorded soundscapes. My compositional work in DCF is complex, nuanced, and musically challenging, necessitating professional singers/performers and tech help.

I am deeply dedicated to this work as it feels like a breakthrough for me. Though I have been composing since I was 19 years old, I feel I am finally, now years later, hitting my stride. As though I have struck upon something so new, deep, and multifaceted that I must follow it – come what may. 

All this has led me to ask YOU, my dear community, to help me bring this new work to life!

Below are more details about the work, the when and where of it, and what your money will be supporting toward presenting this show next May.

THE PROJECT

DISPATCHES FROM the CHARCOAL FOREST 

an expanded song cycle for 6 voices and soundscape

Over the past five years I have felt a growing and urgent need to address environmental and social issues. Some recent themes include environmental degradation, the waste cycle and now fire as it relates to climate change. This is deeply personal as it relates to where I live in Northern California yet also universal as dangers grow in the realms of fire in general. 

This newest project, DISPATCHES FROM the CHARCOAL FOREST, is a 40-minute nonlinear song cycle and sound art contemplation of fire, emergency, and aftermath. This work is both personal and universal, shaped by the growing dangers of fire in Northern California and beyond.

The building blocks of this work include audio interviews collected from those who have lost loved ones to fire, firefighters, clean up crews, and ecologists, as well as clips sourced from 911 dispatch calls and evangelical fire-and-brimstone preaching. 

I am working with musical director Kelly Atkins of the Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble and six singers. 

FUNDING

I've raised $2500 thus far. Additional funds are being raised to pay the professional singers, a sound engineer, and collaborators bringing this piece to life. Thus far, I’ve dug into my own savings to begin rehearsals and development. Your support will allow us to continue this important work and present it in May 2026 at the Paul Dresher Studio in Oakland, the Milk Bar in Richmond, CA, and possibly beyond.

Perks will include behind-the-scenes access to the creative process, recordings and documentation of rehearsals, and special invitations to performances. All funds raised will still go directly toward paying for the following and moving the work forward:

IMPACT

This project brings audiences directly into an immersive sound world, where recorded voices, found sound, and six live singers move among and around them. It is a meditation on grief, resilience, and the realities of climate change. With this piece, I am stepping into a new phase of my creative trajectory by training and leading an ensemble, while also blending recorded and live compositional work for the first time. Your contribution supports not only this project, but also the evolution of my practice and future collaborations.

A TURNING POINT

DISPATCHES represents an important turning point in my creative trajectory in that it is the first time I’m commingling recorded and live compositional work. There are many new things to learn and consider — from aurally training the singers to choreographing a sonically and spatially immersive world. For years, I have been working alone in my home studio, developing my layered vocal techniques which have been primarily presented as recorded works. Now, I am training an ensemble of six which requires a new level of organization, responsibility, communication, and on-the-spot learning; it represents a big, vulnerable leap for me that is sure to challenge and grow my work. I am passionate about this project and believe it will yield new collaborations, opportunities and ways of working. 

SHARING THE WORK

If contributing financially isn’t possible, you can still help by sharing this campaign with others who may connect to the work. Getting the word out is just as valuable and will help this project reach the audiences it is meant for.