It’s a fool’s errand to sum up the profundity of “Beautiful Small Things” — a new album mostly recorded in downtown Chicago’s Guarneri Hall — but its title track comes close. Pillowed piano chords start softly, becoming more emphatic. Then, the technicolor voice of mezzo-soprano Megan Moore fills the room.

“I want to see the world not by the whole, but by the all too beautiful small things,” she sings.

“Beautiful Small Things” is just one of the album’s 18 stirring contributions to the art song genre: a poem set to music and usually, but not always, performed by a singer and pianist. The track, with music by Philadelphia-based composer Emily Cooley, bundles all the best things about art song in two-and-a-half short minutes: a brief, evocative poem with an impact that washes over the body, the music filling in what the text does not say. Or, perhaps, cannot express.

The breadth of LYNX Project’s beautiful small things (out March 10, 2022 via ArtistShare) is imminently notable, with topics spanning the small to the expansive, the mundane to the existential, and the deeply specific to general. Throughout this eclectic collection of songs for voice and piano, the thread is kept personal by the powerful writings of its young poets, who are primarily nonspeaking individuals with autism.

“I want to see the world. Not by the whole, but by the all too beautiful small things.” 

These words by Ryan Harris have been set to song by composer Emily Cooley, as part of a unique collaboration.

One of Harris’ teachers shared his writing with the musicians of Lynx Project — a Chicago-based group founded by Eastman Music School of Music graduates who have focused on inclusive concerts and educational programs.…'‘

““Autistic children really want to be heard and speak for themselves. Being autistic somewhat conditions me to being passed over when someone asks a question and they look at my mom for the answer. I want people to take the time to communicate with autistic people and actually hear us for we have a lot to say.” – Rithik Sinhasan, 2017 Amplify Series writer.

What started as a small initiative to share the voices and stories of the nonspeaking autistic community** evolved into concerts around the US, an album and anthology, and close relationships with a community that changed the way LYNX’s members saw the world.”

“Autistic children really want to be heard and speak for themselves. Being autistic somewhat conditions me to being passed over when someone asks a question and they look at my mom for the answer. I want people to take the time to communicate with autistic people and actually hear us for we have a lot to say.” - Rithik Sinhasan, Amplify Series Advisory Council member.

LYNX, also known as the Lynx Project, is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that amplifies diverse voices through new song commissions, inclusive concerts, and educational programming…”

Fox 19 Reporter Morgan Parrish covers LYNX Project’s Amplify Series on December 7th, 2021.

“The Eastman/ArtistShare New Artist Program announces their 2021 artists Caitleen Kahn and Charlie Halloran, as well as their 2020 ArtistShare artist; fivebyfive (made up of four Eastman alumni). The ArtistShare program provides impactful research, entrepreneurial projects, and valuable internships, but it does more than just boosting the careers of talented Eastman students and alumni. “Combining Eastman’s communications support with ArtistShare’s project development insights offers a one-of-a-kind endorsement as musicians build communities around their creative projects,” says Rachel Roberts, Director of Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership (IML).”

The Academy received a record number of applicants for the fourth annual 2021 Alumni Enterprise Awards. 98 projects were adjudicated by members of the Academy’s National Advisory Council, Board of Directors, and administrators, as well as musical entrepreneurs who were part of this past summer’s Remote Learning Institute. The six Award winners will receive $85,000 in grants to complete their projects in 2021. Their bold plans address challenges from the pandemic, the call for social justice, gender equality, and include music both written and performed by BIPOC composers and musicians. Projects originate from Montréal, Canada; Amsterdam in the Netherlands; Cochabamba, Bolivia and São Paulo, Brazil; and Chicago and Philadelphia in the United States.

Christina Giuca

Christina is the Artistic Director of LYNX, a nonprofit art song organization that amplifies diverse voices through new song commissions, inclusive performances, and innovative educational programming. LYNX’s initiative Composition of a City addresses the challenges facing youth on Chicago’s South Side by providing students with positive mentorship and a safe musical outlet to share their stories through a curriculum incorporating elements of both hip hop and classical music.

“New York, NY (July 9, 2020) – New Music USA is pleased to announce the selection of 110 projects involving 392 creators and artists for the tenth round of New Music USA Project Grants. These projects demonstrate the imaginative, diverse, and high-quality work that New Music USA is dedicated to supporting.

Totaling $502,700 in funding, this year’s grants support new American music projects in 26 states. The 110 awarded projects include a wide range of activities and events involving new music as a central element; these projects involve collaborations in dance, theater, opera, and the visual arts. 54% of the 2020 Project Grant participants are people of color and 58% are women….”

“The Lynx Project is a …nonprofit that takes poetry written by young people with autism and transforms it into art song, which is poetry set to music for piano and voice.

The writers for the project are all Sycamore students who are nonverbal and communicate using the Rapid Prompting Method (RPM). This is an educational method in which students use a letterboard to spell out words. The writers also used this method to answer the interview questions below.”

“Lights up. The SHS auditorium fills with sound. But this music is not coming from Sycamore’s many musical ensembles, as one might expect. It is the unique concert experience created by the Lynx Project.

On Sat., Feb. 29, the Lynx Project performed its third Autism Advocacy Series concert at SHS. The Lynx Project, according to their website, is a “nonprofit art song initiative whose mission is to build community through innovative song programming and educational initiatives and to provide a platform for every voice to be heard.”

 The Lynx Project takes poetry written by young people with autism and transforms it into art song, which is poetry set to music for piano and voice. This year, the project commissioned three composers to create music based on words written by four students, who all go to Sycamore. There were also four performers involved in this year’s concert. 

   The student writers— Emily Friend, Nina Szabo, Aarush Srivastava, and Darren Stella— are between the ages of 10 and 19…“

“Caitleen talks about the origins of Lynx Project and its Autism Advocacy Series, how art song can help to convey the words of young people with autism, and the responsibility of arts organizations to create inclusive and accessible performances.” 

“Lynx Project takes the words of individuals on the Autism spectrum and amplifies their voices by commissioning their texts and poetry to be turned into song. This year, the project will feature the words and poetry of four individuals with autism ranging from ages 9 – 19. Caitleen Kahn and Christopher Hauser from Lynx Project join Elaine Diehl to preview their February 29 performance.”

“We sit down with Caitleen Kahn to talk about Lynx Project, how to think about art song in 2020, Lynx’s Autism Advocacy Series, the importance of good organizing, and hot takes.”

“The Lynx Project is an art song initiative created by co-founders soprano, Caitleen Kahn, and mezzo-soprano, Megan Moore in 2015 after completing their graduate degrees at Eastman. Together with Eastman alumni Steven Humes and Florence Mak, they form the Lynx Project; an ensemble with the goal of bringing the incredible world of art song to a wider audience through intimate and inclusive performances and an exploration of the boundaries of traditional recital form.”

“My how time flies. Just last May, I introduced readers to the Lynx Project, a nonprofit art song initiative whose mission is to build community through innovative song programming and educational initiatives, and to provide a platform for every voice to be heard. One of those voices is our autism community, and as promised, they will be here in Rockaway on Saturday, April 27 at the Rockaway Artists Alliance studio. Not only will they be performing, but our children on the autism spectrum will get to showcase their music, art and culinary skills. Details to come!”

“The Lynx Project, as apart of their Autism Advocacy Project, performed at SHS on Saturday, March 2.

Part of the event was performer and composer Stephen Variames, who composed and performed a poem written by a youth in the Cincinnati area with Autism.”

“The Lynx Project’s Autism Advocacy Project performance took place at SHS on Sat., March 2.

Youth with Autism in the Cincinnati area wrote poems for this performance which were then composed and performed on Saturday.

Kenta Mignot, a seventh-grader at Sycamore Junior High, was one of the youth who had the opportunity to write a poem for the performance”

“The Lynx Project will be putting on a performance at SHS on Saturday, March 2 at 6 p.m. in the theatre.

According to their website, the Lynx Project is “…a non profit art song initiative whose mission is to build community through innovative song programming and educational initiatives and to provide a platform for every voice to be heard.”""

“I entered a basement and found myself in front of a motley group of people sitting around a table, introducing themselves. Some composers, some singers , some lyricists and a few parents. To an onlooker it was just another meet and greet but what set this one apart was the fact that the songs were written by non-verbal autistic kids who sat at the table, at par, with the rest of the team – not left out, not left ignored. This was about them. This was the Lynx Project.”