Join us. SUpport Creative performing artists on the periphery
Mind on Fire was started with a shared sense of responsibility to the Baltimore arts community. As a musician-run family with diverse programming, we rely on your support. Thank you for believing in us! What you give goes directly to the programs, the musicians, the production of shows, and making living art. Thank you for being a part of this community with us.
Mind on Fire is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. This means that all donations made to Mind on Fire are 100% tax deductible. We are inspired that you have decided to choose the arts.
If you'd like to support us in a way other than attending our events or donating, please get in touch.
Our Vision
MISSION: Mind on Fire makes music by living composers and showcases the talents of performing artists, building creative access and collaborative partnerships in Baltimore.
Mind on Fire began after countless late night discussions about the future of classical music, and whether it is a tradition that should be preserved. It is also the result of discussions about the future of us -- as classical musicians -- we all study a type of historical performance, and we all want to define how we relate as artists in 2021.
Mind on Fire, in the simplest terms, is a group of like-minded artists who want to facilitate high-quality music making for our community. Baltimore’s DIY scene is a hallmark of the culture of the city. The idea that art by untrained artists should be studied, elevated and celebrated is profoundly meritocratic. Mind on Fire seeks to build on that idea by presenting high-quality, compelling performance experiences, by people of all disciplines and skill levels.
The History
“[Mind on Fire] offers some of the most fascinating experimental productions in the area.” (Baltimore Sun)
Formed in 2017, Mind on Fire is a modular chamber orchestra and performing arts organization devoted to the creation and presentation of new, ephemeral art. As an ensemble we perform and commission new works for classical music by living composers, music that speaks to the experience of right now. As a presenting organization, we have featured many brilliant artists in the Baltimore area including poets, puppeteers, somatic artists, comedians, actors, video artists, and other bands/musicians ranging from droning folk to prog hip hop.
It is our goal to present all art with equal gravity and importance regardless of performance practice or history, to unify the appreciators of the Baltimore arts scene, and to create a comfortable and welcoming environment for people to have new experiences. We strive for artistic excellence but also to be active, thoughtful members of our community, using our skills as presenters and performers to be an artistic resource for the city at large.
Baltimore is a community of considerable, virtuosic breadth, and Mind on Fire was created to engage in creative dialogue with that community. In the early 2000s the city's primary concert mode was the 'round robin,' in which aesthetically disparate acts would perform one after the other. Following that model, Mind on Fire eschews the traditional, long-form classical music concert structure in favor of shorter sets, sharing the bill with artists in radically different genres with the intent to form lines of connection between personalized aesthetics.
This has led us to share the stage with internationally renowned electronic musician Dan Deacon and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, to perform the music of folk vanguard Liz Downing and new spectralist Cat Lamb, to commission work from musician Brittany Green, theater artist Megan Livingston, and video artist Elori Kramer, and so on. We're not just trying to expand the canon of classical music, we're trying to replace the canon with ongoing creative practice. The goal is to build and encourage a community of artistic experimentation and to put on an engaging show in the process.
This is why the Baltimore Magazine has referred to us as "the future of classical music."