{"id":211103,"date":"2025-09-23T13:50:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/?p=211103"},"modified":"2025-09-23T13:56:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:56:06","slug":"leyla-mccalla-launches-residency-with-inspiring-cali-midweek-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/2025\/09\/23\/leyla-mccalla-launches-residency-with-inspiring-cali-midweek-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Leyla McCalla Launches Residency with Inspiring Cali Midweek Event"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/cali\">Cali School of Music<\/a> officially welcomed acclaimed singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist <a href=\"https:\/\/leylamccalla.com\/\">Leyla McCalla<\/a> as its 2025\u20132026 Artist-in-Residence during a special event held on Wednesday, September 10, in Leshowitz Recital Hall.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/john-j-cali-school-of-music\/cali-midweek-series-schedule\/\">Cali Midweek Series<\/a>, the evening featured both a concert and an engaging conversation between McCalla and Cali School Director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/~scruggssh\">Shea Scruggs<\/a>, offering audiences a rare glimpse into the creative life of a celebrated artist. The discussion explored themes of heritage, storytelling, and the power of music to inspire cultural understanding and social change.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_211105\" class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/164\/2025\/09\/McCallaScruggs.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/164\/2025\/09\/McCallaScruggs.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"eyla McCalla, 2025\u20132026 Artist-in-Residence at the Cali School of Music, with Shea Scruggs, Director of the Cali School of Music, during their on-stage conversation in Leshowitz Recital Hall.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leyla McCalla, 2025\u20132026 Artist-in-Residence at the Cali School of Music, with Shea Scruggs, Director of the Cali School of Music, during their on-stage conversation in Leshowitz Recital Hall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A multilingual musician and master of the cello, tenor banjo, and guitar, McCalla is known for blending Haitian roots, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, American folk traditions, and socially conscious songwriting. Her music reflects her Haitian heritage, classical training, and the vibrant cultural traditions of the African diaspora.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to her acclaimed solo career, McCalla is a founding member of the renowned group <a href=\"https:\/\/rhiannongiddens.com\/our-native-daughters\">Our Native Daughters<\/a>, alongside Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, and Allison Russell, and a former member of the Grammy Award-winning <a href=\"https:\/\/rhiannongiddens.com\/carolina-chocolate-drops\">Carolina Chocolate Drops<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>McCalla\u2019s residency at the Cali School will offer students unique opportunities to learn from her artistry and experience firsthand how music can bridge cultures and histories.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/john-j-cali-school-of-music\/cali-immersive-residency\/\">more programs and performances with McCalla<\/a> throughout the 2025\u20132026 academic year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cali School of Music officially welcomed acclaimed singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Leyla McCalla as its 2025\u20132026 Artist-in-Residence during a special event held on Wednesday, September 10, in Leshowitz Recital Hall. Part of the Cali Midweek Series, the evening featured both a concert and an engaging conversation between McCalla and Cali School Director Shea Scruggs, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":211107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-153_music","category-news-and-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211106,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211103\/revisions\/211106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}