"The EDGE. I would say 'on the edge' but Dorian Wallace is the edge. an autodidact, he writes from his soul, and splatters contemporary issues so that they get all over your shoes."
-- John Sanborn, media artist
Artistic Statement
My artistic practice is in music in the community with others. Music has played a crucial role in our evolution since the Paleolithic era, and it continues to be an essential part of our lives as we experience the world around us through sound vibrations. I compose to inspire positive social change, foster healing, and promote peace and unity among all humans.
My artistic practice is in music in the community with others. Music has played a crucial role in our evolution since the Paleolithic era, and it continues to be an essential part of our lives as we experience the world around us through sound vibrations. I compose to inspire positive social change, foster healing, and promote peace and unity among all humans.
Live at Omaha Under the Radar 2022. Photo by Ben Semisch.
Dorian Wallace is a renowned composer, pianist, and music therapist known for his impressive improvisational skills, versatile style, and unyielding commitment to sociopolitical causes. He has collaborated with numerous artists such as Paul Pinto, Bonita Oliver, John Sanborn, Nicholas Finch, Charlotte Mundy, Pamela Z, and Frank London. Dorian has also provided his musical services to political figures like Jarvis Tyner, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gerald Horne, Blade Nzimande, and Sing In Solidarity.
Apart from his work in composition and performance, Dorian has also served as a music therapist and mindfulness teacher at Rikers Island. He supports individuals in custody to develop their musical and coping skills to confront and adapt to unaddressed psychological trauma. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Therapy from Montclair State University, where he studied under Drs. Brian Abrams and Michael Viega. He interned at the M.J.H.S. Hospice and Palliative Care and the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine. Dorian also completed Level 1 Guided Imagery and Music training at the Atlantis Institute for Consciousness and Music.
Dorian spearheaded the New Music Organizing Caucus, a labor advocacy organization confronting systemic inequities in contemporary classical music, and is a co-founding artistic director of Tenth Intervention, a progressive new music collective probing the nexus of social justice and community engagement through contemporary music, with violinist, curator, and activist Hajnal Pivnick.
Alongside activist and healer DeMarisa Steeley, Dorian operates Mederi Muzik. This group takes a radical arts-based approach to healing psychological trauma, both individually and transgenerationally, involving personal and collective action to promote living with respect and dignity. Together, they facilitate music therapy and mindfulness programs at Rikers Island, H.O.L.L.A., the American Humanist Association, About Face, and Footsteps. He draws on his extensive musical experience and therapeutic expertise, covering a broad creative spectrum with the incarcerated community, including spoken word, hip hop, and free improvisation. Their podcast of the same name explores the integrative effects of music and other creative practices and their therapeutic impact on the trauma of colonialism, classism, racism, mass incarceration, and culture. Dorian's Mode, his weekly Twitch stream, explores the intersection between political music and spontaneous improvisation.
One of New York City's most sought-after dance accompanists, Wallace has played for Martha Graham Dance Company, Doug Varone and Dancers, Juilliard, New York University, Columbia University, and many others. He teaches Music for Dancers I & II at the Martha Graham School and is a guest teaching artist for the Mark Morris Dance Accompaniment Training Program.
Apart from his work in composition and performance, Dorian has also served as a music therapist and mindfulness teacher at Rikers Island. He supports individuals in custody to develop their musical and coping skills to confront and adapt to unaddressed psychological trauma. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Therapy from Montclair State University, where he studied under Drs. Brian Abrams and Michael Viega. He interned at the M.J.H.S. Hospice and Palliative Care and the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine. Dorian also completed Level 1 Guided Imagery and Music training at the Atlantis Institute for Consciousness and Music.
Dorian spearheaded the New Music Organizing Caucus, a labor advocacy organization confronting systemic inequities in contemporary classical music, and is a co-founding artistic director of Tenth Intervention, a progressive new music collective probing the nexus of social justice and community engagement through contemporary music, with violinist, curator, and activist Hajnal Pivnick.
Alongside activist and healer DeMarisa Steeley, Dorian operates Mederi Muzik. This group takes a radical arts-based approach to healing psychological trauma, both individually and transgenerationally, involving personal and collective action to promote living with respect and dignity. Together, they facilitate music therapy and mindfulness programs at Rikers Island, H.O.L.L.A., the American Humanist Association, About Face, and Footsteps. He draws on his extensive musical experience and therapeutic expertise, covering a broad creative spectrum with the incarcerated community, including spoken word, hip hop, and free improvisation. Their podcast of the same name explores the integrative effects of music and other creative practices and their therapeutic impact on the trauma of colonialism, classism, racism, mass incarceration, and culture. Dorian's Mode, his weekly Twitch stream, explores the intersection between political music and spontaneous improvisation.
One of New York City's most sought-after dance accompanists, Wallace has played for Martha Graham Dance Company, Doug Varone and Dancers, Juilliard, New York University, Columbia University, and many others. He teaches Music for Dancers I & II at the Martha Graham School and is a guest teaching artist for the Mark Morris Dance Accompaniment Training Program.