Collaborative Arts Ensemble was founded by Thomas West in the spring of 2017 as a way to promote social understanding in the world. The organization consists of a roster of artists dedicated to the work of original, cross-disciplinary, theatrical concert programing and strives to create art that functions as a piece of discovery for its audiences. CAE's inaugural program entitled, Letters of the American South, explores and celebrates the rich history and culture of the Southern United States, drawing attention to the diversity that exists in this particular region of America. Featuring music and text written about or from the American South, this program contains everything from fiddle to modern music, as well as text and family letters, from James Baldwin to Harper Lee. CAE strives to ask questions throughout the performance through the exploration of individual human stories, told in the form of specific musical vignettes. It is in this specific way of storytelling that CAE hopes to spark conversation and imagination in both the minds of the artists and its audiences.
