Black Dog Commission

Mission Black Dog Commission is a platform for the creation of new music for voice and piano which inspires meaningful conversation about mental illness.

Vision Black Dog Commission will inspire courage and initiate genuine discourse about mental illness and its implications in day-to-day living as a way to eradicate its associated social stigma.

List of Commissions

2021-2022: Tom Cipullo (composer) and Les Murray (poet)
2023-2024: Dale Trumbore (composer) and poet TBA
2025-2026: TBA Spring 2024

Do you want to contribute poetry, music or monetary support to Black Dog Commission? Let’s get in touch.

Thank you to all of our donors for making our work possible.

In March of 2018, I presented a recital called “The Beautiful Black Dog.” The title borrows its name from a metaphor created by Samuel Johnson and made famous by Winston Churchill which describes the medical condition of Depression as “the black dog.” This recital was one of my first performances following a prolonged performance hiatus due to an ongoing depressive episode. Having been diagnosed with Depression in 2012 (but truthfully experiencing symptoms for most of my life), I quickly learned what the stigmas are surrounding this condition and the very real physical and emotional impacts it forces upon oneself. The recital allowed me to foster a discussion between myself and the audience about this topic; I’ll never forget the togetherness we experienced that evening.

Out of this experience has been birthed Black Dog Commission. Not only will this project contribute toward the commissioning of new repertoire from the great song composers of our time, but also foster the growth of repertoire which will hopefully have some kind of social impact. All of these commissions will use poems by artists who have been afflicted by Depression in their own lives. I hope that by creating this project, the song recital can be used as a vessel to #endthestigma.

In love and in song,

JDB