AfroPneumatic composer and improviser Dr. Matthew Evan Taylor (1980) creates music that is inspired by community, time, and the human. His current practice is built upon AfroPneumaism, a liberatory framework for music composition, performance, and community building which connects musical action, musical timeframes, and audience witnessing to the breath. Emerging in part from the Black Lives Matter Movement, Dr. Taylor’s AfroPneumaism answers the urgent and poignant refrain “I can’t breathe!” with a defiant “I will breathe! I must breathe!” Dr. Taylor is a BMI composer based in Oakland, California and is Assistant Professor of Composition at UC Berkeley.