COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT: Theresa Koon | Mother of Exiles: The Genesis
Over the next few weeks, Resonance features composers and artists whose work will be performed at the Safe Harbor concert on March 1st.
We begin with Portland composer Theresa Koon. Koon’s work, “Mother of Exiles,” is a musical adaptation and reimagining of Emma Lazarus’s famous poem, ("Give me your tired, your poor...). Resonance is honored to feature the world premiere and we thank Theresa Koon for taking the time to share some of her thoughts here today.
“Since I don’t have the temperament or money for political campaigning, music is the vessel I can offer to give voice to the thoughts and feelings of people who have no voice in the world. ”
Composer Theresa Koon
The genesis for the creation of Mother of Exiles arose during a talk-back session in 2018 with Director Katherine FitzGibbon of the Resonance Ensemble, and Jan Elfers, who heads the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. Resonance had just performed my Sufi cycle WHERE EVERYTHING IS MUSIC, and the tenor of our conversation with the audience centered around compassion, inclusivity and cooperation between people of differing faiths and backgrounds. An audience member inquired about my upcoming composing projects, and out of my mouth popped a plan to set Emma Lazarus’s famous poem “The New Colossus,” which is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. Until that moment, this intention had barely registered itself in my mind. Kathy immediately asked if Resonance could perform it, which was an honor I accepted with delight.
Lady Liberty and Lazarus’s poem have been in the news a lot during the past year, including various reinterpretations of their significance. Here are a few details from my research:
After the Civil War, France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States to commemorate the ending of slavery here, and to recognize the U.S. in finally becoming a “true democracy.” Soon after the Statue arrived, Emma Lazarus wrote her poem to express gratitude on behalf of her Jewish ancestors who had emigrated from Russia to the US during the pogroms. When poem was inscribed on the Statue in New York Harbor after Lazarus’s death, both Lady Liberty and “The New Colossus” combined to represent the face and voice of U.S. democracy, of freedom from slavery, and also as a welcome to desperate people in need of asylum. I believe the majority of Americans, despite our differences, still view the Statue of Liberty and her torch in this light, since most of us have ancestors who emigrated from somewhere else.
We are living at a time when immigration is a world-wide issue, which no one country can solve alone. To me, this is a delicate and complex situation that deserves compassionate consideration and collaboration. Since I don’t have the temperament or money for political campaigning, music is the vessel I can offer to give voice to the thoughts and feelings of people who have no voice in the world.
In working with the public domain text, I chose to set eleven of the fourteen lines in Lazarus’s sonnet, which include those that are best-known. At the point when the text refers to the Statue as “Mother of Exiles”, I began overlapping translations of that name in sixteen different languages, and also adopted it as the title of my choral version.
My dream is for Mother of Exiles to be performed by choirs around the world, with hopes that it will become an anthem for campaigns and organizations who believe in its purpose.
You can find out more about this project here:
For more information about Safe Harbor click here.
An African American Requiem to be broadcast live coast-to-coast!
President and CEO of All Classical Portland, Suzanne Nance
Great news! All Classical Portland will produce an unprecedented live, bi-coastal broadcast in collaboration with New York’s WQXR of the world premiere performance of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem. With the goal of providing greater access to and amplification of this important work, following the performance and live simulcast on May 23rd, these partner radio stations will distribute a free program featuring the premiere, as presented by Resonance Ensemble and Oregon Symphony, to radio stations nationwide. Broadcast info: www.allclassical.org
Resonance is thrilled about the news that the world premiere of our commission of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem has been picked up for a live coast-to-coast radio broadcast. This groundbreaking concert (May 23rd, 2020) with our partners at the Oregon Symphony will be broadcast live locally by All Classical Portland and nationally by WQXR New York, who will share it with more than 200 cities in their syndication.
Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon recalls, “All Classical CEO Suzanne Nance was excited about the opportunity to partner on a local live radio broadcast. After we met with Suzanne and Steve Wenig of the Oregon Symphony, Suzanne reached out to her contacts nationally and developed this vision of a live coast-to-coast broadcast. We are so grateful to her and to All Classical for championing this work.”
Concert attendees will need to make sure to update their calendars to the new 6:00 pm start time, so that our East Coast listeners can tune in as well. All of the other details will be the same -- the same amazing cast and powerful music -- and now, audience members in Portland will be able to be part of history, along with listeners across the country, in this groundbreaking world premiere.
Deepening Relationships with Visionary Composer Melissa Dunphy
“I feel, on a deeper level, as though this is part of what Resonance can do. We can help bring innovative new choral works to life, works that can shine a light on some of the most challenging issues our society faces today. We can promote existing works that haven’t yet found a wide audience. And we can partner closely with visionary composers like the amazing Melissa Dunphy, who I am now grateful to call my friend.”
Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon with composer Melissa Dunphy
About two years ago, I was finalizing repertoire for our 2017-18 season's concerts. Resonance singer Christine Johnson reached out to me and said that she knew an amazing piece I should consider for our BODIES concert collaboration with Pride Northwest. It was called "What Do You Think I Fought for at Omaha Beach?", and it was by a composer whose work I didn't yet know, Melissa Dunphy. Christine had performed it with her previous choir, the St. Louis Chamber Chorus, and Melissa Dunphy had been their composer in residence.
I was blown away by this piece. It set the Maine Senate testimony of an unassuming elderly WWII veteran, Phillip Spooner, who was asked whether he believed in equal rights for gay and lesbian people. He asked, "What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?" and explained that he fought for equality, not so that his gay son would have fewer rights than his other sons. I found the text extraordinarily moving, but I also felt like the composer had created a special kind of musical magic. The music created a sense of dramatic arc, with intense ebbs and flows that highlighted the emotion behind the text. And it was so beautifully written for the voice. "Who is this composer?," I thought.
So, as one does in the modern age, I did a deep dive into Google and found all of Melissa's works on her website. She has composed a treasure trove of exquisite choral music with texts that engage deeply with some of the most challenging social and political issues of our time. I programmed Melissa's multi-movement American DREAMers on the next season, for the fall of 2018.
Fast-forward to the fall of 2018, when the fall season began accompanied by the heartbreaking and courageous Senate testimony of Christine Blasey Ford in the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings. For me, and for many women I know, one of the most frustrating aspects of the hearings was hearing how Dr. Ford was personally attacked, and learning that she and her family had been threatened, for telling her story. I stomped around feeling helpless until I realized what I could do, in my own sphere -- I could amplify this story by commissioning it to be set to music. And I could pair it with the unfortunately parallel testimony of Anita Hill, two and a half decades earlier. Conveniently, Resonance had already programmed a concert with our female singers called Women Singing Women for February of 2019.
By now you must see where this is going (and maybe you have heard this amazing work!) -- I reached out to Melissa, knowing her to be the ideal composer for this project, and asked whether there was any chance she'd have time to compose something by January 2019 (just three months away at that point! Not the ideal turnaround time....) She immediately said yes, having had a similar experience watching Dr. Ford's testimony.
Melissa's work LISTEN was phenomenal, and our performances sold out. Audiences didn't just shed gentle tears, but they sobbed audibly. It provided a kind of collective catharsis that many of us needed.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to give a joint presentation at the National Collegiate Choral Organization conference with Melissa. I proposed this session, on the Innovation and Social Conscience in the Music of Melissa Dunphy, because I believe conductors NEED to know her work. The session was a blast -- like getting to sit up in front of conductors I know and love, with a composer I know and love, and talking about music and issues that are deeply important and personal to me. (Also, if you haven't heard Melissa speak before, she is brilliant and funny and wise, and I would delightedly shoot the breeze with her for hours!) And afterwards, many conductors came up to me and thanked me for bringing Melissa's work to their attention.
I feel, on a deeper level, as though this is part of what Resonance can do. We can help bring innovative new choral works to life, works that can shine a light on some of the most challenging issues our society faces today. We can promote existing works that haven't yet found a wide audience. And we can partner closely with visionary composers like the amazing Melissa Dunphy, who I am now grateful to call my friend.
AUDITION ANNOUNCEMENT — Auditions for An African American Requiem Choir Officially Announced
Northwest singers invited to be a part of this groundbreaking concert! (image by Oregon Symphony)
“My vision for this piece is that the choir is made up of folks from all walks of life who share in the common experience of humanity.”
For immediate release: — Monday, November 14, 2019
Email: info@resonancechoral.org
Web: resonancechoral.org
Media Contact: Liz Bacon Brownson
Phone: 971-212-8034
PORTLAND, OR — Resonance invites experienced singers from around the Northwest to audition for a unique and groundbreaking performance opportunity. The 120-voice choir (including Resonance Ensemble’s core group + members of Kingdom Sound Gospel Ensemble ) will perform as the African American Requiem Choir for the world premiere of Damien Geter's An African American Requiem. This revolutionary work will be performed in Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with the Oregon Symphony on Saturday, May 23, 2020.
“We know firsthand that singing in a choir can bring people together like nothing else.” says Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon. “We are seeking skilled singers from all of Portland's communities to bring this important work to life.”
Auditions will take place on November 18th and 19th.
For more information on how to schedule and prepare for an audition CLICK HERE.
For more information about An African American Requiem CLICK HERE.
“Beautiful Minds” to feature world premiere of Portland Composer Brandon Stewart's "Alone"
“ It is about feeling alone in spite of all the evidence to the contrary - living with a void, both inside and out - feeling like only death would give me peace - feeling like nothing was keeping me here aside from some instinct to live.”
On Saturday & Sunday, Oct 5 & 6, Resonance will feature the world premiere of Portland composer Brandon Stewart’s “AlonE”, setting a Sara Teasdale poem that depicts depression and the contemplation of suicide. The following is Stewart’s program notes.
Sara Teasdale's “Alone” is a poem very close to my heart and has been ever since I first stumbled upon it during my undergraduate studies. It so simply, yet eloquently, put into words the emotional state in which I had been living for a very long time. When I first started working on the piece, my goal was to use it to show how prolific depression was and still is in our society – to take a step back from that misery and analyze it from a new and slightly more optimistic perspective; “We are not alone in our loneliness.”
Brandon Stewart, Composer of “Alone” to premiere on “Beautiful Minds” Oct 5 & 6.
But the more I lived with this poem, the more I realized that is not what “Alone” is about. It is about feeling alone in spite of all the evidence to the contrary - living with a void, both inside and out - feeling like only death would give me peace - feeling like nothing was keeping me here aside from some instinct to live. “Alone” is about a woman who succumbed to her illness at the age of 48. And so, these were the things I sought to convey in the finished piece.
I invite everyone reading this note to read Teasdale's words through that lens and to allow yourself to feel what she is describing for the duration of this piece. My hope is that visiting this darkness for seven minutes will give you a new perspective on what it might feel like to live there every day. — B. Stewart (2019)
Beautiful Minds, a concert performed by the region’s finest singers sharing musical stories about living with depression, anxiety, and trauma, will open on October 5th at 7:30pm with a second performance on October 6 at 4:00pm, both at Cerimon House in NE Portland. CLICK HERE for tickets.
Board President Dinah Dodds leaves a great void.
Photo credit: Rachel Hadiashar
“There is little I can say that can speak to the depth of gratitude and love I have for Dinah, and that I know so many others share.”
It is with utmost sadness that we share the news that our president and friend Dinah Dodds passed away late Thursday evening (Sept. 12, 2019) after a brave battle with cancer.
There are few words to express the enormity of this loss. Dinah was simply a remarkable human being — a vibrant and passionate leader who devoted her life to the pursuit of knowledge and public service to the arts. We were fortunate she chose to dedicate so much of her time to Resonance Ensemble. She had a profound impact on all of us and leaves behind a lasting legacy.
Dinah served on the Resonance Board of Directors from 2014 until her death, serving as our president over the last two years. Under Dinah’s devoted leadership, we have developed our current social justice focus, commissioned multiple major new choral works, created a Poet in Residence position, received a national award from Chorus America, and received a major grant to support our upcoming collaboration with the Oregon Symphony: the world premiere of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem, which Dinah had championed.
Dinah received an award from Bethel A.M.E Church for her work building community and understanding through music. It is noteworthy that these accomplishments all took place after she was living with cancer, and she led Resonance’s meetings with energy, insight, and passion.
“There is little I can say that can speak to the depth of gratitude and love I have for Dinah, and that I know so many others share, “ says Artistic Director, Katherine FitzGibbon, “I can't imagine a human who better epitomizes generous service to others. Her passing leaves a great void for all of us.”
Dinah is lovingly remembered by her family, friends, students, and by so many people whose lives were enriched by knowing her. We are grateful for her commitment to education and the arts, and for her compassionate approach to leadership. Her loved ones are in our thoughts as they go through these most difficult times.
Plans for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.
You are welcome to leave your condolences via email or our Facebook page.
Please note: all these beautiful images of Dinah (save for the obvious cell-phone selfies) were taken by one of Dinah’s favorite photographers Rachel Hadiashar)
Resonance Ensemble Presents: "Beautiful Minds"
PORTLAND, OR — In honor of World Mental Health Day, Resonance Ensemble kicks off its 2019-20 season with Beautiful Minds, a concert performed by the region’s finest singers sharing musical stories about living with depression, anxiety, and trauma. The concert will open on October 5th at 7:30pm with a second performance on October 6 at 4:00pm, both at Cerimon House in NE Portland.
“As with all of Resonance concerts, we will perform thought-provoking new vocal music that shines a light on different and often neglected perspectives, in this case mental illness,” says Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon. “The power of music to heal is never more present than when artists create work that highlights a universal struggle.”
Music will be featured that will share stories that foster understanding, with a goal of helping reduce the stigma of mental illness. The concert will include:
An Atom of Faith, by Lisa Bielawa, featuring mezzo-soprano Rachel Hauge and violinist Paloma Griffin Hébert
An excerpt from Next to Normal performed by Portland favorite Sarah Maines
Music by Melissa Dunphy and Jake Runestad
An original poem read by Poet in Residence S. Renee Mitchell
The world premiere of Portland composer Brandon Stewart’s Alone, setting a Sara Teasdale poem that depicts depression and the contemplation of suicide
Beautiful Minds will also serve to connect community members with mental health resources in the local Portland area.
“We have partnered with Trillium Family Services and their KEEP OREGON WELL campaign as well as the Oregon chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, two local mental health organizations who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for Oregonians living with mental illness,” FitzGibbon says.
‘We hope everyone will join us for this evening of tender, vulnerable music-making, whether they have a personal link to the themes, love to hear extraordinary new premieres, or come because they trust Resonance to create powerful programs that promote meaningful social change.”
BEAUTIFUL MINDS
October 5, 2019 | 7:30 PM
October 6, 2019 | 4:00 PM
Cerimon House | 5131 NE 23rd Avenue, Portland
Tickets: $30 general; $25 senior; $15 student
Resonancechoral.org | 503.427-8701
#beautifulminds
#keeporegonwell
Note to Journalists: Katherine FitzGibbon and Damien Geter are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on this event or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@ohcreativepdx.com or by calling 971-212-8034
About the Resonance Ensemble 2019-20 season:
In its eleventh season, Resonance Ensemble, a professional vocal ensemble based in Portland, Oregon, creates thoughtful programs that promote meaningful social change. Resonance Ensemble works to amplify voices that have long been silenced, and they do so through moving, thematic concerts that highlight solo and choral voices, new and underrepresented composers, visual and other performing artists, and community partners.
Resonance Ensemble’s outstanding musicians give voice to the concerns, hopes, and dreams of all communities. Their concerts reflect this in the themes that reside in BEAUTIFUL MINDS, SAFE HARBOR, and AN AFRICAN AMERICAN REQUIEM.
Under Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, Resonance Ensemble has performed challenging and diverse music, always with an eye toward unusual collaborations with artistic partners from around Portland: poets, jazz musicians, singer-songwriters, painters, dancers. The Resonance Ensemble singers are “one of the Northwest’s finest choirs” (Willamette Week), with gorgeous vocal tone, and they also make music with heart.
The groundbreaking work that Resonance Ensemble has been producing over the last few years has been noted by local media and national arts organizations. In Oregon Arts Watch, Matthew Andrews described Resonance this June as “Part social commentary, part group therapy, and part best damn choir show in town." Chorus America honored Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon this summer with the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal for her work rededicating Resonance to promoting meaningful social change, and for the meaningful community partnerships she creates. For the tribute to Dr. FitzGibbon, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaJMVozrcPo.
About Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon:
Katherine FitzGibbon is Artistic Director of Portland’s professional Resonance Ensemble, called “one of the finest choirs in the Northwest” by Willamette Week. With Resonance, she has collaborated with the Portland Art Museum, Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Angle New Music, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Lauderdale and Hunter Noack, the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra, the Oregon Poet Laureate, and local actors, composers, visual artists, and dancers. Resonance partners with local artists and community organizations to explore questions of equity and inclusion.
Dr. FitzGibbon was just named the winner of the 2019 Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal. Given periodically by Chorus America, the nation’s premier organization supporting the advancement of choral music today, the Louis Botto Award recognizes a mid-career choral leader for her exceptional work in developing a professional choral ensemble. An independent panel selected Dr. FitzGibbon to receive the award, which will be presented at Chorus America’s 2019 Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be held June 26–29.
Dr. FitzGibbon is also Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College. In 2014, she was an inaugural winner of the Lorry Lokey Faculty Excellence Award, honoring “inspired teaching, rigorous scholarship, demonstrated leadership, and creative accomplishments.” A faculty member at the summertime Berkshire Choral Festival, Dr. FitzGibbon has also conducted choirs at Harvard, Boston, Cornell, and Clark Universities, and at the University of Michigan. She is a lyric soprano and music historian whose research on German choral music and politics has been presented and published internationally.
— #### —
Resonance Ensemble receives $100,000 Creative Heights Grant
Resonance Ensemble Receives $100,000 Creative Heights Grant to Premiere Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem
PORTLAND, OR —Resonance Ensemble has been awarded a $100,000 grant from The Oregon Community Foundation Creative Heights Initiative. The grant will help fund the world premiere of composer Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem, a pivotal work memorializing the lives of African Americans lost to racist violence in the United States, and the first work of its kind to be performed in Oregon. The work, a commission by Resonance Ensemble, will be presented by Resonance in partnership with the Oregon Symphony on Saturday, May 23, 2020, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
“Resonance is thrilled to receive this grant from The Oregon Community Foundation,” offers Resonance’s Artistic Director Dr. Katherine FitzGibbon. “As yet, there has not been a Requiem written in memory of African Americans who have lost their lives to racial violence; this will be a groundbreaking project that we believe can have a tremendous impact on all Oregonians. We are proud to partner with the Oregon Symphony as a conduit for Damien Geter’s incredibly important work.”
This concert-length work draws upon classical, jazz, and folk traditions. The Requiem uses the traditional Latin Requiem text for many movements but also incorporates spirituals and texts from civil rights activists Ida B. Wells, Eric Garner, Jamilia Land, and Antwone Rose. The final movement is scored for orchestra and narrator, with words penned and performed by African American poet and Portland resident S. Renee Mitchell.
“I am so grateful to The Oregon Community Foundation for seeing the value in our work,” says Geter. “This funding will help us to have timely and crucial conversations with Oregonians and hopefully beyond. I consider myself an activist through my art, and this Requiem is a perfect marriage of these passions.”
The premiere will feature a choir specially assembled by FitzGibbon, the African American Requiem Choir, featuring professional singers of Resonance Ensemble and Kingdom Sound Gospel Choir and representatives of other area choirs, and four renowned African American soloists: Brandie Sutton, soprano; Karmesha Peake, mezzo-soprano; Bernard Holcomb, tenor; and Kenneth Overton, baritone.
“I am so grateful to The Oregon Community Foundation for seeing the value in our work.”
Resonance Ensemble Artistic Director, Katherine FitzGibbon with composer Damien Geter
ABOUT DAMIEN GETER:
Composer Damien Geter infuses classical music with various styles from the black diaspora to create music that furthers the cause for social justice. Also a bass-baritone, Damien's 2019-2020 season includes appearances with the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Eugene Opera, Resonance Ensemble, and Third Angle New Music. His most recent composition, The Talk: Instructions for Black Children When They Interact with the Police, was premiered with Resonance Ensemble in June 2019. He is thrilled about the production of An African American Requiem, in partnership with Resonance Ensemble and the Oregon Symphony. For more about Mr.Geter’s work, visit damiengetermusic.com
ABOUT RESONANCE ENSEMBLE:
Resonance Ensemble, a professional vocal ensemble based in Portland, Oregon, creates powerful programs that promote meaningful social change. Resonance Ensemble works to amplify voices that have long been silenced, and does so through moving, thematic concerts that highlight solo and choral voices, new and underrepresented composers, visual and other performing artists, and community partners.
Under Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, Resonance Ensemble has performed challenging and diverse music, always with an eye toward unusual collaborations with artistic partners from around Portland: poets, jazz musicians, singer-songwriters, painters, dancers. The Resonance singers are “one of the Northwest’s finest choirs” (Willamette Week), with gorgeous vocal tone, and they also make music with heart. As Oregon Arts Watch recently wrote, “They do social justice music justice: their concerts are part social commentary, part group therapy, and part best damn choir show in town.”
For more information about Resonance Ensemble, visit resonancechoral.org or contact RE’s Box Office, (503) 427-8701.
###
Resonance Ensemble announces its eleventh season: “Programming with Purpose”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2019
“Part social commentary, part group therapy, and part best damn choir show in town.”
Resonance Ensemble announces its eleventh season:
“Programming with Purpose”
PORTLAND, OR — Resonance Ensemble announces its 2019-20 season with an emphasis on new music that highlights underrepresented perspectives. The season will kick off with BEAUTIFUL MINDS on October 5 and 6, 2019; SAFE HARBOR on March 1, 2020; and, in partnership with the Oregon Symphony, the world premiere of Resonance’s commission of Damien Geter’s AN AFRICAN AMERICAN REQUIEM on May 23, 2020.
Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon says, “We’ve planned a season where every concert is lovingly curated with brilliant and thought-provoking new vocal music, sung by the region’s finest singers. All are welcome to these performances, whether they have a personal link to the themes, love to hear extraordinary new premieres, or come because they trust Resonance to create powerful programs that promote meaningful social change.”
Each concert will feature an original new poem by Resonance’s Poet in Residence, S. Renee Mitchell.
BEAUTIFUL MINDS
October 5, 2019 | 7:30 PM and October 6, 2019 | 4:00 p.m.
Cerimon House | 5131 NE 23rd Avenue, Portland
In the United States, almost half of all adults will experience a mental illness during their lifetime. Our opening concert, Beautiful Minds, focuses on the perspectives of those who experience mental illness and trauma. In honor of World Mental Health Day, we perform selections that share individual stories and challenge all of us to support those who are battling mental illness.
Music will include Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Scenes from Unremembered, Jake Runestad’s Please Stay, a Sonic Meditation by Pauline Oliveros, An Atom of Faith by Lisa Bielawa, Melissa Dunphy’s O Oriens, an excerpt from Next to Normal, and the world premiere of Portland composer Brandon Stewart’s Alone.
SAFE HARBOR
March 1, 2020| 4:00 PM
Alberta Rose Theatre | 3000 NE Alberta Street
Immigration and asylum are ever-present in current political and public debate in the United States. In Safe Harbor, Resonance explores varying experiences of coming to the U.S. through brilliant new music that tells the stories of immigrants and refugees. Composers include Eric Banks, Melissa Dunphy, John Muehleisen, Caroline Shaw, and Ysaye Barnwell. Resonance will give the world premieres of “Mother of Exiles,” by Portland composer Theresa Koon, and a new commissioned work by guest composer and performer, Portland violinist/looper Joe Kye, integrating folk music from his native Korea with American folk music and improvisation.
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN REQUIEM
May 23, 2020, at 7:30 p.m.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall | 1037 SW Broadway, Portland
Oregon Symphony and Resonance Ensemble join forces to present the world premiere of An African American Requiem, Portland composer Damien Geter’s bold, thought-provoking musical response to violence against African Americans in the United States. Combining traditional Latin Requiem texts with civil rights declarations, poetry, and the famous last words of Eric Garner, “I can’t breathe,” this performance will honor past and present victims of racial violence and spur reflection on how to build a more hopeful future.
For more details about An African American Requiem, click here.
Season subscriptions are on sale now. Season subscribers will have access to deeply discounted tickets to our season concerts, including the Requiem world premiere in Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall as well as the other amazing concerts on this season’s series. Subscription packages offer savings off of single ticket prices, exclusive benefits and personalized customer service. Regular full-season subscriptions are available for $300, $200 and $150 and include guaranteed tickets to all of the Resonance Ensemble concerts. For more information about subscriptions, click here or contact RE’s Box Office, (503) 427-8701. Single tickets are available online to the general public starting September 1, 2019.
Note to Journalists: Katherine FitzGibbon and Damien Geter are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on this event or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@ohcreativepdx.com or by calling 971-212-8034
About the Resonance Ensemble 2019-20 season:
In its eleventh season, Resonance Ensemble, a professional vocal ensemble based in Portland, Oregon, creates thoughtful programs that promote meaningful social change. Resonance Ensemble works to amplify voices that have long been silenced, and they do so through moving, thematic concerts that highlight solo and choral voices, new and underrepresented composers, visual and other performing artists, and community partners.
Resonance Ensemble’s outstanding musicians give voice to the concerns, hopes, and dreams of all communities. Their concerts reflect this in the themes that reside in BEAUTIFUL MINDS, SAFE HARBOR, and AN AFRICAN AMERICAN REQUIEM.
Under Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, Resonance Ensemble has performed challenging and diverse music, always with an eye toward unusual collaborations with artistic partners from around Portland: poets, jazz musicians, singer-songwriters, painters, dancers. The Resonance Ensemble singers are “one of the Northwest’s finest choirs” (Willamette Week), with gorgeous vocal tone, and they also make music with heart.
The groundbreaking work that Resonance Ensemble has been producing over the last few years has been noted by local media and national arts organizations. In Oregon Arts Watch, Matthew Andrews described Resonance this June as “Part social commentary, part group therapy, and part best damn choir show in town." Chorus America honored Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon this summer with the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal for her work rededicating Resonance to promoting meaningful social change, and for the meaningful community partnerships she creates. For the tribute to Dr. FitzGibbon, click here.
For more information:
Website:/resonancechoral.org
Facebook: /resonanceensemblepdx
Instagram:/resonanceensemblepdx
Twitter: /resonanceensemblepdx
About Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon:
Katherine FitzGibbon is Artistic Director of Portland’s professional Resonance Ensemble, called “one of the finest choirs in the Northwest” by Willamette Week. With Resonance, she has collaborated with the Portland Art Museum, Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Angle New Music, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Lauderdale and Hunter Noack, the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra, the Oregon Poet Laureate, and local actors, composers, visual artists, and dancers. Resonance partners with local artists and community organizations to explore questions of equity and inclusion.
Dr. FitzGibbon was just named the winner of the 2019 Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal. Given periodically by Chorus America, the nation’s premier organization supporting the advancement of choral music today, the Louis Botto Award recognizes a mid-career choral leader for her exceptional work in developing a professional choral ensemble. An independent panel selected Dr. FitzGibbon to receive the award, which will be presented at Chorus America’s 2019 Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be held June 26–29.
Dr. FitzGibbon is also Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College. In 2014, she was an inaugural winner of the Lorry Lokey Faculty Excellence Award, honoring “inspired teaching, rigorous scholarship, demonstrated leadership, and creative accomplishments.” A faculty member at the summertime Berkshire Choral Festival, Dr. FitzGibbon has also conducted choirs at Harvard, Boston, Cornell, and Clark Universities, and at the University of Michigan. She is a lyric soprano and music historian whose research on German choral music and politics has been presented and published internationally.
— #### —
The Oregon Symphony and Resonance Ensemble present the World Premiere of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem
IMAGE CREDIT: The Oregon Symphony
Resonance Ensemble is thrilled to announce our upcoming collaboration with the Oregon Symphony to premiere Damien Geter's pivotal work, An African American Requiem, in Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on May 23, 2020.
Very shortly we will be announcing our NEW season subscription packages. Season subscribers will have access to deeply discounted tickets to our season concerts, including the Requiem world premiere in Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall as well as the other amazing concerts on this season’s series.
Please stay tuned for information on how to purchase your season subscription, so you won't miss this world premiere and all of Resonance's powerful concerts promoting meaningful social change, all at great prices and with exciting new perks!
“Through innovative new works, the Symphony has moved audiences and sparked conversations about many challenging issues we face today including immigration, the environment, and homelessness. When Resonance Ensemble proposed this partnership we enthusiastically agreed.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 15, 2019
“We are living in communities that are like war zones.”
Jamilia Land, California Families United for Justice
Quoted in An African American Requiem
The Oregon Symphony and Portland’s Resonance Ensemble present the World Premiere of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem on May 23, 2020 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
PORTLAND, OR — The Oregon Symphony and Portland’s Resonance Ensemble are honored to announce a new Special Concert to their 2019/20 Seasons: the world premiere of composer Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem, a pivotal work honoring the lives of African Americans lost to racist violence in the United States, and the first work of its kind to be performed in Oregon. The concert will be presented Saturday, May 23, 2020, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
“In 2017, Damien Geter approached us with the idea to compose An African American Requiem, and Resonance Ensemble enthusiastically commissioned it,” explains Resonance’s Artistic Director Dr. Katherine FitzGibbon. “As yet, there has not been a Requiem written in memory of African Americans who have lost their lives to racist violence over the last four centuries; this will be a groundbreaking project that we believe can have tremendous impact on Oregonians. It serves as a commentary on the war of racism whose increasing casualties are left unnumbered and counting. Damien’s work is extraordinary and moving, and we knew from the beginning that our ideal collaborator on this premiere would be the Oregon Symphony.”
“Music has the power to inspire, educate, and heal,” says Oregon Symphony President Scott Showalter. “Through innovative new works, the Symphony has moved audiences and sparked conversations about many challenging issues we face today including immigration, the environment, and homelessness. When Resonance Ensemble proposed this partnership we enthusiastically agreed.”
“This is the largest work I’ve ever written, and I feel like I’ve been writing it my entire life - not in terms of time, but in terms of being a black man in today’s America, and also through various influences of music,” explains Geter. “I hope that this leads to important conversations in Oregon and beyond. As someone who considers himself an activist through art, the Requiem is the perfect marriage of the two: art + activism.”
The premiere will feature a choir specially assembled by FitzGibbon for this work, the African American Requiem Choir, with the professional singers of Resonance Ensemble and Kingdom Sound Gospel Choir featured, and four renowned African American singers: Brandie Sutton, soprano; Karmesha Peake, mezzo-soprano; Bernard Holcomb, tenor; and Kenneth Overton, baritone. The final movement will be scored for orchestra and narrator, with words penned and performed by African American poet and Portland resident, S. Renee Mitchell.
“We are thrilled to bring this work to the hall,” says FitzGibbon, “and we welcome all people to experience it.”
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN REQUIEM
WHEN: Saturday, May 23, 2020 | 7:30 pm
WHERE: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
COST: $20-$100
SINGLE TICKETS: orsymphony.org
(for a better value - buy a Resonance Season Subscription! Details coming soon! )
MORE ABOUT THE WORK
This concert-length work honors African American victims of lynching past and present by hanging and by other violence, with music that draws upon classical, jazz, and gospel traditions. The Requiem will use the traditional Latin Requiem text for many movements but also incorporate spirituals (“There’s A Man Goin’ Round” and “Kumbaya”) and texts from civil rights activists Ida B. Wells, “Lynching is a Color-Line Crime,” and Jamilia Land, “We are living in communities that are like war zones.” One movement is dedicated solely to Eric Garner’s famous last words, “I can’t breathe,” and uses no wind instruments but rather a tenor soloist who sings over the constant roar of percussion instruments in an effort to be heard over them. Another movement recognizes children who have been killed and uses a line from a poem by Antwon Rose, “I am confused and afraid.” The final movement will be scored for orchestra and narrator, with words penned and performed by African American poet and Portland resident S. Renee Mitchell.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
The premiere will feature a choir specially assembled for this work, the African American Requiem Choir, featuring Resonance Ensemble and members of other Portland-area choirs. Assembled by Katherine FitzGibbon, this choir will represent the racial and ethnic diversity of the broader Portland community. As Damien Geter writes, “My experience has been that the choral singers themselves form a new community through the rehearsal and performance process.”
The solo vocal quartet consists of four renowned African American singers: Brandie Sutton, soprano; Karmesha Peake, mezzo-soprano; Bernard Holcomb, tenor; and Kenneth Overton, baritone.
Note to Journalists: Damien Geter and Katherine FitzGibbon are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on this event or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@ohcreativepdx.com or by calling 971-212-8034.
Community panel discussions will be announced in the coming months.
ABOUT DAMIEN GETER:
Composer Damien Geter infuses classical music with various styles from the black diaspora to create music that furthers the cause for social justice. Also a bass-baritone, Damien's 2019-2020 season includes appearances with the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Eugene Opera, Resonance Ensemble, and Third Angle New Music. His most recent composition, The Talk: Instructions for Black Children When They Interact with the Police, was premiered with Resonance Ensemble in June 2019. He is thrilled about the production of An African American Requiem, in partnership with Resonance Ensemble and the Oregon Symphony. For more about Mr.Geter’s work, visit damiengetermusic.com
ABOUT RESONANCE ENSEMBLE:
Resonance Ensemble, a professional vocal ensemble based in Portland, Oregon, creates powerful programs that promote meaningful social change. Resonance Ensemble works to amplify voices that have long been silenced, and does so through moving, thematic concerts that highlight solo and choral voices, new and underrepresented composers, visual and other performing artists, and community partners.
Under Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, Resonance Ensemble has performed challenging and diverse music, always with an eye toward unusual collaborations with artistic partners from around Portland: poets, jazz musicians, singer-songwriters, painters, dancers. The Resonance singers are “one of the Northwest’s finest choirs” (Willamette Week), with gorgeous vocal tone, and they also make music with heart. As Oregon Arts Watch recently wrote, “They do social justice music justice: their concerts are part social commentary, part group therapy, and part best damn choir show in town.”
#anafricanamericanrequiem
#resonanceensemble
#oregonsymphony
Website:/resonancechoral.org
Facebook: /resonanceensemblepdx
Instagram:/resonanceensemblepdx
Twitter: /resonanceensemblepdx
ABOUT RESONANCE ENSEMBLE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR KATHERINE FITZGIBBON
Katherine FitzGibbon is Artistic Director of Portland’s professional Resonance Ensemble, called “one of the finest choirs in the Northwest” by Willamette Week. With Resonance, she has collaborated with the Portland Art Museum, Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Angle New Music, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Lauderdale and Hunter Noack, the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra, the Oregon Poet Laureate, and local actors, composers, visual artists, and dancers. Resonance partners with local artists and community organizations to explore questions of equity and inclusion.
Dr. FitzGibbon was just named the winner of the 2019 Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal. Given periodically by Chorus America, the nation’s premier organization supporting the advancement of choral music today, the Louis Botto Award recognizes a mid-career choral leader for her exceptional work in developing a professional choral ensemble. An independent panel selected Dr. FitzGibbon to receive the award, which will be presented at Chorus America’s 2019 Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be held June 26–29.
Dr. FitzGibbon is also Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College. In 2014, she was an inaugural winner of the Lorry Lokey Faculty Excellence Award, honoring “inspired teaching, rigorous scholarship, demonstrated leadership, and creative accomplishments.” A faculty member at the summertime Berkshire Choral Festival, Dr. FitzGibbon has also conducted choirs at Harvard, Boston, Cornell, and Clark Universities, and at the University of Michigan. She is a lyric soprano and music historian whose research on German choral music and politics has been presented and published internationally.
ABOUT THE OREGON SYMPHONY:
The multi-Grammy-nominated Oregon Symphony ranks as one of America’s major orchestras. Led by Music Director Carlos Kalmar, it serves over 300,000 people annually through more than 110 performances and award-winning education and community engagement programs. Through All Classical Portland and American Public Media’s SymphonyCast and Performance Today the Symphony reaches over 15 million listeners. Now in its 124th year, the Oregon Symphony is the oldest orchestra west of the Mississippi.
Known for innovative programming, the Symphony gained national recognition for its ground-breaking Sounds of Home Series which revolutionized the role of the arts in addressing three of the most critical social issues of the day: immigration, the environment, and homelessness. This series made a powerful impact in the community through innovative art, cross-sector partnerships with 37 organizations, and civic leadership and culminated with the recording of Oregon Symphony’s commission, emergency shelter intake form, by composer Gabriel Kahane to be released in March 2020.
At a time when many orchestras are reducing their classical programming, the Oregon Symphony is continuing to invest in the art form. In the 2018/19 season the Symphony premiered more than 20 compositions, including works by eight living composers such as John Adams, Unsuk Chin, and John Corigliano, to name a few. Effective with the 2019/20 season, the Symphony is expanding its Classical Series to 18 weeks. The schedule includes the return of the Symphony’s popular SoundSights concerts which were first presented in 2016/17. These visually stunning programs incorporate a rich tapestry of artistic elements which particularly appeal to new audiences.
About Resonance Poet in Residence and African American Requiem librettist/narrator S. Renee Mitchell:
S. Renee Mitchell is a published author, curriculum designer, community activist and multi-media artist. She also is a sur-thriver who has found her life purpose since disentangling from bullying, sexual assault, and domestic violence. After 25 years as an award-winning newspaper journalist - where she was nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize - Renee reinvented herself as a Creative Revolutionist; co-founded a culturally specific, drop-in DV resource center; and began gifting her talents to the community as a poet, playwright, performer, speaker, teaching artist and self-taught graphic designer in order to create and contribute to empowering projects and programs, community healing ceremonies, plays, songs and books about healing from trauma. Motivated by intention and heart, Renee’s deepest desire is to help others use their creativity to let go, gather up and move on in order to find themselves, their voices, and their places in the world. For more about Ms. Mitchell’s work, visit ReneeMitchellSpeaks.com
###
