Resonance Ensemble announces its 2021-2022 season: “RECLAIM,” featuring new commissions by celebrated composers and a safe return to in-person performances.
Resonance Ensemble, under the direction of Founder and Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, announces its new 2021-2022 season: RECLAIM.
Featuring visionary guest artists, inspired new commissions by celebrated composers, and a safe return to in-person performances.
“There is immense power in who tells history and how. Resonance will work this season to recover the stories of marginalized voices that have been traditionally cut out of the narrative,” says Resonance Ensemble Artistic Advisor Damien Geter. “Our concerts will offer perspectives that allow us all to reclaim a deeper understanding of our shared histories. Only through this reflection will we have the opportunity to build a more just and hopeful future.”
A season of reclamation:
The season will premiere new music from dynamic composers that explores the gap between housed and houseless communities, celebrates the identities of indigenous people, and honors past and present victims of racial violence.
“Arts organizations around the world have been challenged in extraordinary ways over the last year,” said Resonance Ensemble Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon. “Resonance responded with innovation and perseverance by creating safe ways to perform important music. We reexamined fundamental priorities, and we now continue our work to forge entirely new paths of music-making. We look forward to presenting this inspiring 2021-2022 season that builds upon all we’ve learned over the last 17 months.”
Resonance will have limited numbers of in-person tickets available for subscribers who are fully vaccinated, in accordance with our Health and Safety protocols. In addition, Resonance is committed to continuing to offer virtual access to all of our concerts this year, with optional donations requested in lieu of ticket purchases. As Dr. FitzGibbon shares, “We are following the latest scientific research to ensure everyone’s safety, and our vaccination and masking requirements are part of that commitment. We’re also thrilled to be able to livestream our performances, ensuring access for audiences globally.” Our final concert of the year, An African American Requiem, will be broadcast live by our partners at All Classical Portland and WQXR New York.
Subscriptions on sale now at resonancechoral.org
THE RESONANCE SEASON: RECLAIM — building a more just and hopeful future
HOME - a reclamation of space
Cerimon House
OCTOBER 2, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Alexander Lloyd Blake, guest conductor
Vin Shambry, guest performer
Tickets available for a limited audience; please see our Health & Safety policy. Video access available live and afterwards; donations gratefully accepted
For this concert, Resonance welcomes Alexander Lloyd Blake, the highly-regarded conductor of the Los Angeles vocal ensemble Tonality. Tonality’s mission parallels Resonance’s, seeking to “deliver authentic stories through voice and body to incite change, understanding, and dialogue.”
Dr. Blake has chosen a program exploring displacement, sharing the stories of poets and composers writing about houselessness, refugee experiences, and immigration. He will lead Resonance in new music by Reena Esmail, Ted Hearne, Melissa Dunphy, Saunder Choi, Cristian Larios, Nathan Heldman, Ysaye Barnwell, and others.
Resonance is also proud to partner with Operation Nightwatch, a Portland nonprofit organization which provides nighttime hospitality for Portland’s unhoused population—committed to promoting dignity, community and social connection.
A panel discussion will follow, with Dr. Blake, artists, and community partners speaking on the music, their experiences, and opportunities for the audience to take action in their communities.
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ABYA YALA - a reclamation of place
Cerimon House
MARCH 5, 2022, 7:30 p.m. (Portland, OR)
MARCH 6, 2022, 3:00 p.m. (Portland, OR)
MARCH 12, 2022, performance at the ACDA Northwest conference in Spokane, Washington
Tickets for March 5-6 are available for a limited audience; please see our Health & Safety policy. Video access available live and afterwards; donations gratefully accepted
The Guna people, members of a sovereign nation in today’s Panama, have a concept called “Abya Yala,” the idea of the “land in its full maturity.” Indigenous cultures in much of North and South America have adopted the term to describe the vision of interconnectedness between many indigenous cultures, and between the cultures and the land. The Bolivian Aymara leader Takir Mamani advocates for indigenous cultures to use this term in their governing documents, arguing, “Placing foreign names on our villages, our cities, and our continents is equivalent to subjecting our identity to the will of our invaders and their heirs.”
In this concert, Resonance partners with indigenous composers and poets, both locally and globally, who are creating works reflecting on this vision, and the gap between the vision and the reality for many indigenous individuals. Resonance unveils the world premiere of our latest commission, the Abya Yala Choral Suite, by Chilean-born Portland composer Freddy Vilches, co-commissioned with the American Choral Directors Association. This work explores pan-American indigenous experiences in partnership with indigenous poets from across Latin America, with musical accompaniment by Vilches’s own group, Matices Latin Ensemble. The concert also features works by Gabriela Lena Frank, Mari Esabel Valverde, and Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate.
A panel discussion will follow, with artists, and community partners speaking on the music, their experiences, and opportunities for the audience to take action in their communities.
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AN AFRICAN AMERICAN REQUIEM - a reclamation of truth
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
May 7, 2022, 6:00 pm
The eagerly-anticipated world premiere of An African American Requiem, by Resonance’s Artistic Advisor Damien Geter, commissioned by Resonance Ensemble. Performed jointly with the Oregon Symphony
Broadcast live on All Classical Portland and WQXR New York
The 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 and now George Floyd, “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. Originally set to premiere in May of 2020, An African American Requiem will now debut at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on May 7, 2022 beginning at 6:00 pm.
Season subscriptions are on sale now. Subscription packages offer savings off single ticket prices, exclusive benefits and personalized customer service. Regular full-season subscriptions are available for $150 and $200 and include reserved seating tickets to all of the Resonance Ensemble concerts for vaccinated individuals, plus a ticket to the Resonance Ensemble “Building Bridges” Gala (date to be determined.) Also available are VIP Subscriptions for $300 which offer all the subscriber benefits PLUS a guest pass to bring a friend to one of the first two exciting concerts of the season, plus reserved seating to all concerts, plus a tax credit for a $75 donation and more! For more information about subscriptions, visit resonancechoral.org or contact RE’s Box Office, (503) 427-8701.
Single tickets to our first two concerts at Cerimon House will be made available after September 28, if space remains. Single ticket prices for those two performances will be priced at $35/adult, $30/senior, $10/student, and $5/Arts for All members.
Single ticket prices for the “Building Bridges” Gala will be $125/ticket.
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Introducing the REAP Initiative: Resonance Ensemble Access Project
The world looks a lot different now, but artists are still finding a way to safely create, foster community, and share powerful stories. Last year showed us at Resonance Ensemble the incredible global demand for free, online access to our programming - which is why we are proud to present the Resonance Ensemble Access Project (REAP), our initiative to ensure that all of our concerts are available to the world both in-person and online.
We can’t do it without you.
Providing this vital accessibility also increases the expenses of producing our concerts, so we are asking viewers like you to make a donation in lieu of a ticket purchase, at whatever level you're able, and for our supporters to consider an additional donation to underwrite this access for those who cannot afford to donate.
The REAP Initiative. Providing free, online access to the music of Resonance Ensemble.
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It's Your Choice How You Join Us.
We are creating safe options that will allow you to make the best choice on how you want to enjoy our concerts.
Live Stream. With the magic of live-streaming, we can provide an option that brings Resonance Ensemble's concerts into the safety and comfort of your homes.
In-Person. Because of vaccinations (thank you, science!) we are now able to provide a safe, in-person option for those of you who are vaccinated and feel ready to come to live events.
Resonance has access to a limited number of discounted tickets for the African American Requiem; patrons may select their seats and make their purchases by calling the Resonance box office at 503-427-8701, or by emailing info@resonancechoral.org, prior to April 1, 2022. After that time, please visit or call the Oregon Symphony box office.
Special thanks to our sponsors Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Miller Foundation, Collins Foundation, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Note to Journalists: Katherine FitzGibbon and Damien Geter are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on our season or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@resonancechoral.org or by calling 971-212-8034
HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
Resonance Ensemble is thrilled to be part of the Portland Performing Arts Vaccine Coalition. Find other arts organizations that are requiring proof of vaccination HERE.
We are excited to be back in action with the possibility of in-person rehearsals and live performances. We are also sensitive to the need to be responsive to public health conditions and official guidelines, as they evolve.
Resonance Ensemble will require all guests who attend Resonance sponsored events to be masked and fully vaccinated for COVID-19. All patrons will be required to show proof of vaccination, as well as a matching photo ID, to enter the performance or event space.
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Resonance features poetry of Portland's beloved James DePreist in final "Under the Overpass" film
JUNE 25, 2021— Today at 3:00 pm (PDT) Resonance Ensemble's "Under the Overpass" series culminates in the world premiere of a new commission by Damien Geter for 16 voices, piano, and flute: “After Time Has Gnawed Away the Shield of Dreams.”
JUNE 25, 2021— Today at 3:00 pm (PDT) Resonance Ensemble's "Under the Overpass" series culminates in the world premiere of a new commission by Damien Geter for 16 voices, piano, and flute: “After Time Has Gnawed Away the Shield of Dreams.”
Geter sets a poem about memory and hope for a phoenix rising by the beloved late American conductor and honored laureate music director of the Oregon Symphony, James DePreist.
In addition to marking this moment of transition from our pandemic time into what we hope will become a more just new normal, this work is dedicated to the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, that we may remember that appalling violence of 100 years ago and dedicate ourselves to combating racism in our own time.
Thank you to Ginette DePreist for the rights to set “After Time Has Gnawed Away the Shield of Dreams” and thank you to Damien Geter for setting it to your incredible music.
THE MUSICIANS
Cecille Elliott
DeReau Farrar
Shohei Kobayashi
Dee McDuffey
Derrick McDuffey
Vakare Petroliunaite
Adrian Rosales-Casillas
Madeline Ross
David Saffert (pianist)
THE PRODUCTION CREW
Production Company: Oh! Creative
Liz Bacon - Director/Producer
Danni Parpan - AD/Set Designer
Mike Marchlewski - DP/Editor
Matt Greco - Sound Engineer
Jordyn Jenkins and Bailey Dean - Production Assistants
BTS Photography - Karen Pride
THE LOCATION
Thank you to Charlene Zidell and the Zidell family for the use of Zidell Yards.
Subscribe to our channel to get notified for new exciting videos here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResonanceEn...
We Can’t Do This Without You
We believe that art is a fundamental human right and must be accessible, now more than ever. Please consider becoming a season supporter today and support the work we are doing right now that will allow us to bring performing art to our community safely and free of charge.
For those who donate $25 or more, you will be recognized in the closing credits of the yet-to-be-released Under the Overpass videos (and you receive other fun thank you gifts!)
Thank you to the continued support from our community.
► About "Under the Overpass"
This series of videos celebrates Resonance’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, and the space it provides for Resonance artists to continue to create despite the pandemic. Masked, imperfect, together. Starting in the summer of 2020, singers and spoken word artists met in acoustic spaces around the city - six feet apart, masked, and yet together. Viewers will experience music performed in these gritty, hauntingly beautiful spaces. In collaboration with Oh! Creative, the series features Resonance singers and other local artists and musicians all captured under Portland's famous bridges. All five films are now available to view for free here on our YouTube channel.
All Photos by Karen Pride
Panel Discussion for Juneteenth Film premiere features local and national leaders in the LGBTQIA+ Community
Following the 6-minute film, Resonance will host a live virtual panel discussion, and all who RSVP are invited to attend. Panelists include Valverde, Edidi, and local Portland photographer/videographer Raven Ellaine.
This Saturday June 19, 2021, at 5:00 pm, Resonance Ensemble, in partnership with Pride Northwest, presents the world premiere of “We Hold Your Names Sacred'' by award-winning composer Mari Esabel Valverde and author/playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi, the first Trans woman of color to be nominated for a Helen Hayes Award.
The filmed premiere, broadcast online for free to audiences worldwide, features 16 singers and reflects on the lives lost due to violence against trans women of color.
Following the 6-minute film, Resonance will host a live virtual panel discussion, and all who RSVP are invited to attend. Panelists include Valverde, Edidi, and local Portland photographer/videographer Raven Ellaine.
All invitees are welcome to submit questions to the panel as they share their personal thoughts and experiences. Moderated by Resonance Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, the entire program will run approximately 45 minutes.
To reserve your virtual seat, and receive a link to watch and participate, click here.
Film Production Underway for "We Hold Your Names Sacred"
On Sunday, June 6, sixteen Resonance singers and a film crew of six met at Cerimon House, a local Portland event space, to film “We Hold Your Names Sacred,” a music video that features the work of award-winning composer Mari Esabel Valverde and author/playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi and reflects on 12 lives lost due to violence against trans women of color.
On Sunday, June 6, sixteen Resonance singers and a film crew of six met at Cerimon House, a local Portland event space, to film “We Hold Your Names Sacred,” a music video that features the work of award-winning composer Mari Esabel Valverde and author/playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi and reflects on 12 lives lost due to violence against trans women of color.
Produced by Oh! Creative with local filmmaker Kenny Hamlett, the music video shows 16 singers all but invisible behind a shroud of fabric, underneath umbrellas displaying the names of twelve trans women of color who have been lost to systemic violence. At the front of the stage, there is an altar of remembrance for these twelve women who are directly named in the piece. All this as we hear the beautiful music professionally recorded and mixed by Portland sound engineer Matt Greco.
Photo Credit: Sarah Wright Photography
An Altar of Remembrance.
Jaquarrius Holland, 18
Chyna Gibson, 31
Ty Underwood, 24
Penny Proud, 21
Crystal Edmonds, 32
Islan Nettles, 21
Angel Rose, 21
Lexi, 33
Layla Pelaez Sánchez, 21
Muhlaysia Booker, 22
Brianna “BB” Hill, 30
Layleen Polanco, 27
“Mari and Dane told us that their goal with this work is to celebrate and remember the lives of all trans women of color, including the 12 women who are featured in this film,” says cinematographer Kenny Hamlett. “This project is important to me and so many others, and I felt an extra push to get this right. Our focus is to honor the memory of these women and highlight Mari Esabel Valverde’s beautiful music set to Dane Figueroa Edidi’s powerful poetry. We do indeed hold these names sacred, and our film will work to remind others to do the same.”
Cinematographer Kenny Hamlett filming a scene for Resonance Ensemble’s upcoming film, “We Hold Your Names Sacred” Photo Credit: Sarah Wright Photography
Viewers are invited to reserve their virtual seat for the premiere, which happens on Saturday, June 19, 2021, at 5:00 pm (PDT) for the world premiere of “We Hold Your Names Sacred'' which will be broadcast for free to audiences worldwide. The premiere will also include a live panel discussion with Valverde, Edidi, and local leaders in the LGBTQIA+ community.
For more information and to reserve your virtual seat, click here.
ALL OF THIS IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF YOU.
Resonance Ensemble believes that art is essential and must be accessible, now more than ever. The gifts you made in 2020 and your ongoing support in 2021 allow us to bring performing art to our community safely and free of charge. Under the Overpass, Commissions for Now, and all the work we do is made possible because of donors like you.
THANK YOU!
For more information on how you can continue to support our work, head here.
Photo Credit: Sarah Wright Photography
Remember Tulsa. Remember Central Albina.
Yesterday, May 31, 2021, marked the 100th anniversary for one of the worst acts of racial violence in American history—the Tulsa Race Massacre. Today we join our partners at EDPA2 to use this moment to highlight and actively advocate for the repair and adequate compensation of ALL Black communities.
The Albina neighborhood in 1952, after the completion of Interstate Avenue. All of the buildings in this photo were razed by 1960. (Thomas Robinson/Historic Photo Archive)
Yesterday, May 31, 2021, marked the 100th anniversary for one of the worst acts of racial violence in American history—the Tulsa Race Massacre. In 1921, a mob of white people tore down and burned the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma — a segregated part of the city so prosperous and bustling, it was known as Black Wall Street.
Today we join our partners at EDPA2, a group made up of survivors and descendants whose homes were demolished in N/NE Portland, to use this moment to highlight and actively advocate for the repair and adequate compensation of ALL Black communities that have been intentionally destroyed across this country, including the thriving and prosperous Black community right here in Portland, Oregon, in former Central Albina.
"All over the country in Illinois, Detroit, Los Angeles and more, local governments are actively seeking to address and offer recompense for their respective roles in the bigoted and discriminatory practices of real estate massacre that occurred in Black communities. During the 60's and 70's the burgeoning Black community of Central Albina was destroyed. And like Tulsa, Oklahoma the impact is visited upon the descendants of its victims. Unlike Tulsa, Oklahoma, local officials in the City of Portland continue to turn their backs on the victims of this travesty while continuing to line the pockets and grease the palms of the agencies responsible for the destruction of Central Albina." says Byrd, who goes by only one name and is the co-founder of EDPA2.
This shameful history will not be forgotten as long as we all work to make sure that no one forgets. If you haven't already, please consider watching our most recent film release that features prominent leaders from EDPA2, and support the "Where's Pearl?" campaign, that works to shed light on this Portland history that is not talked about enough.
New Music that Honors the Lives of Transgender Women of Color
Resonance partners with Pride Northwest to present the world premiere of “We Hold Your Names Sacred,” a commissioned new work that honors the lives of transgender women of color.
For immediate release: April 6, 2021
Media Contact: Liz Bacon Brownson | liz@resonancechoral.org | 971.212.80341
Resonance partners with Pride Northwest to present the world premiere of “We Hold Your Names Sacred,” a commissioned new work that honors the lives of transgender women of color.
PORTLAND, OREGON — On Saturday June 19, 2021, at 5:00 pm, Resonance Ensemble presents the world premiere of “We Hold Your Names Sacred'' by award-winning composer Mari Esabel Valverde and author/playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi, the first Trans woman of color to be nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. The filmed premiere, broadcast for free to audiences worldwide, features 16 singers and reflects on the lives lost due to violence against trans women of color. The premiere will also include a live panel discussion with Valverde, Edidi, and local leaders in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Resonance will present this premiere in partnership with Pride Northwest as an official event of Portland Pride. “As an organization, our commitment to commissioning and presenting new work highlighting underrepresented voices and reflecting pressing social issues remains unwavering,” says Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon. “Our Commissions for Now project exemplifies that commitment. We are thrilled to present this important new work from two nationally recognized creative talents, Mari Esabel Valverde and Dane Figueroa Edidi, and to partner with Pride Northwest in solidarity with the trans community locally and globally.”
Valverde and Edidi wrote “We Hold Your Names Sacred” in memory of trans women of color who have been lost to systemic violence. “We must do the work necessary to keep our sisters’ memories alive to hold ourselves accountable, for the ultimate death is the death of their names being forgotten,” says Valverde. “For too many of our transgender sisters, brothers, and siblings, their humanity was forgotten long before their lives were stolen by cowards. We need to readily protect trans women of color because they are susceptible to a system working too well at impeding their flourishing.”
Edidi describes the piece as calling an assembly to “lift up their names and make them sacred, to acknowledge the divinity of Black and Brown trans women. We say their names to get the heavens to move for us.”
Resonance co-commissioned this work with 27 other choirs from across North America as part of GALA Choruses’ Commissioning Consortium. It will be the final release from Resonance Ensemble’s 2020-21 Commissions for Now series, and the group looks forward to closing an unprecedented year with this powerful statement of support and reflection.
Produced by Oh! Creative and filmmaker Kenny Hamlett, the video will be filmed with strict COVID safety measures in place. Viewers can watch the premiere beginning June 19, 2021 at 5:00 pm (PDT) on Resonance Ensemble’s YouTube channel. The live premiere will also feature a live panel discussion with Valverde, Figueroa (Lady Dane) and local leaders in the LGBTQIA+ community. Following the premiere, the video will be available in perpetuity on YouTube (youtube.com/c/ResonanceEnsemble).
To reserve your virtual free seat to the world premiere video and live panel, or for more information, visit resonancechoral.org/tickets or contact RE’s Box Office, (503) 427-8701.
Special thanks to our sponsors Ronni Lacroute, Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Miller Foundation, Collins Foundation, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and to our individual donors.
Note to Journalists: Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, Artistic Advisor Damien Geter, and Pride Northwest executive director Debra Porta are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@resonancechoral.org or by calling (503) 427-8701.
FOR CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS
EVENT TITLE: Resonance Ensemble Presents: Commissions for Now Episode 2: We Hold Your Names Sacred
DATE: June 19th, 2021
TIME: 5:00pm
PRICE: FREE
FOR MORE INFO: Liz Bacon Brownson
Email: liz@resonancechoral.org
Phone: (503) 427-8701
YOUTUBE LINK: youtube.com/c/ResonanceEnsemble
About Commissions for Now Project
About Resonance Ensemble
About Pride Northwest
About Mari Esabel Valverde
About Dane Figueroa Edidi
About GALA (Trans Commissioning Consortium)
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PLACE.
Honoring history and complex truths
For our fourth episode of Under the Overpass, we decided to focus our lens on the idea of “place” in a different way. The city of Portland is not only spanned by bridges, but also by a troubled history that continues to overshadow people’s lives in the present.
Honoring history and complex truths
Our first three Under the Overpass episodes were filmed under awe-inspiring bridges located in Portland, Oregon, the city that we call home. The architecture of these outside spaces let us continue to create safely, despite a global pandemic. Singers got to sing, filmmakers got to film, and viewers were offered a reprieve from the chaos of current events in our world. We feel grateful for the places in our city that allowed us to make and share art in these times.
For our fourth episode of Under the Overpass, we decided to focus our lens on the idea of “place” in a different way. The city of Portland is not only spanned by bridges, but also by a troubled history that continues to overshadow people’s lives in the present.
For most of the 20th century, the Albina District in North Portland was home to the majority of the city’s Black population. As redlining, urban renewal, and gentrification undermined the area throughout the 1960s and 70s, the vibrant Black community was forcibly uprooted as their homes were razed. While the city of Portland promised to replace the homes of Black families who were displaced, decades later, the survivors and descendants are still waiting, still displaced, and still working to rebuild.
We shot the film at locations along N. Williams Avenue in the Albina District, and the “overpass” we feature is the beautiful gazebo in Dawson Park, still a hub in the Black community of Portland (more below). You’ll see images of the original architecture and community at places like the Hill Block Building, which is now a vacant lot.
In partnership with the Emanuel Displaced Persons Association (EDPA2) and the creators of Sanctuaries, Darrell Grant’s forthcoming chamber opera about the displacement with Third Angle New Music, Resonance invites you to learn more about these places and support the work being done to make sure that Portland’s redlining history is not ignored.
DAWSON PARK
Dawson Park, located in North Portland along Williams Avenue, has been a place where people have gathered for notable social and political movements including Civil Rights marches and community celebrations. It even famously hosted Robert Kennedy’s last public speech one week before he was assassinated in June 1968. For the last 50 years, Dawson Park’s dominating feature has been the Cupola, a copper-domed gazebo in the southwest corner of the park. The beautiful dome and brick flooring of the gazebo were salvaged from the Hill Block building and placed in Dawson Park in 1978.
Its landmark status as a meeting space for Albina residents lives on today.
THE HILL BLOCK BUILDING
The Hill Block building, built by Charles H. Hill, Albina’s first mayor, was at the center of the bustling business district for Albina. It housed several businesses, including a market and a coffee shop, and was a popular gathering place for the Black community. In the late 1960s, Emanuel Hospital began planning a 19-acre health campus around the existing hospital. In clearing the land for this project, the City of Portland removed the last remaining sections of commercial area and displaced many residents. Despite all this loss, funding for the project ran out, and the health campus was never built.
The entire block has remained vacant ever since.
Read more about the Hill Block Building.
EPISODE 4, Sanctuaries in Dawson Park
In our next episode of Under the Overpass, premiering Wednesday, May 5 at 3pm, Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani stands and recites a poem in the middle of that vacant lot, four descendants and survivors from EDPA2 share ideas in a roundtable discussion under that historic gazebo, and while we are at Dawson Park, we also get to listen to an incredible performance by Damien Geter and Darrell Grant of a “bonus track” from Grant’s forthcoming chamber opera Sanctuaries.
May we continue to honor the places that carry the memories of our city’s communities and allow us opportunities to envision a better future.
TO WATCH EPISODE 4
CLICK HERE
VIEWERS CAN VIEW OUR LATEST EPISODE AS IT PREMIERES ON RESONANCE ENSEMBLE’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
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Short film bares Portland’s history through art and activism
Resonance partners with Third Angle New Music and EDPA2 to bare Portland’s redlining history and present a sneak peek at Darrell Grant’s soon-to-be-premiered chamber opera Sanctuaries
Resonance partners with Third Angle New Music and EDPA2 to bare Portland’s redlining history and present a sneak peek at Darrell Grant’s soon-to-be-premiered chamber opera Sanctuaries
On Wednesday May 5, 2021 at 3:00pm art and activism intersect for the premiere of the 4th episode in Resonance Ensemble’s popular series, Under the Overpass. The free, online film features critically acclaimed jazz pianist Darrell Grant, Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani, celebrated bass-baritone Damien Geter, and members of EDPA2, a group of survivors and descendants.
Viewers can expect to hear music and poetry written for Grant’s forthcoming chamber opera Sanctuaries, commissioned by Third Angle New Music. Along with the performances will be a roundtable discussion that showcases a multidisciplinary reflection on redlining, gentrification, and the displacement of Black families in Portland.
“Under the Overpass was created to highlight Portland’s beauty, but in this episode, we look at some hard truths about Portland, which is the only way things can really change,” Resonance Artistic Advisor Damien Geter says. “That is ultimately where the real beauty lies.”
“In 1971, Portland condemned and razed several blocks of Black-owned homes and businesses in the Central Albina District at the request of Emanuel Hospital to make room for a hospital expansion which never happened,” says Katherine FitzGibbon, Artistic Director of Resonance Ensemble. “Resonance invited EDPA2, a community based group composed of survivors and descendants of those displaced, to collaborate on this poignant episode.”
“In addition to the fulfillment of a Federal Restitution Agreement, EDPA2 works hard to keep this history alive.” said Byrd, a founding member of EDPA2, who goes only by one name. “This particular artistic expression will heighten awareness not only of the story, but the ongoing work to resolve an uncompleted past.”
Artists involved with Sanctuaries, a chamber opera about this historic displacement, also worked alongside Resonance Ensemble and EDPA2. Sanctuaries composer Darrell Grant emphasizes, “I believe that it is this community connection that compels audiences to truly listen to and acknowledge marginalized voices —not in the abstract — but in a personal and transformative way.”
“We are thrilled to be part of this project,” Third Angle Artistic Director Sarah Tiedemann says. “Both Sanctuaries and this episode of Under the Overpass will hopefully be catalysts for local and national conversations about racial justice and the role of art in the fight for systemic change across the country and at home in Portland.”
Viewers can view the premiere starting May 5, 2021 at 3:00pm on Resonance Ensemble’s Youtube channel: youtube.com/c/ResonanceEnsemble
Sanctuaries is commissioned by Third Angle New Music, Portland, Oregon.
Special thanks to Resonance sponsors Ronni Lacroute, Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Miller Foundation, Collins Foundation, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and to our individual donors.
Darrell Grant at Dawson Park
Note to Journalists: Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon and Artistic Advisor Damien Geter, Artistic Director Sarah Tiedemann, and representatives from EDPA2 are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on our season or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@resonancechoral.org or by calling 971-212-8034.
FOR CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS
EVENT: Resonance Ensemble Presents: Under the Overpass Episode 4: Sanctuaries in Dawson Park
DATE: May 5th, 2021
TIME: 3:00pm
PRICE: FREE
FOR MORE INFO:
Liz Bacon Brownson
Email: liz@resonancechoral.org
Phone: (503) 427-8701
YOUTUBE LINK: youtube.com/c/ResonanceEnsemble
About Resonance Ensemble
In its twelfth 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.
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 the country: 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 as “Part social commentary, part group therapy, and part best damn choir show in town" (June 2019). Chorus America honored Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon in the summer of 2019 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 Third Angle New Music
The music of our time creates a soundtrack to contemporary life, existing at the intersection of musical forms from jazz and classical to rock and electronica. For more than 30 years, Third Angle New Music has played outside the lines of the expected with the creation of dynamic musical performances and multi-disciplinary collaborations that defy the boundaries of the traditional concert hall and reflect the spirit and vitality of our community.
Third Angle’s mission is to perform and record the masterworks of the twenty-first century while commissioning new works from regional and nationally recognized composers. Its bold and innovative programming, high artistic standards, and tireless efforts to bring music of the 20th and 21st centuries to a diverse audience have earned it abundant critical acclaim.
With the organization’s focus on creating a soundtrack for our time, Third Angle has created and presented more than 125 programs of contemporary music, commissioned more than 66 new works, and released 12 recordings to critical acclaim. Sound of the Five: the chamber music of Chen Yi, was named a top 10 recording for 2009 by National Public Radio.
Third Angle’s roguish programming crafts experiences that are mind-altering by design, including concerts created to work in harmony or dissonance with their environment, wildly divergent repertoire, and a blending of the arts that redefines the genre. At a Third Angle performance, you never know quite what will happen next, but one thing is certain:
Third Angle New Music is anything but ordinary.
For more information about the Fall 2021 premiere of Darrell Grant’s jazz opera Sanctuaries:
About EDPA2
The Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2, EDPA2, is an ad hoc, community-based social justice organization consisting of survivors and descendants whose family homes and businesses were demolished. They are fighting to make the City of Portland, Prosper Portland, Home Forward and Emanuel Hospital live up to their responsibilities and fulfill the Relocation Housing Policy and Cooperative Agreement which they adopted in response to findings of a federal complaint handed down by HUD in 1971.
EDPA2 has met with Mayor Wheeler for more than 3 years and recently presented a plan to the Mayor for current appropriate restitution under the Agreement, including long-term economic development of the vacant lot at the corner of N. Williams and Russell. As of now, the city has indicated a total lack of willingness to consider the proposals of the survivors and descendants or to work with EDPA2 in any constructive way. EDPA2 is asking for community support.
Website:/resonancechoral.org
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Hashtags: #SanctuariesAtDawson #resonanceensemblepdx #Sanctuaries #thirdangle #EDPA2 #newmusic #jazz #opera #blackartmatters #blackartistsmatter #neighborhoods #shareblackstories
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COMMISSIONS FOR NOW—Ep.1: "Normal Never Was" by Jasmine Barnes
This opening episode on the new series "Commissions for Now" features the poetry of noted author and social activist Sonya Renee Taylor and the commissioned music of rising classical composer, Jasmine Barnes.
This opening episode on the new series "Commissions for Now" features the poetry of noted author and social activist Sonya Renee Taylor and the commissioned music of rising classical composer, Jasmine Barnes.
Filmed on location at the Zidell Yards Barge Building in Portland, OR, the short film is produced by Oh! Creative, captured by local filmmaker Kenny Hamlett and features the beautiful singing of Resonance Ensemble.
Artistic Director: Katherine FitzGibbon
Artistic Advisor: Damien Geter
Music Directors: Katherine FitzGibbon, Shohei Kobayashi, Derrick McDuffey
► Thank you to the artists
Alonzo Chadwick
Phinizea Chadwick
Cecille Elliott (soloist)
DeReau Farrar
Katherine FitzGibbon (audio only)
Matthew Gailey
Becky Guderian
Emmanuel Henreid
Erik Hundtoft
Jessica Israels
Cecily Kiester (soloist)
Shohei Kobayashi (soloist)
Dee McDuffey
Derrick McDuffey
Vakarė Petroliūnaitė (audio only)
Kevin Walsh
► Thank you to the production crew:
Liz Bacon - Producer/Director
Danni Parpan - Assistant Director/Set Design
Kenny Hamlett - Director of Photography
Matt Greco - Sound Engineer
Bailey Dean - Production Assistant
Subscribe to our channel so you get notified for new exciting videos here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResonanceEnsemble
► About "Commissions for Now"
After what continues to be a challenging year for the arts, Portland’s Resonance Ensemble introduces Commissions for Now, an exciting new video series that premieres commissioned works from three nationally recognized composers performed by Resonance artists and collaborators All three films will be available to view for free here on our YouTube channel, and also on our website and Facebook page.
► How you can help
We believe that art is essential and must be accessible, now more than ever. Please consider making a donation to support our Commissions for Now Series. Your gift will allow us to bring performing art to our community safely and free of charge.
Resonance Ensemble announces exciting updates to the 2020-21 season
NORMAL, INDEED, NEVER WAS…
Doubling down on their ongoing commitment to creating performances that promote meaningful social change, Resonance Ensemble announces exciting additions to its already vibrant 2020-21 season. The additions include partnerships with Pride Northwest, a new commission by Damien Geter setting the poetry of the iconic and beloved Portland conductor James DePreist, and teaming with local activists in Portland.
For immediate release: April 6, 2021
Media Contact: Liz Bacon Brownson | liz@resonancechoral.org | 971.212.8034
NORMAL, INDEED, NEVER WAS…
Resonance Ensemble announces exciting updates to the 2020-21 season
PORTLAND—Doubling down on their ongoing commitment to creating performances that promote meaningful social change, Resonance Ensemble announces exciting additions to its already vibrant 2020-21 season. The additions include partnerships with Pride Northwest, a new commission by Damien Geter setting the poetry of the iconic and beloved Portland conductor James DePreist, and teaming with local activists in Portland.
“This season has certainly challenged us to think outside the box on how we will present the music we premiere, and we have risen to that challenge,” says Artistic Advisor Damien Geter. “Meeting those moments has both offered us new ideas and invited us to re-imagine our original ones. The work is definitely better for it.”
Normal Never Was, Resonance Ensemble’s imaginative 12th season, continues to respond to the striking new challenges of the pandemic and to those that always were: racial and gender violence, inequality, and loss. From an exciting series shot under Portland’s bridges, to another that features three major world premieres commissioned by Resonance, the group continues to create visionary art with world-class composers and musicians.
The first of two film series, Under the Overpass celebrates our hometown of Portland, Oregon, and the space it provides for Resonance artists to continue to create. We have performed our first three episodes of the series under the proscenium-like trestles of bridges around our city, including the Ross Island Bridge, the Hawthorne Bridge, and the St. Johns Bridge. With over 10K views so far, the Under the Overpass series is proving to be just what a quarantined world needs! To watch the first three episodes click here.
Updates to this series include:
EPISODE 4: Sanctuaries
by Darrell Grant (Commissioned by Third Angle New Music)
Now premiering April 28, 2021 at 3:00PM
This episode, a partnership with Third Angle New Music, will feature Darrell Grant, Damien Geter, and Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani. The film will combine music written for Grant’s yet-to-be premiered jazz opera Sanctuaries, poetry, and a roundtable discussion to showcase a multidisciplinary reflection on redlining, gentrification, and the displacement of Black families in Portland.
We have also partnered with EDPA2 (Emmanuel Displaced Persons Association), a group comprised of descendants of the mostly Black families that had their homes condemned by Portland’s urban development agency in the ’70s through eminent domain. The agency destroyed the homes of 171 families to make room for a hospital expansion that never happened. The roundtable discussion with Darrell Grant and leaders from EDPA2 highlights the powerful intersection of art and activism.
EPISODE 5: After Time has Gnawed Away the Shield of Dreams [world premiere]
Music by Damien Geter, Poetry by James DePreist
Premiering June 9, 2021 at 3:00PM
We are thrilled to announce the finale of the Under the Overpass series, a new work commissioned from Damien Geter for choir, piano, and flute. Geter sets a poem about memory and hope for a phoenix rising by the beloved late American conductor and honored laureate music director of the Oregon Symphony, James DePreist. In addition to marking this moment of transition from our pandemic time into what we hope will become a more just new normal, this work is dedicated to the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, that we may remember that appalling violence of 100 years ago and dedicate ourselves to combating racism in our own time.
For more information on Under the Overpass, visit resonancechoral.org/Under-The-Overpass
Our second video series premieres three commissioned works from nationally recognized composers and poets in response to this historic moment, performed by Resonance artists.
Updates to this series include:
EPISODE 1: Normal Never Was
bY Jasmine Barnes
Now Premiering April 14 at 7:00PM
Resonance premieres the first of three films from this new, exciting video series. “Normal Never Was” features the poetry of noted author and social activist Sonya Renee Taylor and the commissioned music of rising classical composer, Jasmine Barnes. The video features performances by Resonance singers and is filmed on location in Portland, OR.
EPISODE 2: Offertory, from “An African American Requiem”
by Damien Geter
Premiering May 13, 2021 at 7:00PM
Resonance shares this “sneak peek” from Geter’s forthcoming work An African American Requiem, a bold, thought-provoking musical response to racial violence against African Americans. Presented jointly with the Oregon Symphony and shot entirely on location in New York, this film features Brandie Sutton, soprano, Karmesha Peake, mezzo-soprano, Bernard Holcomb, tenor, and Kenneth Overton, baritone.
EPISODE 3: We Hold Your Names Sacred
by Mari Ésabel Valverde
Premieres June 19, 2021
We are thrilled to announce that our final premiere on this series will be an official part of the annual Portland Pride Festival. Award-winning Mari Ésabel Valverde is creating a new work with author/playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi (Lady Dane) titled We Hold Your Names Sacred. This work will share perspectives of trans women of color and reflect on losses due to gender violence. Highlights surrounding this premiere include:
The world premiere of We Hold Your Names Sacred on June 19, 2021.
A panel discussion with composer Mari Esabel Valverde, librettist Dane Figueroa (Lady Dane), and local leaders in the LGBTQIA+ and trans community.
The announcement of a paid creative writing fellowship for trans youth of color
For more information on Commissions for Now, visit resonancechoral.org/Commissions-For-Now
SIX FEET APART
Due to production conflicts, the premiere of Six Feet Apart will now be produced solely by Anima Mundi Productions.
For more information on their premiere, head to: https://animamundiproductions.com/sixfeetapart/
SAVE THE DATE!
Friday, June 25, 2021
5:30PM—Pre-Show
6:00PM—The Gala begins!
WE ARE HAVING A PARTY - AND YOU ARE INVITED!
Join us for a virtual fundraising gala that will close our 12th season with a bang! Resonance honors the unrelenting spirit of our artists, composers, staff, board, and supporters as we celebrate this unprecedented 2020-21 season and dream of what the future has in store.
The evening will include special performances from Resonance artists and other special guests, surprises for attendees, and sneak peeks at the commissions and projects in store for next season. Gifts will go toward the Dinah Dodds Fund for the Commissioning of New Art, which continues to underwrite commissions from today’s composers and poets speaking to important social issues as we work toward an equitable future.
Save the date, and stay tuned for more details for this free, one-hour virtual event!
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