Stop Shooting - Concert Program
Hola, people! Thank you so much for taking the time to learn more about how gun violence disproportionally affects the LGBTQ+ community. Through our concert, we want to connect our community with resources to help those in danger and those who want to work toward a kinder and safer place.
The concert will be 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The Present
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Author
Deedra Van Ness
Text
Mom,
They are shooting up the school,
I'm hiding in a closet.
I love you, Mom.
Program
Normal is the first movement of what will be a large-scale work titled “The Longest Day of My Life.” This work is based on the letter of the same title that Deedra Van Ness wrote after the shooting at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018.
I’ve worked on this project for years now, not writing music but understanding the great responsibility that comes with setting such a terrifying event to music. Deedra and Isabel were brave to tell their story, and it is in my hope that this project brings more awareness of the danger we face as the world reopens, helping us find ways to do better. No one can better explain the text that Deedra’s letter:
“Our day started off normal. Isabelle was happy and looking forward to the weekend. I dropped her off about 7 a.m., told her I loved her, to have a good day, and then headed home to get to work. I got home, walked upstairs and my phone rang. I noticed her name on the screen and figured she forgot something. As I answer the phone, she is whispering, and I can barely understand her.
Then I hear her whisper....”
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I. “Officers, why do you have your guns out?”
Encapsulating the sense of gloom that arises upon the news of the death of another unarmed black man, the chorus rises from the funereal piano ostinato singing Kenneth Chamberlain’s last words interpolated with the medieval tune, L’homme armé doibt on doubter - “The armed man must be feared.” After the final iteration of the 66-year old’s dying breath, the chorus repeats one important word: “why?”
II. “What are you following me for?”
This movement uses the classical form of the fugue not only to portray Trayvon Martin’s last moments trying to escape death, but also to sonically capture the daily paranoia of the black experience while driving on roads, walking on sidewalks, and congregating at various social gatherings. Quotes of L’homme armé in the strings underneath the imitative counterpoint in the voices lead to a climactic yell of surprise at the movement’s end.
III. “Mom, I’m going to college.”
In New York, February of 1999, four police officers fired 41 shots at Amadou Diallo, a 23 year old immigrant from Guinea. The undulating pattern in the piano simultaneously yields a sense of calm with its simple harmonic underpinning and unease with its odd 5/4 meter.
IV. “I don't have a gun! Stop shooting!”
Of the seven movements, this one contains the most anger. Through the use of agitated rhythms and multiple harmonic exclamations on the word “stop”, the target of the rage is media portrayal of black men on the news, in comedies, and in dramas. Even in the aftermath of such tragedies, the rhetoric and images used to describe the deceased was markedly appalling across all media. This was the case, especially, for Michael Brown.
V. “You shot me. You shot me!”
Oscar Grant III’s exclamations of surprise and incredulity were caught on several cellphone recordings in the BART station in which he was murdered. The movement honoring his life is a sonic representation of this epidemic. Aleatoric spoken exclamations of the last words crescendo alongside the humming of L’homme armé in the style of the Negro spiritual. Underneath the cacophony, the pulsing C of the piano, violin, and viola persist unflinchingly like a heart monitor until the end.
VI. It’s not real.”
Although they were referring to the BB gun he was carrying in the Walmart where he was killed, John Crawford’s last words escape the lips of thousands of African-Americans. Thus, the movement’s beginning is the soundtrack to my mental utopia. Saccharine sweet and soaring, the voices and strings are joined by the piano “heart monitor” which persists and gradually infects the strings, like reality interrupting a reverie.
VII. “I can't breathe!”
The decision of a Richmond County grand jury to not indict the officer responsible for Eric Garner’s death was the impetus for this entire work, and it is only fitting that his last words end the piece. After using a mournful Byzantine texture for the first half of the movement, I tried to capture the panicked death thralls of asphyxiation in the music.
Note by Joel Thompson
Intermission (10 minutes)
Take time to breathe, talk to others, go to the restroom, visit the merch table and refreshments, and come back ready to learn more about the future and how we can help our LGBTQ+ family and everybody else.
The Future?
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Words and Music by Eliza Gilkyson
Mother Mary, full of grace, awaken
All our homes are gone, our loved ones taken
Taken by the sea
Mother Mary, calm our fears, have mercy
Drowning in a sea of tears, have mercy
Hear our mournful plea
Our world has been shaken
We wander our homelands forsaken
In the dark night of the soul
Bring some comfort to us all
Oh Mother Mary come and carry us in your embrace
That our sorrows may be faced
Mary, fill the glass to overflowing
Illuminate the path where we are going
Have mercy on us all
In funeral fires burning
Each flame to your mystery returning
In the dark night of the soul
Your shattered dreamers, make them whole,
Oh Mother Mary find us where we’ve fallen out of grace
Lead us to a higher place
In the dark night of the soul
Our broken hearts you can make whole
Oh Mother Mary come and carry us in your embrace
Let us see your gentle face, Mary
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Author
Walt Whitman“Darest Thou Now O Soul” from Leaves of Grass (1881)
Text
Darest thou now O Soul,
Walk out with me toward the unknown region,
Where neither ground is for the feet nor any path to follow?
No map there, nor guide,
Nor voice sounding, nor touch of human hand,
Nor face with blooming flesh, nor lips, nor eyes, are in that land.
I know it not O Soul,
Nor dost thou, all is a blank before us,
All waits undream’d of in that region, that inaccessible land.
Till when the ties loosen,
All but the ties eternal,
Time and Space,
Nor darkness, gravitation, sense, nor any bounds bounding us.
Then we burst forth, we float,
In Time and Space
O Soul, prepared for them,
Equal, equipt at last,
(O joy! O fruit of all!) them to fulfil
O Soul.
Human Rights Campaign (2 minutes)
Use Your Power. Use your voice. Join HRC’s Federal Club to keep our movement towards full LGBTQ+ equality going strong. Your monthly gift will provide reliable resources that help us jump into action anytime equality is being threatened.
The Future
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Words and Music by Frank Ticheli
Sing
Be
Live
See
This dark hour, the wind, it stirs
The scorched Earth cries out
In vain
O war, power, you blind and blur
The torn heart cries out
In pain
But music and singing shall be my refuge
And music and singing shall be my light
A light of song, shining strong:Hallelujah!
Through darkness and pain and striveI'll sing
Be
Live
See
Peace.
Program note
I know for me, it sprang out of an intense weariness of war and a wish for peace. The second half of the poem talks about music as a comforting force and a refuge. When I was bullied as a kid, music was my refuge. I often thought about bullies in relation to this piece as well, because that’s where violence starts. But music is a place where people can find acceptance and love – and it can often be their saving grace. And it’s not just choir that people can find that comfort – it’s band, it’s orchestra… it’s just people coming together to make music.
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Text
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Christ's love has gathered us into one.
Exsultemus, et in ipso jucundemur.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in him.
Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
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I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
Yes I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes
You used to rock me in the cradle of our arms,
You said you’d hold me till the pains of life were gone.
You said you’d comfort me in times like these
and now I need you,
and now I need you
and you are gone.
I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
Since you’ve gone and left me, there’s been so little beauty,
But I know I saw it clearly through your eyes.
Now the world outside is such a cold and bitter place, here inside I have few things that will console, and when I try to hear your voice above the storms of life then I remember that I was told.
I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
I think on the things that made me feel so wonderful when I was young,
I think on the things that made me laugh, made me dance, made me sing.
I think on the things that made me grow into a being full of pride;
think on these things, for they are truth.
I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
I thought that you were gone, but now I know you’re with me;
you are the voice that whispers all I need to hear.
I know a “please”, a “thank-you” and a smile will take me far,
I know that I am you and you are me and we are one,
I know that who I am is numbered in each grain of sand,
I know that I’ve been blessed again and over again.
I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world with my own eyes.
I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
Resources
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https://reports.hrc.org/an-epidemic-of-violence-2023?_ga=2.204934480.1760830693.1712870951-551640898.1711839723
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https://www.equalitytexas.org/our-programs/transvisibleproject/
Our Artists
We are a tenor-bass choir made up of LGBTQ+ people and allies. Our artists encompass many cultures, experiences, ages, and skills, making Un/Heard a unique ensemble that advocates for the LGBTQ+ community in Austin, TX.
Sponsors
