Everyone feels and defines love differently: some see it as a shared heirloom, others as the purest freedom, and many as a single soul inhabiting two bodies. Unheard Love expands that vision, creating a welcoming space where that shared soul—expressed through music—connects its artists and every listener, in person or in spirit. At the heart of Unheard Love is the belief that love thrives when it is shared.

Your support brings Unheard Love to life. Every donation helps us amplify LGBTQ+ voices, celebrate living composers, and create spaces where love, belonging, and acceptance are shared through choral music.

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This concert will last 1 hour with a brief intermission. Below are our featured composers. See you soon!

Immediate Crisis Support

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 (or chat at 988lifeline.org) for free, confidential support available 24/7/365.
Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online through the Veterans Crisis Line.
Disaster Distress Helpline: Call or text 1-800-985-5990 for 24/7 support related to emotional distress from disasters.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline: Call 1-800-662-4357 for 24/7 treatment referral and information service.
Emergency: Call 911 if someone is in immediate physical danger or facing a life-threatening crisis.

LGBTQIA+

24/7 Crisis and Suicide Support Lines

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Dial or text 988 (available 24/7, free, and confidential for anyone in the U.S. and Canada).
The Trevor Project (for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults): Call 1-866-488-7386, text START to 678678, or chat online via The Trevor Project.
Trans Lifeline (peer support for transgender individuals): Call 1-877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 1-877-330-6366 (Canada)
LGBT National Help Center:
- General Peer-Support Hotline: 1-888-843-4564
- Youth Talkline: 1-800-246-7743
- Coming Out Support: 1-888-688-5428
SAGE LGBT Elder Hotline (for older adults and caregivers): Call 1-877-360-5428
Call BlackLine (BIPOC and LGBTQ+ peer support): Call 1-800-604-5841

Unheard Love

* Denotes Commissioned Adaptation

** Denotes TTBB voicing premiere

Unheard Choir - Carlos Cordero, Founder and Artistic Director

First Austin - Austin, TX

November 14, 2026 | 7:00 PM

University Presbyterian Church - Austin, TX

November 15, 2026 | 5:00 PM

Pianist: Marc Profant

Percussionist: Lily Manzanares

Cellist: Sawyer McCarley

Concert Program - Texts and Translations

No Text
Music by: Mari Esabel Valverde
Text by: Amir Rabitah (b. 1978)

We bridge broken wood,
repair the rotten slats that creak.
We restore the lifeless vine,
braid vitality from decay.
The way of crossing is never easy,
someone always looks down. We tremble
knowing how far we can fall. We question
who or what will cushion us. We feel our frailty.
We love, as tremors rock earth,
bound in devastation & slow transition.
We love, the way erosion
paints complex striations.
Vulnerable, the way exposed mountains
remember being covered by the ocean.
How we love, through each disaster,
Praise us, how much we risk with every reach.
Music by: Jake Runestad
Text by: Robert Louis Stevenson

Fear not, dear friend, but freely live your days
Though lesser lives should suffer. Such am I,
A lesser life, that what is mine of sky
Gladly would give for you, and what of praise.
Step, without trouble, down the sunlit ways.
We that have touched your raiment, are made whole
From all the selfish cankers of our souls,
And we would see you happy, dear, or die.
Therefore be brave, and therefore, dear, be free;
Try all things resolutely, till the best,
Out of all lesser betters, you shall "nd;
And we, who have learned greatness from you, we,
Your lovers, with a still, contented mind,
See you well anchored in some port of rest.
Music by: Scott Senko (b. 1992)
Text by: Levi Todd

Old English grippan "to grip, seize, obtain" (class I strong verb; past tense grap, past participle gripen), from West Germanic *greipanan (source also of Old High German gripfen "to rob," Old English gripan"to seize;" see gripe (v.)).

knowing that this is likely the one time ever
that me and a new strange man who I do not wish to befriend
or belove will touch I feel a certain guilt when the inevitable failure
happens the potential intimacy dropped and floundering
on the floor like a gilled thing i rack my brain for the index
of handshakes tattered and fading my fingers
slipping through holes this unspoken treaty requires
we both read each other estimate what kind of men
we are if at all whether to extend hands and tersely shake
distance kept or rather to clasp palms wound
against the thumbs and slip into fingertips or perhaps
just clap and bump knuckles i’m telling you
they want to know whether i am one of them
and what kind which ranks i march with whose allegiance
i pledge and i have no answer the proof is in the fumble
still i would like to give this moment the chance
it deserves we could make it work i think
i think we could but there are so many options
and knowing which one to pick like the rosiest apple
from the bushel would require me to get to know them
enough to do this a second time
Music by: Stuart Beatch (b. 1991)
Text by: Matthew Stepanic (b. 1990)

Stretched out on the ground: a boy & a boy.
The wind in the wheat; the wheat
in his teeth. He whistles Schumann
while the other sees his smooth image
in every cloud. His face a welcome
token in the blue sky. They savour
oranges & citrus kisses—
but only for the summer.
Stretched out across a theatre: a man & a man.
The past in his teeth; his tongue
in a memory. A symphony performs Schumann
while one recalls the shape of that face
like smoke in the sky. They savour
limes & gin kisses—both remembering
the taste of that summer.
Stretched out underground: two men.
The story in their bones; their bodies
in the dirt. He chose Schumann for the funeral
& looked for a signal in the sky. An unsmoothed face
in a cloud. Now, they savour silence,
give kisses to the earth under
a single engraved name.

Intermission - Donate

Music by: Carlos Cordero (b. 1992)
Text by: Hafez (1325–1390)

This sky where we live
is no place to lose your wings
so love, love, love

“This sky” from The Gift, copyright 1999 by Daniel Ladinsky, used with permission.
Abuela
Bendice mis pasos
Hoy te entrego
Mi corazón

Abuela
Conduce mis manos
Hoy te entrego
Mi caridad

Abuela, querida, abuela

Recuérdame, abuela,
Que todo se puede si es con bondad
Recuérdame, abuela,
Quien tiene a Dios nada le faltará
Recuérdame, abuela.

Desde lejos te canto, abuela,
Desde mi corazón a tu hogar.

Desde mi corazón a tu corazón.
Grandma
Bless my steps
Today I give you
My heart

Grandma
Guide my hands
Today I give you
My charity

Grandmother, dear Grandmother

Remind me, Grandma,
That everything is possible with kindness
Remind me, Grandma
Who have God will lack nothing
Remember me, Grandma.

Grandma, I sing to you from afar,
From my heart to your home.

From my heart to your heart.
Music and text by: Kelvyn Koning

I need a place to call home,
Somewhere that I can let go
Of the tensions I hold
That are crowding my soul.
I need a place to be heard,
I need a space to be seen,
And I need a warm, loving shoulder
On which I can lean.
Let me be free to love.
Let me be free to dance.
Let me be free to hold somebody’s hand.
Let me be free to sing.
Let me be free to breathe.
Let me be free to have a family.
Let me be.
I’ll be your place to call home,
Somewhere that you can let go
Of the tensions you hold
That are crowding your soul.
I’ll be your place to be heard,
I’ll be your space to be seen,
And I’ll be a warm, loving shoulder
On which you can lean.
You can be free to love.
You can be free to dance.
You can be free to hold somebody’s hand.
You can be free to sing.
You can be free to breathe.
You can be free to have a family.
I won’t let you fall to the wayside because I don’t understand.
I won’t let you fall to the shadows when you need a helping hand
Because I need you and you need me to be.
You can be free to love.
You can be free to dance.
You can be free to hold somebody’s hand.
You can be free to sing.
You can be free to breathe.
You can be free to have a family.
You are free. / Let me be. / You can be.
You have a place to call home.v
Music by: Elaine Hagenberg (b. 1979)
Text by: George Matheson

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thy ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Joy that seeks me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be. -
Music by: Jake Runestad
Text: adapted from tweets using #IKeptLiving —expressions of hope from those who battle depression and chose to live.

No! Don’t go!
Don’t let your worst day be your last.
The storm is strong, but it will pass.
You think you can’t go on another day,
but please stay. Just stay.
Hope is real. Help is real.
You are breath, you are life,
you are beauty, you are light.
Your story is not over.
You are not a burden to anyone.
Please stay. Just stay.

Audience lines:
- My happiness is no longer in the hands of someone else.
- I realized that what people say about me re ects who they are, not who I am.
- It's okay to be a work-in-progress.
- Sharing your feelings doesn't make you weak.
- Some days are still such a struggle.
- All I can think about is (name). I wish (pronoun) kept living.
- I decided to ask for help instead of going through it alone.
- It was hard as hell, but I kept living.
- One person took the time to listen and understand. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Thank you for joining us! - Donate

Un/Heard 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.