Sweet Reflections: Our Week with Sweet Honey in the Rock

Apr 26

*All photos in this post are by Rachel Hadiashar unless otherwise noted*

We are still riding high from our week with Sweet Honey in the Rock. From the airwaves to the stage, Sweet Honey’s presence truly resonated throughout the Portland area, and we are so grateful to their artists and crew for making magic for our community.

Today we share some of the powerful moments from their time with Resonance.

Sweet Honey on the air

*Sweet Honey members with RE’s Katherine FitzGibbon and ACR’s Christa Wessel. Provided by All Classical Radio*

Gathering at the All Classical Radio station for Thursdays@Three, Resonance vocalists Madeline Ross, Cecille Elliott, Brandon Michael, Marcus Peterson, and Erik Hundtoft revived audience-favorite We Are Murmurs by Cecille Elliott—a piece, as host Christa Wessel exclaimed, is “brilliant!”

Resonance next performed a mixed-voices rendition of Sweet Honey’s Wanting Memories—a work that previously appeared on our Women Singing Women and We Dissent programs in past seasons. With director Katherine FitzGibbon joining the other vocalists for the performance, singing for Sweet Honey is a moment we won’t soon forget!

Joining Resonance Ensemble at All Classical Radio, select members from Sweet Honey in the Rock rocked the airwaves with their rendition of I'm On My Way To Freedom Land. Even with just four vocalists, their voices blanketed the studio in lush harmonies and percussive elements responding to soaring solo moments. One of the founding members, Carol Maillard, joined Christa at the mic and remarked there’s still more to come for Sweet Honey.

“...to reach out to young people, make music for them...to let them know they have a voice and that they should feel empowered, to make a difference in their lives and make the world better. We should always be working to make the world better.”

— Carol Maillard, Sweet Honey in the Rock founding member

Listen to the full broadcast here.

Sweet Honey among the trees

*Sweet Honey performing and talking with the audience at the Lewis & Clark EAR Forest on April 4, 2024* | *Photo provided by Alan Niven*

Moments after the broadcast, Sweet Honey was whisked away to the Lewis & Clark campus for a free-to-attend panel discussion and short performance for students and community members.

FitzGibbon later described the visit as “part-performance, part-group therapy,” as discussions branched into advice from the ensemble for young attendees seeking guidance on how to move past moments of feeling “stuck.”

Segments from their time at LC will be integrated into the Lewis & Clark's EAR Forest, where a 16-channel sound system now resides amidst the greenery of an adjacent forest.

Sweet Honey on the stage

Of course, no musical extravaganza would be complete without the main event – the concerts featuring Sweet Honey in the Rock! Enjoy these highlights from both performance nights!

NIGHT ONE | THE RESER

NIGHT 2 | THE ARMORY

Sweet Honey in our hearts

This week of music and magic will continue to resonate with our community for years to come. We are so grateful to Sweet Honey in the Rock for joining us in Portland—and we look forward to welcoming them again.