Resonance Ensemble announces exciting updates to the 2020-21 season
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!
##