Reflecting on the Past, Acting Towards the Future

Mar 18

*All photos in this post are by Rachel Hadiashar*

This past weekend, Resonance presented Amendment: Righting Our Wrongs, featuring a world premiere by Darrell Grant and A. Mimi Sei.

This last weekend, Resonance had the great honor of unveiling a new work by composer Darrell Grant and poet A. Mimi Sei, From the Book of Sankofa, along with powerful works by composers Melissa Dunphy, Joel Thompson, and Rosephanye Powell. Joined by the Oregon Remembrance Project’s Taylor Stewart, the evening called on attendees to face the past in order to cultivate a better future.

As we reflect on this powerful evening, we encourage you to explore our Enhance Your Experience page, which includes detailed information on the performers, composers, writers, artists, and the driving mission which supported the program.

*Pianist Hannah Brewer and conductor Shohei Kobayashi*

Opening the concert program, Joel Thompson’s Hold Fast to Dreams set texts by Langston Hughes. With vibrant text painting in the opening lines and a wistful melody for the main theme, pianist Hannah Brewer beautifully executed the lush and flowing piano part. The performance was accompanied by visuals of school children’s artwork in response to the poems.

One of the biggest highlights of the performance were the reflections shared by Oregon Remembrance Project’s Taylor Stewart. His powerful, poignant, and hopeful reflections left audiences with a deeper understanding of how they have power as individuals to rectify historical injustices.

*Conductor Katherine FitzGibbon leading Resonance Ensemble during the Dunphy*

The most substantial work on the program, Melissa Dunphy’s Amendment: Righting Our Wrongs showcased Oregon Symphony prinicipal cellist Nancy Ives along with the choir—her full, singing tone providing almost symphonic support throughout the six-movement work.

Setting texts of abolitionist and suffragist activists of color against various legal texts, the work powerfully showcases how the US has often fell short on its promises of “liberty and justice for all.”

*Soloist Maria Collinsworth during the Dunphy*

Following intermission, clarinetist Barbara Heilmair joined Resonance for another Thompson work, The Caged Bird Sings for Freedom. The work sets Maya Angelou’s famous text, alongside musical quotes from Thompson’s Hold Fast to Dreams.

Providing sparkling facility and a sweet, singing tone of the bird, the clarinet sang out over the lush, yearning texture of the choir—finishing in a final, triumphant flourish that received one of the loudest applauses of the performance.

Of course, the climax of the performance came with the long-awaited premiere of Darrell Grant and A. Mimi Sei’s newest collaboration, From the Book of Sankofa. With Nancy Ives rejoining the choir at the cello and Hannah Brewer tackling the demanding piano part, Resonance was also joined by A. Mimi Sei, who provided a captivating spoken-word performance during the piece.

*Composer Darrell Grant receives a warm applause from a packed house following the premiere of his work*

The work was a gratifying challenge for Resonance, with Grant’s text-setting demanding both perfect blending of uniform rising and falling harmonies and steadfast independence from every section throughout the work as each section interjected and shifted harmony. As Grant’s program notes share, this setting of Sei’s text provided a powerful space to reflect on the key words describing Sankofa and its spirit (Mission, Essence, Reflection, Progress, Reimagine, Channel, Dignity, Migrate, Reincarnate, Piety, Reverence, Stir), as well as “questions of what we will pass on, what we must sacrifice, and what we must always remember in order to realize the dreams we hold for ourselves, our children, and our communities.”

*Vocalists Katherine FitzGibbon, Matthew Gailey, and Emily Lau*

Closing out the program was Rosephanye Powell’s triumphant work, I Dream a World, another Langston Hughes setting—this time of his poem “To You.”

Beautifully bookmarking the program in Hughes texts about dreams, I Dream a World acts as a promise to fulfill Hold Fast to Dreams’ request to continue dreaming and acting towards a better future for all.

*From left to right, conductor Shohei Kobayashi, composer Darrell Grant, poet A. Mimi Sei, Oregon Remembrance Project’s Taylor Stewart, and conductor Katherine FitzGibbon*

After the performance, a great deal of the audience stayed for a panel discussion with artists A. Mimi Sei and Darrell Grant, conductors Shohei Kobayashi and Katherine FitzGibbon, and Oregon Remembrance Project’s Taylor Grant. With a surprising array of connections and shared values, the conversation highlighted the many intersections of music, poetry, remembrance, activism, and community.

Conductor Shohei Kobayashi (far left), pianist Hannah Brewer (far left behind Shohei), composer Darrell Grant (far right), and the Resonance Ensemble vocalists at the Hallowed Halls recording studio.

Following concert day Resonance Ensemble headed to the beautiful Hallowed Halls recording studio the next evening with engineer Matt Greco (Rye Room) and composer Darrell Grant to record From the Book of Sankofa.

The session marks the very beginning of our new recording project, which will exclusively feature Resonance Ensemble-commissioned works. The rest of the pieces that will appear on the album will be sung live on our June 8th concert—we hope you can join us!

Resonance Ensemble is deeply grateful to artists Darrell Grant and A. Mimi Sei, performers Nancy Ives, Barbara Heilmair, and Hannah Brewer, conductors Shohei Kobayashi and Katherine FitzGibbon, Oregon Remembrance Project’s Taylor Stewart, the Resonance Ensemble vocalists, our sponsors and generous donors who made the program possible, and—of course—all those who joined us for this deeply moving program as audience members.