New Music that Honors the Lives of Transgender Women of Color
For immediate release: April 6, 2021
Media Contact: Liz Bacon Brownson | liz@resonancechoral.org | 971.212.80341
Resonance partners with Pride Northwest to present the world premiere of “We Hold Your Names Sacred,” a commissioned new work that honors the lives of transgender women of color.
PORTLAND, OREGON — On Saturday June 19, 2021, at 5:00 pm, Resonance Ensemble presents the world premiere of “We Hold Your Names Sacred'' by award-winning composer Mari Esabel Valverde and author/playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi, the first Trans woman of color to be nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. The filmed premiere, broadcast for free to audiences worldwide, features 16 singers and reflects on the lives lost due to violence against trans women of color. The premiere will also include a live panel discussion with Valverde, Edidi, and local leaders in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Resonance will present this premiere in partnership with Pride Northwest as an official event of Portland Pride. “As an organization, our commitment to commissioning and presenting new work highlighting underrepresented voices and reflecting pressing social issues remains unwavering,” says Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon. “Our Commissions for Now project exemplifies that commitment. We are thrilled to present this important new work from two nationally recognized creative talents, Mari Esabel Valverde and Dane Figueroa Edidi, and to partner with Pride Northwest in solidarity with the trans community locally and globally.”
Valverde and Edidi wrote “We Hold Your Names Sacred” in memory of trans women of color who have been lost to systemic violence. “We must do the work necessary to keep our sisters’ memories alive to hold ourselves accountable, for the ultimate death is the death of their names being forgotten,” says Valverde. “For too many of our transgender sisters, brothers, and siblings, their humanity was forgotten long before their lives were stolen by cowards. We need to readily protect trans women of color because they are susceptible to a system working too well at impeding their flourishing.”
Edidi describes the piece as calling an assembly to “lift up their names and make them sacred, to acknowledge the divinity of Black and Brown trans women. We say their names to get the heavens to move for us.”
Resonance co-commissioned this work with 27 other choirs from across North America as part of GALA Choruses’ Commissioning Consortium. It will be the final release from Resonance Ensemble’s 2020-21 Commissions for Now series, and the group looks forward to closing an unprecedented year with this powerful statement of support and reflection.
Produced by Oh! Creative and filmmaker Kenny Hamlett, the video will be filmed with strict COVID safety measures in place. Viewers can watch the premiere beginning June 19, 2021 at 5:00 pm (PDT) on Resonance Ensemble’s YouTube channel. The live premiere will also feature a live panel discussion with Valverde, Figueroa (Lady Dane) and local leaders in the LGBTQIA+ community. Following the premiere, the video will be available in perpetuity on YouTube (youtube.com/c/ResonanceEnsemble).
To reserve your virtual free seat to the world premiere video and live panel, or for more information, visit resonancechoral.org/tickets or contact RE’s Box Office, (503) 427-8701.
Special thanks to our sponsors Ronni Lacroute, Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Miller Foundation, Collins Foundation, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and to our individual donors.
Note to Journalists: Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, Artistic Advisor Damien Geter, and Pride Northwest executive director Debra Porta are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@resonancechoral.org or by calling (503) 427-8701.
FOR CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS
EVENT TITLE: Resonance Ensemble Presents: Commissions for Now Episode 2: We Hold Your Names Sacred
DATE: June 19th, 2021
TIME: 5:00pm
PRICE: FREE
FOR MORE INFO: Liz Bacon Brownson
Email: liz@resonancechoral.org
Phone: (503) 427-8701
YOUTUBE LINK: youtube.com/c/ResonanceEnsemble
About Commissions for Now Project
About Resonance Ensemble
About Pride Northwest
About Mari Esabel Valverde
About Dane Figueroa Edidi
About GALA (Trans Commissioning Consortium)
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