Happy #GivingTuesdayNow, All.
We need each other every day of the week.
When the Giving Tuesday organization reached out to us to join them in this campaign we were hesitant to commit. At a time when so many are struggling to make ends meet, and arts organizations everyone need support, what is the right way to ask for support?
We need each other every day of the week.
When the Giving Tuesday organization reached out to us to join them in today's giving campaign, we were hesitant to commit. So many are struggling to make ends meet, and arts organizations everywhere need support.
But we realized this pandemic affects people's livelihood and it affects organizations we care about — our community partners and our arts colleagues. #GivingTuesdayNow is an opportunity for people around the world to stand together in unity — to use their individual power of generosity to remain connected. We love that idea.
Would you consider giving today to organizations you support, including Resonance Ensemble? Your gift to Resonance supports paying fees to our artists *this month*, to replace income they are losing from postponed performances. Your gift funds exciting commissions of new and timely music that are already in the works for every concert next season. And your gift ensures that Resonance's mission continues to thrive through this difficult time, so that we can keep giving back to you and our community with relevant art that matters.
On this day, we ask you show your generosity however you are able. Whether it's by helping your older neighbor get groceries, advocating for a local artist you love, sharing a skill, or giving to your favorite arts organization, every single act of generosity counts right now. You have gifts to give and the world needs you.
Happy Giving Tuesday, all. (...and happy giving Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, too.) We appreciate you every day of the week.
With love,
From all of us at Resonance Ensemble
An African American Requiem Postponed Until 2021
Dear Resonance Supporters,
Resonance has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 research in order to ensure the health and safety of our audiences, artists, and community. We have made the hard decision, along with our partners at the Oregon Symphony and AllClassical, to postpone the African American Requiem world premiere until next season. The concert has now been rescheduled for Friday, January 22, 2021.
The Resonance team will continue to update you as we plan for this and other exciting events next season. In the meantime, if you purchased your AAR tickets through Resonance Ensemble, the following options are available for you:
Your ticket can be converted automatically to a ticket for the same seat(s), for the Friday, January 22nd performance at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. (This is the default option; we hope you’ll be able to come to the rescheduled date!)
You can donate your ticket’s value back to Resonance (a tax receipt will be issued to you).
You can request a refund.
Please let us know your preference by May 1st by emailing us directly at info@resonancechoral.org. If we do not hear from you by then, your ticket(s) will be converted to a ticket for the same seat for the Friday, January 22nd date.
If you ordered your tickets through the Oregon Symphony website, the Oregon Symphony will be in touch with you today with similar information.
Resonance cares. Mindful of the human and financial toll of this pandemic, we have committed to paying our artists a portion of their fees for this May’s concert. Donating right now, no matter how small, will help us support our musicians who find themselves suddenly without income.
To support this initiative, please click here. We appreciate your generosity.
We have hope that things will continue to improve. We’re putting the finishing touches on our upcoming season and look forward to the time when we will again share a space together in celebration of new music that promotes meaningful social change. Stay tuned for our 2020-21 season announcement!
Our hearts continue to go out to all those in our own community and around the world who are being impacted by this epidemic.
Thank you for supporting Resonance Ensemble.
Kathy FitzGibbon
Artistic Director, Resonance Ensemble
Your belief and support are needed now more than ever.
Dear Resonance Supporters and Friends:
In the wake of the growing COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic, I wanted to take a few moments to check in with you.
Resonance Ensemble is committed to walking our talk around social awareness. This is a challenging time for everyone. We are thinking particularly of individual artists and of arts organizations who are having to cancel events. This affects people’s livelihood and the sustainability of arts organizations. Your belief and support are needed now more than ever in our arts community.
We have learned the importance of social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19, to allow our health care system to have the capacity to treat all of those who need it. We will be rehearsing our African American Requiem choir remotely for the near future and will continue to make decisions with our artists at the front of mind. We are grateful to all of you for doing what you can to work from home when possible, and to help those who do not have that flexibility.
For the latest information regarding the virus, please visit the the Multnomah Health Department website and The World Health Organization website.
Stay safe, keep yourself educated, and support your favorite arts organizations and individual artists when and how you can. Thank you for all you do as part of the Resonance community. We hope to see you at An African American Requiem in May.
Katherine FitzGibbon
Board President and Artistic Director
Resonance Ensemble
COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT: Joe Kye
All my life I’ve listened.
As an infant, I rode on my mother’s back, my ear pressed between her shoulder blades, the muffled hum of her lullaby enveloping me as I drifted off to sleep.
Over the next few weeks, Resonance features composers and artists whose work will be performed at the Safe Harbor concert on March 1st.
We continue with celebrated Portland-based performer, violinist/looper, and composer Joe Kye. Resonance Ensemble will unveil Kye’s newly-commissioned work, integrating folk music from Kye’s native Korea with American folk music and improvisation.
“My new work will have its world premiere on March 1st with my favorite Portland choir, Resonance Ensemble at Alberta Rose Theatre. Korean lullabies, folk rhythms with percussionist Darian Anthony Patrick, and uplifting choral harmonies...DON’T MISS THIS SHOW. I’m very proud of this piece, and I can’t wait to share it with you.”
Joe Kye’s new music video premieres on PopMatters today! “It's the American dream as it should be, Kye reaching across the divide with music to try and heal it - for everyone.” Take a watch:
Photo: Jason Sinn Photography
All my life I’ve listened.
As an infant, I rode on my mother’s back, my ear pressed between her shoulder blades, the muffled hum of her lullaby enveloping me as I drifted off to sleep.
At age six, I first heard the guttural sounds of English and recoiled at its harsh “s” and t” sounds, uncommon in the Korean language. These tall, white Americans sounded like spitting snakes.
In third grade, I remember my parents murmuring in hushed tones, wondering how they’d afford next month’s rent. In just two years in the United States, we’d whittled through our savings, the American Dream unveiling itself as but a tantalizing mirage.
And before I left for college, I listened as my parents sat me down to apologize, wiping away tears for all they were unable to provide, the grief and regrets of first-generation immigrant parents poured out onto our dining room table.
It wasn’t until I’d graduated, four years into teaching high school English in Seattle, that I finally began to listen to myself. From lullabies to Sibelius, Korean sitcoms to Stevie Wonder, I’d lived my life in the margins, absorbing the eclectic, unsure of my place in the world. But as I watched my students dream, grow, and find their place, I realized I’d never given myself the opportunity to pursue the one thing that afforded me true joy: music.
And so I left—a stable career, security and stability in the rearview, to synthesize and embark on a quest to give voice to my world, my identity.
This past summer, when Resonance Ensemble approached me about composing for Safe Harbor, I was overjoyed. How could I write a collaborative piece that gave voice—quite literally, in this case—to the anxieties of little Joe? The regrets of mama and papa Kye? How could I recognize these disquiets while also reassuring listeners that there is a different way? That we, with our individual hopes and dreams, can come together to build a community that allows each to express and pursue these fully, regardless of race, gender, class, or sexual orientation?
This very moment, our country continues to rip children away from their mothers. Our country continues to incarcerate fathers and brothers for the purpose of profit. Our country continues to justify the sins of the violent and powerful, choosing instead to blame victims for their suffering.
And so, in the face of these oppressions, I offer my voice—this collaborative performance with Resonance. I offer a meditation of empowerment, a dwelling place for the rekindling of compassion, a sonic clearing in which we can feel, together, what the alternative looks like.
Mark your calendars, friends. March 1st. Join us—all of us.
WE NEED YOU. Resonance Ensemble is able to commission artists like Joe Kye because of the generous support from listeners like you. Please consider donating to the Dinah Dodds Fund for the Creation of New Art today.
WHO IS JOE KYE?
Born in Korea and raised in Seattle, violinist- looper and vocalist Joe Kye has drawn rave reviews since launching his career, “discharging world[s] of emotion” and delivering “divine messages” with his lush string loops and eclectic style (Guitar World). Drawing upon his migrant upbringing, Kye blends indie-rock, jazz, classical, and pop to create a unique sound that “leaves everyone in awe” (Sac News and Review). With his innovative use of digital effects and looping, Kye weaves together diverse textures, catchy melodies, and rich, sweet vocals to create songs that groove, uplift, and empower listeners: "A single violinist...one mesmerizing symphony" (Sacramento Bee). A powerful storyteller with an inclusive sense of humor, Joe’s performances weave his immigrant narrative through his show, inspiring audiences to compassion and empathy in these divisive times.
For more information about Joe Kye, CLICK HERE
For more information about Darian Anthony Patrick CLICK HERE
COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT: Sydney Guillaume | Réfugié, mon Frère
Over the next few weeks, Resonance features composers and artists whose work will be performed at the Safe Harbor concert on March 1st.
We continue with Haitian-American composer Sydney Guillaume. His moving work, “Réfugié, mon frère,” is a setting of text by his father, Gabriel T. Guillaume, and reminds us of the humanity of refugees that is often overlooked.
“We are all travelers on the roads of the earth.
May I dare ask you not to forget
The humanity you carry within you.
My brother, whatever your refuge is, you are at home.”
Composer Sydney Guillaume
About “Réfugié, mon Frère”
“Réfugié, mon Frère” was written in 2017 at a time when DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was being debated in the United States because of a suggested end to the program that granted temporary protection from deportation to nearly 700,000 young people. As an immigrant from Haiti who migrated to the U.S. with my family at 11 years-old, I was deeply affected by the uncertain future the “DREAMers” were facing through no fault of their own.
Since the premiere of the piece in 2018, there have been some gruesome acts against immigrants and refugees, including children being separated from their parents at the U.S. border. My hope is that this piece brings to focus a part of the immigration debate that is often forgotten – the humanity of the refugees fleeing their countries.
— Sydney Guillaume
Join us on March 1 to hear Resonance perform Guillaume’s “Réfugié, mon Frère.”
Sydney Guillaume will be attending Safe Harbor, and will participate in a Q&A talkback after the concert- so think of your questions!
Until then, please enjoy our friends at Lewis & Clark College performing “Réfugié, mon Frère” last winter:
About Sydney Guillaume
Praised by the Miami Herald for their “impressive maturity and striking melodic distinction”, Sydney Guillaume’s compositions are known to be intricate, challenging and yet highly spirited. They promote human values and are full of heart and passion. His compositions continually enthrall choirs everywhere and have been performed around the world. They have been featured at numerous conferences and international festivals like the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the World Choir Games and Ireland’s Cork International Choral Festival. He is an active member of the choral community as a composer, singer, clinician and conductor. In 2017, he was honored by the top music school in Haiti for his “great contribution in the expansion and the promotion of the music and culture of Haiti around the world.”
Sydney Guillaume graduated from the University of Miami in 2004 where his works were performed by the Miami University Chorale conducted by Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe. Originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he is currently residing in Portland, Oregon working as a full-time composer, conductor and clinician. For more about Mr. Guillaume, click here.
For more information about Safe Harbor click here.
COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT: Theresa Koon | Mother of Exiles: The Genesis
Over the next few weeks, Resonance features composers and artists whose work will be performed at the Safe Harbor concert on March 1st.
We begin with Portland composer Theresa Koon. Koon’s work, “Mother of Exiles,” is a musical adaptation and reimagining of Emma Lazarus’s famous poem, ("Give me your tired, your poor...). Resonance is honored to feature the world premiere and we thank Theresa Koon for taking the time to share some of her thoughts here today.
“Since I don’t have the temperament or money for political campaigning, music is the vessel I can offer to give voice to the thoughts and feelings of people who have no voice in the world. ”
Composer Theresa Koon
The genesis for the creation of Mother of Exiles arose during a talk-back session in 2018 with Director Katherine FitzGibbon of the Resonance Ensemble, and Jan Elfers, who heads the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. Resonance had just performed my Sufi cycle WHERE EVERYTHING IS MUSIC, and the tenor of our conversation with the audience centered around compassion, inclusivity and cooperation between people of differing faiths and backgrounds. An audience member inquired about my upcoming composing projects, and out of my mouth popped a plan to set Emma Lazarus’s famous poem “The New Colossus,” which is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. Until that moment, this intention had barely registered itself in my mind. Kathy immediately asked if Resonance could perform it, which was an honor I accepted with delight.
Lady Liberty and Lazarus’s poem have been in the news a lot during the past year, including various reinterpretations of their significance. Here are a few details from my research:
After the Civil War, France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States to commemorate the ending of slavery here, and to recognize the U.S. in finally becoming a “true democracy.” Soon after the Statue arrived, Emma Lazarus wrote her poem to express gratitude on behalf of her Jewish ancestors who had emigrated from Russia to the US during the pogroms. When poem was inscribed on the Statue in New York Harbor after Lazarus’s death, both Lady Liberty and “The New Colossus” combined to represent the face and voice of U.S. democracy, of freedom from slavery, and also as a welcome to desperate people in need of asylum. I believe the majority of Americans, despite our differences, still view the Statue of Liberty and her torch in this light, since most of us have ancestors who emigrated from somewhere else.
We are living at a time when immigration is a world-wide issue, which no one country can solve alone. To me, this is a delicate and complex situation that deserves compassionate consideration and collaboration. Since I don’t have the temperament or money for political campaigning, music is the vessel I can offer to give voice to the thoughts and feelings of people who have no voice in the world.
In working with the public domain text, I chose to set eleven of the fourteen lines in Lazarus’s sonnet, which include those that are best-known. At the point when the text refers to the Statue as “Mother of Exiles”, I began overlapping translations of that name in sixteen different languages, and also adopted it as the title of my choral version.
My dream is for Mother of Exiles to be performed by choirs around the world, with hopes that it will become an anthem for campaigns and organizations who believe in its purpose.
You can find out more about this project here:
For more information about Safe Harbor click here.
An African American Requiem to be broadcast live coast-to-coast!
President and CEO of All Classical Portland, Suzanne Nance
Great news! All Classical Portland will produce an unprecedented live, bi-coastal broadcast in collaboration with New York’s WQXR of the world premiere performance of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem. With the goal of providing greater access to and amplification of this important work, following the performance and live simulcast on May 23rd, these partner radio stations will distribute a free program featuring the premiere, as presented by Resonance Ensemble and Oregon Symphony, to radio stations nationwide. Broadcast info: www.allclassical.org
Resonance is thrilled about the news that the world premiere of our commission of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem has been picked up for a live coast-to-coast radio broadcast. This groundbreaking concert (May 23rd, 2020) with our partners at the Oregon Symphony will be broadcast live locally by All Classical Portland and nationally by WQXR New York, who will share it with more than 200 cities in their syndication.
Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon recalls, “All Classical CEO Suzanne Nance was excited about the opportunity to partner on a local live radio broadcast. After we met with Suzanne and Steve Wenig of the Oregon Symphony, Suzanne reached out to her contacts nationally and developed this vision of a live coast-to-coast broadcast. We are so grateful to her and to All Classical for championing this work.”
Concert attendees will need to make sure to update their calendars to the new 6:00 pm start time, so that our East Coast listeners can tune in as well. All of the other details will be the same -- the same amazing cast and powerful music -- and now, audience members in Portland will be able to be part of history, along with listeners across the country, in this groundbreaking world premiere.
Deepening Relationships with Visionary Composer Melissa Dunphy
“I feel, on a deeper level, as though this is part of what Resonance can do. We can help bring innovative new choral works to life, works that can shine a light on some of the most challenging issues our society faces today. We can promote existing works that haven’t yet found a wide audience. And we can partner closely with visionary composers like the amazing Melissa Dunphy, who I am now grateful to call my friend.”
Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon with composer Melissa Dunphy
About two years ago, I was finalizing repertoire for our 2017-18 season's concerts. Resonance singer Christine Johnson reached out to me and said that she knew an amazing piece I should consider for our BODIES concert collaboration with Pride Northwest. It was called "What Do You Think I Fought for at Omaha Beach?", and it was by a composer whose work I didn't yet know, Melissa Dunphy. Christine had performed it with her previous choir, the St. Louis Chamber Chorus, and Melissa Dunphy had been their composer in residence.
I was blown away by this piece. It set the Maine Senate testimony of an unassuming elderly WWII veteran, Phillip Spooner, who was asked whether he believed in equal rights for gay and lesbian people. He asked, "What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?" and explained that he fought for equality, not so that his gay son would have fewer rights than his other sons. I found the text extraordinarily moving, but I also felt like the composer had created a special kind of musical magic. The music created a sense of dramatic arc, with intense ebbs and flows that highlighted the emotion behind the text. And it was so beautifully written for the voice. "Who is this composer?," I thought.
So, as one does in the modern age, I did a deep dive into Google and found all of Melissa's works on her website. She has composed a treasure trove of exquisite choral music with texts that engage deeply with some of the most challenging social and political issues of our time. I programmed Melissa's multi-movement American DREAMers on the next season, for the fall of 2018.
Fast-forward to the fall of 2018, when the fall season began accompanied by the heartbreaking and courageous Senate testimony of Christine Blasey Ford in the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings. For me, and for many women I know, one of the most frustrating aspects of the hearings was hearing how Dr. Ford was personally attacked, and learning that she and her family had been threatened, for telling her story. I stomped around feeling helpless until I realized what I could do, in my own sphere -- I could amplify this story by commissioning it to be set to music. And I could pair it with the unfortunately parallel testimony of Anita Hill, two and a half decades earlier. Conveniently, Resonance had already programmed a concert with our female singers called Women Singing Women for February of 2019.
By now you must see where this is going (and maybe you have heard this amazing work!) -- I reached out to Melissa, knowing her to be the ideal composer for this project, and asked whether there was any chance she'd have time to compose something by January 2019 (just three months away at that point! Not the ideal turnaround time....) She immediately said yes, having had a similar experience watching Dr. Ford's testimony.
Melissa's work LISTEN was phenomenal, and our performances sold out. Audiences didn't just shed gentle tears, but they sobbed audibly. It provided a kind of collective catharsis that many of us needed.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to give a joint presentation at the National Collegiate Choral Organization conference with Melissa. I proposed this session, on the Innovation and Social Conscience in the Music of Melissa Dunphy, because I believe conductors NEED to know her work. The session was a blast -- like getting to sit up in front of conductors I know and love, with a composer I know and love, and talking about music and issues that are deeply important and personal to me. (Also, if you haven't heard Melissa speak before, she is brilliant and funny and wise, and I would delightedly shoot the breeze with her for hours!) And afterwards, many conductors came up to me and thanked me for bringing Melissa's work to their attention.
I feel, on a deeper level, as though this is part of what Resonance can do. We can help bring innovative new choral works to life, works that can shine a light on some of the most challenging issues our society faces today. We can promote existing works that haven't yet found a wide audience. And we can partner closely with visionary composers like the amazing Melissa Dunphy, who I am now grateful to call my friend.
AUDITION ANNOUNCEMENT — Auditions for An African American Requiem Choir Officially Announced
Northwest singers invited to be a part of this groundbreaking concert! (image by Oregon Symphony)
“My vision for this piece is that the choir is made up of folks from all walks of life who share in the common experience of humanity.”
For immediate release: — Monday, November 14, 2019
Email: info@resonancechoral.org
Web: resonancechoral.org
Media Contact: Liz Bacon Brownson
Phone: 971-212-8034
PORTLAND, OR — Resonance invites experienced singers from around the Northwest to audition for a unique and groundbreaking performance opportunity. The 120-voice choir (including Resonance Ensemble’s core group + members of Kingdom Sound Gospel Ensemble ) will perform as the African American Requiem Choir for the world premiere of Damien Geter's An African American Requiem. This revolutionary work will be performed in Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with the Oregon Symphony on Saturday, May 23, 2020.
“We know firsthand that singing in a choir can bring people together like nothing else.” says Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon. “We are seeking skilled singers from all of Portland's communities to bring this important work to life.”
Auditions will take place on November 18th and 19th.
For more information on how to schedule and prepare for an audition CLICK HERE.
For more information about An African American Requiem CLICK HERE.
“Beautiful Minds” to feature world premiere of Portland Composer Brandon Stewart's "Alone"
“ It is about feeling alone in spite of all the evidence to the contrary - living with a void, both inside and out - feeling like only death would give me peace - feeling like nothing was keeping me here aside from some instinct to live.”
On Saturday & Sunday, Oct 5 & 6, Resonance will feature the world premiere of Portland composer Brandon Stewart’s “AlonE”, setting a Sara Teasdale poem that depicts depression and the contemplation of suicide. The following is Stewart’s program notes.
Sara Teasdale's “Alone” is a poem very close to my heart and has been ever since I first stumbled upon it during my undergraduate studies. It so simply, yet eloquently, put into words the emotional state in which I had been living for a very long time. When I first started working on the piece, my goal was to use it to show how prolific depression was and still is in our society – to take a step back from that misery and analyze it from a new and slightly more optimistic perspective; “We are not alone in our loneliness.”
Brandon Stewart, Composer of “Alone” to premiere on “Beautiful Minds” Oct 5 & 6.
But the more I lived with this poem, the more I realized that is not what “Alone” is about. It is about feeling alone in spite of all the evidence to the contrary - living with a void, both inside and out - feeling like only death would give me peace - feeling like nothing was keeping me here aside from some instinct to live. “Alone” is about a woman who succumbed to her illness at the age of 48. And so, these were the things I sought to convey in the finished piece.
I invite everyone reading this note to read Teasdale's words through that lens and to allow yourself to feel what she is describing for the duration of this piece. My hope is that visiting this darkness for seven minutes will give you a new perspective on what it might feel like to live there every day. — B. Stewart (2019)
Beautiful Minds, a concert performed by the region’s finest singers sharing musical stories about living with depression, anxiety, and trauma, will open on October 5th at 7:30pm with a second performance on October 6 at 4:00pm, both at Cerimon House in NE Portland. CLICK HERE for tickets.
