Our performance highlights two important stories: the first is heard in English composer Cecilia McDowall's work Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo. This story narrates the three-year journey of two refugee sisters fleeing Syria for a new life in Germany: Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy, pushed in her wheelchair by her older sister, Nasrine. This will be sung by the sopranos and altos of QCC and will feature Kirsten Weiss on solo violin.
Our tenors and basses will share the second story by Atlanta-based composer Joel Thompson entitled, The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. Each movement quotes the final words of seven unarmed black men who were killed by police including: Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Kenneth Chamberlain, Amadou Diallo, and John Crawford. This will be accompanied by Parker Payne and some of our talented friends from the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Also featured will be works by Moira Smiley and Craig Hella Johnson.
It is my hope that our music serves as a vehicle through which to bridge, educate, and heal our communities. For more information, visit queencitychorale.org or check us out on Facebook and Youtube by searching: Queen City Chorale. I truly hope that you can attend our performance.
