Where We Find Ourselves
A major work in five movements, this selection features a variety of pieces that reflect diversity, acceptance, and an appreciation for living in the present moment.
So it was I
This text is set in a landscape of conflict and beauty. Where the conflict lies – within the narrator’s being or as part of a landscape scarred by an actual current war, is left ambiguous, for, as Thomas Merton understood, all wars have their origin in individual human hearts. However, another keynote of this text is tenderness, towards the beauty of the damaged landscape, but also towards human lives damaged by our conflicts. The narrator meets a wounded young soldier, becoming his reluctant healer, welcoming him as a stranger, just as we pilgrims are on a journey to bring ourselves back from exile into a home in our own selves.
To Avielle, On Her Fifth, Sixth Birthday (The Unarmed Child)
From the large choral work, "The Unarmed Child." There's really no way to appropriately recognize your lost child's birthday, Jeremy said as he and Jennifer talked about what life has been like for their family since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School took the lives of twenty children and six educators in 2012.
The Unarmed Child
The Unarmed Child by composer Michael Bussewitz-Quarm is a gorgeous, riveting, deeply moving and important work that is thoroughly accessible at the very first listening. Composed in response to gun violence against children, the work sensitively navigates this difficult, heart-wrenching subject with beautiful, poignant, healing words and music. Each movement deals with a different aspect of emotion in a uniquely expressive way. One cannot get through the experience without tears. But the vibrant final movement releases the audience and performers with an energized call to action that is infused with hope. - Dr. Diane Retallack, Artistic Director, Eugene Concert Choir.
Requiem (The Unarmed Child)
Part hip hopera, part choral, this work challenges the audience to listen to the families of the victims of gun violence. This is an impassioned plea to take a stand against not only gun violence, but to take a stand for under-represented communities who experience a disproportionate level of violence resulting from a variety of factors playing out in contemporary society. Extracted from the larger work "The Unarmed Child" this stand-alone third movement is for tenor soloist with a mixture of sung and rapped lines and dramatic choir reinforcement.
The Radium Girl
Based on the tragic story of the "Radium Girls" - young women who were exposed to radium as part of their work in clock factories who eventually died from the exposure. This piece is intended to shine a light on these women and other people working in tragic conditions through the power of song. Unique overtone singing and interesting musical textures express the text in a creative way.
Peacebomb
Long after warplanes disappear, UXO (unexploded ordnance) remains hidden in the earth, leading to food insecurity and unnecessary suffering. From the collaborative team of award-winning composer Michael Bussewitz-Quarm and acclaimed poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, and in partnership with Mine Advisory Group and Article 22, comes an inspirational work honoring the casualties of war and the people who aspire to transform the wounded countryside, landmine by landmine, for decades to come.