Giving Voice: Settings of Speeches

Be inspired by musical settings of influential speeches delivered by important figures of the past and present. Sacred and Profane will present Swedish composer Anna-Karin Klockar’s Speeches – an avant-garde choral cycle that includes settings of a French suffragist, a Native American chief, and the “dog is a man’s best friend” speech. We will deliver powerful statements with Dale Trumbore’s setting of Frederick Douglass, Ēriks Ešenvalds’ setting of Nelson Mandela, Trevor Weston’s setting of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Joel Thompson’s setting of Langston Hughes’ poetic response to Dr. King. We are delighted to honor Kirke Mechem’s 100th birthday with his Island in Space, a setting of a speech by Apollo 9 astronaut Russell Schweickart. We crown our concert with two world premieres – our own Adam Lange’s setting of the words of Harvey Milk and Zanaida Robles’ setting of Angela Davis’ famous statement, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”