Weekend pick: In a continued focus on social justice, Coro Piccolo offers a searing piece about George Floyd
By Donald Munro
A choral work that meditates on the killing of George Floyd might not be everyone’s idea of a Mother’s Day concert. But Anna Hamre, artistic director of the Fresno Community Chorus, knows that there is an audience for socially meaningful and wrenchingly emotional works of art at any time of the year – and that sharing such an experience with someone you love can make it all the more compelling.
That’s why Hamre and her Coro Piccolo ensemble, one of the groups under the umbrella of the Fresno Community Chorus, are electing to perform “Weather: Stand the Storm,” an extended classical composition by Rollo Dilworth in response to Floyd’s murder. The concert is 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 10, at Hope Lutheran Church.
Here are some excerpts from an interview with Hamre:
Q: What can you tell us about “Weather”?
A: It is an extended original classical composition that has strong blues and gospel elements. The ending feels like it could conclude a Broadway musical. While incorporating the poetry of Claudia Rankine, the music was written by Rollo Dilworth in response to murder of George Floyd. It is full of symbolic gestures, such as using 27 measures of introduction to reflect the 27 times George Floyd uttered the words “I can’t breathe.” The most complicated section has meter shifts from 8/8 to 4/4 to 6/8, signifying 8:46, the amount of time authorities initially thought George Floyd was under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Video evidence shows that 9:29 was the actual duration, so Dilworth adds an additional section of metric shifts from 9/8 to 2/4 to 9/8. In using such numerical symbolism, Dilworth carries on the practice of previous great composers (like J. S. Bach).
Q: What is Dilworth’s Fresno connection?
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A: He is a professor at Temple University, where he specializes in teaching music education classes. He is also a prominent conductor, composer, and clinician. When I was at Fresno State, I asked him to adjudicate choral festivals twice. When Aaron Bryan (Fresno County Office of Education) and I started the Unity Fresno Choral Festival three years ago, we invited him to be our first clinician. He guest-directed the Master Chorale at that event.
Q: What is something you learned about the death of George Floyd by immersing yourself in this piece?
A: Well, like everyone else, I was horrified and outraged by the public execution of George Floyd. But now some details (like 8 minutes and 46 seconds) are absolutely seared into my brain. Art can tell stories in the most profound, influential, and lasting ways.
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Q: Is there more to the concert than this piece?
A: The first third of the intermissionless concert will be Quintus and Altissima performing Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Romancero Gitano (poetry by Federico García Lorca) with Kevin Cooper on guitar. It’s a remarkable work by an exceptional composer who escaped fascist Italy 1939 to find work in Hollywood. The middle third includes a segment entitled “Mourning Mothers Who Say their Names and Know Their Names,” created by teresa k. gipson in recognition of bereaved women on Mother’s Day. All of this music is the culmination of a year’s effort focused on the theme: Still We Rise.
Q: Thoughts on your social-justice concerts?
A: The reaction has (so far) been very positive. I often imagine ancient cultures where elders (often sitting around a campfire) would tell their stories that share their history, illuminate justice, and build community. We are telling stories that need to be told.
