“Sacred spaces are not immune to hatred and violence, and there is perhaps no clearer demonstration of this than the mass shooting of nine worshippers at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina by a white supremacist,” writes Lauren Alfano on Friday (7/5) at ICareIfYouListen.com. “The massacre prompted a great outpouring of grief.… How does one remember the lives of victims of violence through music?… Classical composer and Jazz trumpeter Hannibal Lokumbe doesn’t claim to have the answers, but his powerful requiem, Crucifixion Resurrection: Nine Souls A-Traveling, is a most perfect solution. Crucifixion Resurrection: Nine Souls A-Traveling was composed in 2017 … and was most recently performed by Intersection Contemporary Music Ensemble, led by Kelly Corcoran, during the 2019 League of American Orchestras Conference in Nashville, TN. As a conference attendee, I joined a group of fellow classical music professionals in a silent march to the Downtown Presbyterian Church.… As we sat down in pews facing the musicians …I began to forget that I was there to attend a concert.… It felt as if we were friends joining together to recall the lives of old acquaintances in a sacred service for the dead, and to pray for peace.”
Posted July 9, 2019
In photo: The League of American Orchestras’ 2019 National Conference in Nashville included a performance of Hannibal Lokumbe’s Crucifixion Resurrection: Nine Souls A-Traveling preceded by a silent walk from the Conference site to Nashville’s Downtown Presbyterian Church. Photo by Alan Poizner
