Special Event! – “Considering Matthew Shepard”
by Craig Hella Johnson
The Carolina Master Chorale opens its 2023-24 concert season October 13-15, with CONSIDERING MATTHEW SHEPARD, a Grammy-nominated three-part oratorio composed by Craig Hella Johnson. The work is an evocative and compassionate musical response to the murder of Matthew Shepard. On October 6, 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, beaten, and left to die, in what became an infamous act of brutality, and one of America’s most notorious anti-gay hate crimes. Shepard’s murder ultimately led to the creation of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and provided a catalyst for legislation that expanded the definition of a hate crime to include sexual orientation. In 2009, Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Composer Craig Hella Johnson had a profoundly personal reaction to both the murder and its resonance.
This three-part fusion oratorio speaks with a fresh and bold voice, incorporating a variety of musical styles seamlessly woven into a unified whole. Johnson sets a wide range of poetic and soulful texts by poets including Hildegard of Bingen, Lesléa Newman, Michael Dennis Browne, and Rumi. The Shepard family and Foundation engaged with Johnson in the creation of the work and allowed the use of fragments from Shepard’s personal diary. These excerpts, along with interviews and writings from Matthew’s parents Judy and Dennis Shepard, newspaper reports, and additional texts by Johnson and Browne are poignantly appointed throughout the work.
The Carolina Master Chorale will stage the work in a collaborative effort with the Theatre of the Republic of Conway South Carolina. A chamber instrumental ensemble from the Long Bay Symphony of Myrtle Beach will accompany the performance. The ensemble features string quintet, clarinet, guitar, marimba, and percussion. Soloists, singing in musical styles from classical to country and gospel will be chosen from throughout the Myrtle Beach musical community.