Dear Friends of White Snake Projects:
Thank you for coming to Sing Out Strong: Essential Voices, a world premiere concert celebrating essential workers by commissioning composers to set their stories and words to music. Seen and Heard International called the concert a “triumph of artistry and technology.” The full review is HERE. The songs, testaments to these epic times, were powerful and moving and it was a joy to see the songwriting teams talk about their inspiration. You can read the song lyrics HERE. It was also awesome to experience live performance again. Jon Robertson, our audio engineer, fearlessly worked his magic to allow our musicians to perform live synchronously from their homes; James Rush, our broadcast engineer, made live video cuts to create compelling visuals; while Miguel Flores, production stage manager, and Taylor Hansen, production manager, wrangled the tech and art into a seamless whole.
I’m still savoring the last notes of this concert and basking in the joy of live performance. But my heart is also broken as I grieve the loss of so many Americans to the coronavirus. I am grateful we had this opportunity to celebrate our everyday heroes. I’m also grateful that White Snake Projects was able to showcase our musicians – Mimi Hilaire, Sarah Coit, Nathan Ben-Yehuda and Agnes Kim, led by Maestro Tianhui Ng – as they wove their musical spell on us. My heart is with you, dear artists, as you wait for the time when your music making can flower fully again.
For those of you who were not able to come to the show on December 19, here’s a link to the recording. It will up until the end of the year.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
Be safe, be well, make music,
Cerise and all of us at White Snake Projects
An Activist Opera Company