JUSTICE MARCH

Composed: 2022
Commission: CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra
Premiere: April 23, 2022
Duration: 20 minutes
Instrumentation: violin, viola, cello, clarinet, and percussion

PROGRAM NOTES

I.Gathering
II. March for Equality
III. Illusive Hope

In this work, I dream of a group of people who are oppressed or treated as second-class citizens coming together to march for equality. (The musicians actually come together as well, playing at the beginning of the movement from the back and sides of the hall and slowly walking to the stage.) Gradually they gather from different parts of the world and by the end of the first movement they are together in the same place and each telling her tale.  Filled with hesitant energy, the group marches in March for Equality,  pushing forward  nervously but relentlessly with no stopping to rest.  Finished marching in the last movement, they are hopeful but filled with questions.  Did they achieve results? Will the struggle ever cease?  They gather together quietly and hope for a better future.