RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 2022

This inspiring oratorio will be under the direction of William Thomas, and will showcase the artistry of the Tidewater Singers augmented with several new voices and a chamber orchestra.

The Washington Post wrote “’Considering Matthew Shepard’ demonstrates music’s capacity to encompass, transform and transcend tragedy. Powerfully cathartic, it leads us from horror and grief to a higher understanding of the human condition, enabling us to endure.”

  Matthew Shepard’s story must never be forgotten.

In October of 1998, Matthew Shepard, a young, gay student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie was kidnapped, severely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in a lonely field. Five days later, when Matt passed away, the world was watching. Approaching the 20th anniversary, Craig Hella Johnson responded with his first concert-length work, “Considering Matthew Shepard.”

Johnson sets a wide range of poetic and soulful texts by poets including Hildegard of Bingen, Lesléa Newman, Michael Dennis Browne, and Rumi. Passages from Matt’s personal journal, interviews and writings from his parents Judy and Dennis Shepard, newspaper reports and additional texts by Johnson and Browne are poignantly appointed throughout the work.  

 "Matt Shepard and his story have led me on an inspiring, challenging and deeply meaningful journey that I continue to this day. In composing “Considering Matthew Shepard” I wanted to create, within a musical framework, a space for reflection, consideration and unity around his life and legacy."

– Craig Hella Johnson, composer

From https://conspirare.org/project/considering-matthew-shepard/