The choral group will be joined by composer in two special performances of his original work in New Mexico this weekend.
In 1998, 21-year-old college student was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming. He was brutally beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die. Shepard was a gay man, and many have speculated over the years that .
Johnson wrote his Grammy-nominated piece in Shepard鈥檚 honor in 2016, and now, 27 years after Shepard鈥檚 death, Johnson will conduct the Albuquerque-based choral group through his piece.
In an , Johnson spoke about his reaction to learning of Shepard鈥檚 murder:
鈥淭here was something about it that just affected me in a very particularly grievous way,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚 felt so many things. So the sort of short version of all that is that, I sort of resolved at that point that I have to respond to this in some way, and I want to respond in some way musically.鈥�
Johnson鈥檚 three-part fusion oratorio will contain music across a variety of genres, and close with an epilogue of peace, as he calls it,
鈥淭o come together as an audience and a group of performers to hold each other basically and to maybe allow some of these questions to motivate us forward,鈥� Johnson said.
Coro Lux performed Considering Matthew Shepard back in 2019, but the upcoming performance will be particularly special due to Johnson鈥檚 presence.
Considering Matthew Shepard will be performed in , and .
