Considering Matthew Shepard

ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

Music Worcester presents a benefit concert of Considering Matthew Shepard, featuring the professional chorus CONCORA and commemorating the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death, this performance will bring together four Worcester-based non-profits serving the LGBTQ+ communities of Central MA and beyond.

With movements ranging from chant to Gospel, and texts ranging from excerpts of Matthew Shepard’s own journals to love poetry across the centuries, Considering Matthew Shepard at Mechanics Hall will serve as a singular occasion to remember Matthew Shepard’s story and will distribute proceeds to support Worcester Pride, Safe Homes, LGBT Asylum Task Force, and AIDS Project Worcester. Click on their logos below for more information.

PROGRAM

Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard

Dedicated website on the work is available by clicking here.

Additionally, click here for a video preview of the work, or here to hear the composer speak of the work and describe its origins following a performance.

ABOUT CONCORA

CONCORA has been praised as “one of the premier musical forces in the state,” “one of our region’s priceless musical assets,” and “a model of choral artistry.”

For more than four decades, CONCORA has enriched the Greater Hartford area with concerts of beautiful choral music presented by its professional singers. Now in its 45th season, the ensemble enjoys an extraordinary reputation for artistic excellence throughout New England.

Under the direction of Chris Shepard, now in his fourth season as Artistic Director, the ensemble’s versatility is displayed in its wide range of repertoire and in the crafting of ensembles from among the choir’s roster of singers to produce an extraordinary range of choral color and dynamic range for each program and performance space.

Choral music has the power to cross cultural boundaries and to move hearts, and CONCORA’s mission to reach a broad and diverse audience extends not only to the choral aficionado, but also to those who may be touched by the beauty of the choral art for the first time.