Soloists in choral works typically do not sing lyrics written from the perspective of a fence. When they do it in “Considering Matthew Shepard,” the choristers bringing it to the stage say it provides some of the most powerful moments of a powerful work.
The oratorio, which is nearly a decade old and will be given its South Florida debut by the Master Chorale of South Florida, tells the story of Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college student who in October 1998 was beaten, tortured and left to die on a fence outside Laramie. The performances, at Fort Lauderdale’s Sunshine Cathedral on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1, will be the chorale’s 2024 Concert with a Cause; proceeds will go to SunServe, which provides mental health and other services to youths and other at-risk members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We live here in South Florida and our members of the master chorale represent many different communities – we’re a diverse group of individuals” (that includes many LGBTQ members), says Brett Karlin, the chorale’s artistic director and conductor. “This is an extraordinary piece of classical music that was composed in the last 8 to 10 years that people here need to hear. We believe in it as an extraordinary piece of music – as an extraordinary piece of sonic art. In addition to that, it becomes a particularly emotional experience.”
Many chorale members, says Karlin, remember attending vigils or experiencing Shepard’s death in other ways when it happened. It’s an intensely personal piece of work for many. Personally, he said that as an out gay man who was still a boy and too young to really know about it at the time, he’s come to learn the power of the story as an adult. It’s a power that’s expressed tremendously through the medium of music in this piece – so much so that Karlin compares it to some of the most famously powerful choral works there are.
“It becomes really extraordinary when compared to something like Verdi’s Requiem, which is personalized but in a different way,” he says.
Considering Matthew Shepard creator Craig Hella Johnson debuted it in 2016 with Conspirare, the Austin-based choral ensemble he founded. Since then the work has been performed around the world – but until now, not in South Florida, Karlin says. Called a “fusion oratorio,” it blends styles and genres, opening with Bach and also bringing in rock, waltzes and something that sounds more than a bit like Dolly Parton. There’s a yodel, and there’s music inspired by Arvo Part. It is, to put it mildly, hard to pin down in a musical sense.
“You are taking various forms of music and putting it all together in one larger piece,” says chorister Mark Blaylock. “Going into this, one of my fears was, oh, a modern composition, it’s going to sound modern, there aren’t going to be melodies and it won’t be enjoyable. But once I started listening to it – and now rehearsing it even more – the variety works so well to tell the story.”
The music is interspersed with words – everything from the poetry of Rumi to Shepard’s own words (from his journal), and the words of his parents, Judy and Dennis. It’s split into three parts – the prologue, the passion and the epilogue. First we meet Matthew. Then, in the passion, the audience is told of that night – including from the perspective of the fence that held him. Afterwards, the fence becomes a place of meeting and community, lined with candles and remembrances. Then finally, the epilogue takes the work from fence to horizon.
It’s an ending that Karlin sees as making the work about more than one senseless, tragic act. “Now that we have told this story, now that we have set this tragic incident to theater, where do we go from here?” says Karlin says. “It ends hopeful; it ends uplifting.”
The concert also has a practical application on the “Where do we go from here?” question. As the chorale’s 2024 Concert for a Cause, it will raise money for SunServe, a group that provides a diverse set of services in the LGBTQ community. When he’s not singing with the chorale, Blaylock is also CFO of the Our Fund Foundation, an LGBTQ community foundation that partners with it.
“This gives us an opportunity to highlight the work that SunServe is doing particularly in the youth area,” he says. “It’s great collaboration; it allows us to highlight the work that this valuable organization does.”
INFOBOX
WHAT: The South Florida Master Chorale performs “Considering Matthew Shepard”
WHERE: Sunshine Cathedral, 1480 SW 9th Ave, Fort Lauderdale
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1.
TICKETS: $40 in advance, $45 on the door, $55 preferred seating
INFORMATION: www.masterchoraleofsouthflorida.org/considering-matthew-shepard
All Photos By Alex Markow Photography
This story was produced by Broward Arts Journalism Alliance (BAJA), an
independent journalism program of the Broward County Cultural Division. Visit
ArtsCalendar.com for more stories about the arts in South Florida.
