The Young Women’s Chorus, the select ensemble of the Young Women’s Choral Projects of San Francisco, presents Liberty for All: Music of Resistance & Revolution in concert this Sunday afternoon. Executive and Artistic Director Susan McMane says the programming highlights the idea of living one’s values.
There’s more information about the concert at the YWCP website.
The 42 members of the premiere choir (in the 7th-12th grade), the Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco are very strong and passionate singers, says McMane. They feel as strongly as many of the young people who have been raising their voices for change in the past few years, which was the inspiration for the program. “What it was, was seeing young people taking a stand for their values. And my girls, when I mentioned that I’d like do a concert about liberty and justice for everyone, they started cheering! And I thought, wow, I’ve never had a group of girls cheer for a program title!” There are selections from a variety of sources. “Some of the pieces are more reflective, and give you time to think, and some of them are, it’s time to rise up and go to the streets for what you care about. Have some passion in your life and show up… Contemporary composer Jake Runestad wrote this piece called ‘Rise Up,’ and it’s words of Susan B. Anthony. When you’re passionate about something, when you think something should change, you need to reflect on it, and then you need to rise up and get moving.” The program begins with music from Estonia, where the ‘Singing Revolution’ took place, and includes works from as far afield as a Sumatran internment camp, and the Revolutionary War.
