Artist and choreographer David Thomson shared insights into the creation of his response to the music of Kevin Siegfried. “During the extended COVID closures, we as artists had to become creative and resourceful in the ways we create, present, and collaborate. As New York began to slowly reopen, it was such a joy to hear from Pat Owens, the Executive Director of The New York Choral Society, about a project they were working on that would introduce me to an important figure in Black history…their latest project, Morning Light, brings to visual life the cycle of light to dark, calm to chaos, and the belief that with faith, we can weather any storm that life may bring.
Kevin Siegfried’s arrangement of this song/hymn is a testament of how choral music can create textured landscapes that draw one in and offers the possibilities of hope and resilience at the end of the day. In a way, I feel this work is a meditation of breath, body, and water. I believe given our current situation regarding climate change and the psychological and physical effects of COVID-19, there is a connection to trauma within the body, the body of earth, and our own bodies, and concepts of healing and recovery.
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