'Powerful'
Brutal slaying of gay student Matthew Shepard inspires oratorio
On Oct. 6, 1998, 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard, was beaten, tortured, tied to a fence and left to die all because he was gay.
Discovered by a passing cyclist and taken to hospital with severe head injuries, Shepard died six days later. The brutal murder launched a national debate about hate crimes, but for American composer, Craig Hella Johnson, the death also inspired him to compose “Considering Matthew Shepard.”
The Canadian debut of the oratorio will be performed this weekend by the Grand Philharmonic Chamber Singers and
University of Waterloo Chamber Choir at the University of Waterloo Humanities Theatre.
Music director Mark Vuorinen said that like Bach’s Passions and Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,” “Considering Matthew Shepard” is full of pain and sorrow, but also hope and love. The young man had been the victim of a modern day crucifixion and following his death, hate laws were changed to include sexual orientation.
“The subject matter is contemporary: he was killed because he was gay,” said Vuorinen. “It’s a powerful piece.
“The singers and performers are grappling with every raw emotion.”
Everyone will be able to relate to the repugnancy of the crime and come to the realization that such hate still permeates society and the crimes continue to happen in our own communities, on
our streets, said Vuorinen.
This was Johnson’s first major oratorio and he chose to tell Shepard’s story using several musical genres, from classical to gospel and even country.
“He calls it ‘fusion oratorio,’” explained Vuorinen.
“He deliberately set it to a lot of different styles of music.
“It will appeal to a wide range of people.”
For Vuorinen, this meant he had the tricky task of finding four soloists capable of singing across the different genres. Just because a trained singer excels in operatic style doesn’t mean they can belt out a country tune.
The oratorio’s text was drawn from many sources, including the poetry of Rumi, Lesléa Newman and Blake. Johnson also wrote some of the text, using unusual imagery — at one point, the choir sings from the perspective of the fence holding up the dying boy and in another as a deer who has come to lay beside this “ordinary boy.” There are also excerpts from Shepard’s own diary.
When Vuorinen first considered performing the piece, he studied the score carefully. “It took a couple of listenthroughs to get it,” he said.
“Stylistically, it’s very different, but it really works.”
He talks about the “dramatic arc” in the work that makes the work riveting.
“There’s a blues solo with a really emotional electric guitar solo,” he said. “It’s very intense.”
Johnson, artistic director of the Grammy Award-winning choral group Conspirare, debuted the work in 2016 in Texas with his choir and has been touring the work around the U.S.
“This is the first time it’s gone out into the world,” said Vuorinen. “We’re not only the first in Canada, we’re one of the first without Johnson conducting.”