Concert Program

The Right to Heal

December 4, 2022 7:00 PM

A Note from the Artistic Director

Tonality is a choir that was formed to envision a new environment where diverse singers could come together to create community and sing for justice. This mission propelled us to respond to the recent judicial decisions as well as our political climate

As we re-imagine what it truly means to be pro-life, we choose to take a broader look at our system of health care in the United States. We will hear stories and songs that paint a clearer picture of how many - again, mostly those who fall within one or multiple identities that are marginalized - fall victim to lack of resources, access, respect, and empathy. We also understand that many individuals who work within the healthcare system too become victims of overextension and the fear of litigation. And lastly, we do want to state explicitly our understanding of the nuance within reproductive health and our choice to believe, uphold, and respect persons who can become pregnant.

While difficult and controversial, we feel we have a duty to members of our community to continue to shed light on these topics to encourage activism and to aid in the healing process. On this note, we understand that these issues may be difficult to listen to, so please feel free to step out at any point during the concert as needed.

We sincerely hope that you hear these messages in a new way, find a closer connection to others who have been directly affected by these stories, and discover new ways to become involved in creating a new reality where the concern “for life” is reflected in personal and systemic practices in our country and around the world.

Thank you for joining us.

Alexander Lloyd Blake
Executive/ Founding Artistic Director

Concert Program

Give Us Our Peace

Music by:
Rollo Dilworth
Text by:
Langston Hughes

I’ve been in the storm so long.

I’ve been in the storm so long, children.

Been in the storm so long.

Oh, give me little time to pray.

To All, To Each

Music by:
William Schuman
Text by:
Walt Whitman

Come, come, come,

lovely and soothing death.

Undulate round the world,

serenely arriving, arriving, 

In the day, in the night,

to all, to each, to all to each,

Sooner, sooner or delicate death.

Greed

Music by:
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Text by:
Bernice Johnson Reagon

Refrain:

I been thinkin’ ‘bout

how to talk about greed. (2x)

I been wond’rin’ if I could sing about greed,

try’n’ to find a way to talk about greed.

Greed is a poison rising in this land.

The soul of the people

twisted in its command.

It moves like a virus seeking out ev’ryone.

Greed never stops its work,

is never ever done.

 

Refrain

It moves within the culture

touching us all,

Greed really isn’t picky, 

it’ll make anybody fall.

Greed is a strand in the American dream.

Having more than you need

is the essential theme.

Refrain

Maybe you don’t know exactly

what I mean

You don't really want to know

about your and my greed.

Greed is sneaky and

hard to detect in myself. 

It shows itself clearly in everybody else.

Refrain

I can see it in you, You can see it in me.

We can see it in big corporations, 

all throughout the government. 

See it in the banks,

I can see it in the military.

See it in the church.

I can see it in my neighbor.

It all shows up clearly. 

Refrain

"One Last Breath" from The Sacred Veil

Music by:
Eric Whitacre
Text by:
Eric Whitacre

In the dark and distant year,

The wand’rer weary, full of fear

Confronts a fated force

more powerful than life. 

A carriage made of sea has come

to take his wife.

The waves too dark and deep to swim

He hears his love cry out to him,

Her piercing anguish rising high

above the foam.

“Please don’t let go of me for you,

You are my home!”

From the shore he sees his bride

As she fights hard against the tide

He swears a sacred vow

that ev’ry loved one keeps. 

He steels himself,

Takes one last breath, 

And leaps.

Mother's Song

Music by:
Jocelyn Hagen
Text by:
translated by Willis Barnstone from Anonymous Japanese Text

If snow falls on the far field where travelers spend the night, I ask you cranes, to warm my child in your wings.

Lady in Blue

Music by:
Zanaida Stewart Robles
Text by:
Ntozake Shange from "For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf"

Tubes, tables, white-washed windows.

Grime from age wiped over once. 

Legs spread. Anxious. Anxious.

Eyes crawlin up on me. 

Eyes rollin’ in my thighs. 

Metal horses gnaw at my womb. 

Dead mice fall from my mouth.

I didn’t really mean to, 

I didn’t really think I could,

Just one day off. 

Get offa’ me all o’ this blood! 

Bones shattered like soft ice cream cones. 

I couldn’t have all o’ those people

lookin’ at me pregnant. 

I couldn’t have my friends see this.

This, this dyin’ danglin’ ‘tween my legs

and I didn't say a word.

Not a sigh. 

Not a sigh or a fat scream.

Scream to get those eyes offa me!

Get those steel drums outta me!

Get those eyes up offa me!

Get those steel drums outta me!

This hurts! This hurts me!

Eyes crawlin’ up on me. 

Eyes rollin’ in my thighs. 

Metal horses gnaw at my womb. 

Dead mice fall from my mouth.

I didn’t really mean to, 

I didn’t really think I could,

Just one day off. 

Get offa’ me all o’ this blood! 

Get offa’ me all o’ this blood!

Get offa’ me all o’ this blood!

Get offa’ me all o’ this blood!

Bones shattered like soft ice cream cones.

And nobody came ‘cause nobody knew once I was pregnant and ‘shamed of myself.

Angelica Rowell, soloist

"Child of Wonder" from The Sacred Veil

Music by:
Eric Whitacre
Text by:
Eric Whitacre

Child of wonder

Child of sky

Time to end your voyage

Time to die.

 

Weary waters beckon

Dark and deep

Child of soft surrender

Child of sleep.

 

Child of sorrow

Child of rain

There is no tomorrow

No more pain.

 

Turn your silvered sails

Toward the light

Child of mourning

Child of night.

 

Child of iridescence

Child of dream

Stars and moons will guide you

Down the stream.

 

Stretched on ocean waves

Exchanging foam

Welcome home my child

Welcome home.

Big White Room

Music by:
Originally composed by Jessie J and Arranged by Nathan Heldman
Text by:
Jessie J

Sitting in a big white room alone

Tilt my head back, feel the tears fall down

Close my eyes to see in the dark

I feel young, broken, so, so scared

I don't wanna be here anymore

I wanna be somewhere else

Normal and free, like I used to be

But I have to stay in this big white room

With little old me

I'm going crazy

I'm losing my mind

I'm going crazy

In this big white room of mine

I'm going crazy

I'm losing my mind

I'm going crazy

In this big white room of mine

Sitting in a big white room alone

Close the door

Don't want the pain to come in

I clench my fist

And try to stay strong

I cry, feel sick

My heart is beating out of control

Can I run run faster than you

I wanna feel my body again

Feel the wind in my hair

But I have to stay in this big white room

'Cause no one else cares, no

I'm going crazy

I'm losing my mind

I'm going crazy

In this big white room of mine

I'm going crazy

I'm losing my mind

I'm going crazy

In this big white room of mine

Everybody's looking at me

Everybody's staring at me

What do I do now

Smile, yeah

Everybody's looking at me

Everybody's staring at me

What do I do now

Smile, yeah

I'm going crazy

I'm losing my mind

I'm going crazy

In this big white room of mine

I'm going crazy

I'm losing my mind

I'm going crazy

In this big white room of mine

I'm going crazy

I'm losing my mind

I'm going crazy

In this big white room of mine

I'm going crazy

I'm losing my mind

I'm going crazy

In this big white room of mine

XX, soloist

Let Your True Self Sing

Music by:
Carlos Cordero
Text by:
Ryan Heller

Cold winds blow over my barren soul,

Scattered pieces of my life across broken time,

I am alone.

Surrounded by eternity

I hear a voice

Calling me:

Come back…

I am broken, yet whole.

Listen deeply,

Your true self sings

Throw open the door,

Come back to that voice,

Share that voice,

Your voice…

I Want To Know Her

Music by:
Christina Galisatus and Arranged by Erin Bentlage
Text by:
Christina Galisatus

One of these days I’ll learn to talk to you

so you can hear the love, believe the love

through the words that scare you.

Maybe we can share all the wounds

we’ve inflicted on each other.

Oh mama, oh mama, I want to know you.

Who stole the ease of apology from you?

What made everyone a threat?

Where is the place that cut your wings?

When can I see her, the child in you

that aches to know

why she cannot speak?

I want to know her so I can know you.

So she can meet the child in me too.

Hear the love, believe the love

through the words that scare you.

So she can meet the child in me too.

Treat A Stranger Right

Music by:
Blind Willie Johnson; Arranged by Moira Smiley & Alexander Lloyd Blake
Text by:
Blind Willie Johnson

Chorus:

Everybody oughta treat a stranger right.

Everybody oughta treat a stranger right.

And everybody oughta treat a stranger right.

A long way from home,

A long way from home,

 A long way, a long way from home

Verse 1:

Be mindful how speaking.

Be careful how you go along.

You must always treat a stranger right.

Don't insult him in your home,

don't insult him in your home

and everybody oughta treat a stranger right.

(Repeat Chorus)

Verse 2:

Well all of us are strangers

and none of us has a home.

You must never hurt your brother or sister

and cause them to pull their own, 

And cause them to pull their own

and everybody oughta treat a stranger right.

‍(Repeat Chorus)

Kay Sibal, soloist

Performers

Soprano

  • Hannah Abrahim
  • Anna Crumley
  • Cassandra Duschene
  • Gracie Laboy
  • Meredith Pyle
  • Becca Tomasko

Alto

  • Tehillah Alphonso
  • Kim Dawson
  • Katelyn Dietz
  • Natalie Gonzalez
  • Hannah Lewis
  • Molly Pease

Tenor

  • Sam Avila
  • Isaiah Chacon
  • Kion Heidari
  • Rohan Ramanan
  • David Morales
  • Josh Munnell

Bass

  • Jonathan Byram
  • Brandon Guzman
  • Ian Gabriel Luna
  • Anthony Moreno
  • Aaron Jung
  • Lorenzo Zapata

Soloists

  • Kim Dawson, Give Us Our Peace
  • Hannah Abrahim, Greed
  • Molly Pease, Lady In Blue
  • Natalie Gonzales, Big White Room
  • Hannah Lewis, Treat A Stranger Right

Instrumentalists

  • Zev Shearn-Nance, percussion
  • Chris Rorrer, cello
  • Jonathan Richards, upright bass
  • Christina Galisatus, piano
  • Kristen Simpson, piano

Deaf Performers

  • Mikey Agyin
  • LaMehammad
  • RiRi Richardson

Interpreters

  • Selena Flowers
  • Gema Niebla
  • Ashley Rodriguez

Usher Interpreters

  • Ashley Rodriguez
  • Gema Niebla

Special Thanks

Company Manager & Executive Administrator

  • Hasan Crawford

Tonality Board of Directors

  • Dr. Alexander Lloyd Blake, Executive Director
  • Dr. David Connors, Board Chair
  • Dr. Tram Sparks, Vice Chair
  • Joe Trapanese, Secretary
  • Dr. Kimberly Bradshaw, Treasurer
  • Patrick Achis
  • Stacy Brightman
  • Jacob Broussard
  • Shawn Kirchner
  • Stuart Marks
  • Caroline McKenzie
  • Jordan Reddout

Honorary Board Members

  • Michael Abels
  • Kris Bowers
  • Lara Downes
  • Dr. Melissa Dunphy
  • Brian Lauritzen
  • Kevin “K.O.” Olusola

Advisory Board Members

  • Dr. Derrell Acon
  • Melissa Denton
  • Kristy Edmunds
  • Ted Hearne
  • Luke McEndarfer
  • Jen Belladin Rogers
  • Sara Scott
  • Leslie Thomas
  • Booker White

We sincerely thank:

  • Dr. David Connors, Dr. Tram Sparks, and the Tonality Board of Directors
  • Kristen Simpson
  • ProBono ASL
  • The Colburn School
  • The Ebell of Los Angeles
  • Healthcare Ally

We are gathered today on the unceded land of the Tongva peoples. We ask you to join us in acknowledging the Tongva community, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations. This land has nourished, healed, protected and embraced the Tongva peoples for many generations in a relationship of balance and harmony. As members of the Tonality community we acknowledge this legacy. We promote this balance and harmony. We find inspiration from this land; the land of the Tongva. This acknowledgement demonstrates Tonality’s commitment to the process of dismantling the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism and honoring our Nation’s Indigenous Peoples.

Acknowledgments

2022-2023 Supporters of Tonality

  • Dwight Stuart Youth Fund
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  • County of Arts and Culture OGP Grant
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Healthcare Ally

Healthcare Ally’s mission is to educate, inspire, and train healthcare workers on LGBTQ+ topics so that they may become healthcare allies and provide inclusive care for LGBTQ+ people. Learn more at www.HealthcareAlly.org or @HealthcareAlly on Instagram.

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Contributions made to our organization are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Here are three ways you can contribute:

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Kindly help us to spread the word to others who care about valuing social justice in our society.

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Upcoming Events

The Wallis | At War With Ourselves - 400 Years of You
Saturday, February 15, 2025
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The Wallis | At War With Ourselves - 400 Years of You

Music @ The Wallis is generously made possible by Terri and Jerry Kohl At War With Ourselves – 400 Years of You features a text by National Book Award-winning poet Nikky Finney inspired by her 2013 poem “The Battle of and for the Black Face Boy.” The music was composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Abels, composer for the Jordan Peele films Us and Get Out. This powerful new work for string quartet, narrator, and chorus explores race relations, social justice, and civil rights in 21st century America. KRONOS QUARTET TONALITY MUSIC BY Michael Abels TEXT & NARRATION BY Nikky Finney CONDUCTED BY Alexander Lloyd Blake

The Wallis | Put Your Guns Down
Saturday, May 24, 2025
|
7:30 pm
The Wallis | Put Your Guns Down

Music @ The Wallis is generously made possible by Terri and Jerry Kohl Making their Wallis debut, GRAMMY-award winning vocal choir Tonality combines melodic harmonies to present concerts on themes of social justice in hopes to catalyze empathy and community activism. Put Your Guns Down discusses issues related to gun violence in the United States. Some of the selections will discuss mass shootings, police brutality, the effects on victims, school shootings, and suicide prevention. The concert also focuses on an active sense of peace as we come together to find solutions toward the epidemic of gun violence in this country. This evening’s performance will feature the world premiere of Alexander Lloyd Blake’s Running From, Running To: A Musical Reflection on Ahmaud Arbery.