A few weeks ago I had one of those right-place-at-the-right-time opportunities that prove that the universe is not devoid of a sense of good timing. The Art Sanctuary invited a group of Parkway students to attend a special student matinee performance of selections from Can You Hear God Crying? The finished work is expected to premiere in Philadelphia in June, but composer Hannibal Lokumbe and a group of singers and musicians that included students from Philadelphia and Camden were ready to give a sneak preview to hundreds of Philadelphia-area students as part of the Reading in Concert program. Through the generosity of the Art Sanctuary, we were able to bring a group of ninth graders to the Kimmel Center for no charge.
I can not emphasize how important that last sentence is. I’ve been trying to organize a ninth grade field trip for two years and every time, the cost has become a hurdle. Now we were going to have a chance to bring students inside Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center to hear a live musical performance.
Heck, I was going to have a chance to go inside Verizon Hall and hear a live musical performance. That’s been on my To Do in Philadelphia list for quite some time.
In keeping with the good timing theme, Can You Hear God Crying? is inspired by the passage of captured Africans to the Americas as part of the slave trade, but it takes the idea of the Door of No Return and extends it to everyone, to represent those turning points in our lives where we lose touch with something dear. The good timing is that in World History we had just finished discussing the slave trade the week before the performance, so here was an opportunity to show students that something that occurred hundreds of years ago was still resonating with people in the present day and shaping events in the world around us.
The performance itself was a great experience for me, for several reasons. It was inspiring to see high school students from this area on that stage, ready and able to perform. I was intrigued by Lokumbe’s work with prisoners to use music and the arts as a means for introspection and self-improvement (the Music Liberation Project). And I welcomed the opportunity to broaden my own cultural horizons a little bit. The work has choral pieces, some of which were performed by a Liberian choir in Philadelphia. It is easy for me to forget how much power the human voice has simply as an instrument; I am so familiar and comfortable with words that I tend to focus on the meaning of lyrics rather than the emotion of the performance, but that isn’t an option when you don’t know the language.
It was also interesting to me to see the students’ response to the pieces. The earlier choral pieces, especially a mournful selection about the “Jonah people†trapped in the belly of a slave ship, were the kind of music that requires stillness and concentration to appreciate. Long single notes helped me think of a ship, tossing and lurching through turbulent seas, whose passengers had lost control of their own destiny. I am far from a musical critic or expert, but this part of the program was not what I would call accessible, and I think it was a little alien to some of the students as well.
But in the second half of the performance, the drums and piano and other instruments kicked in, and Lokumbe attempted to convey the possibility of joy and hope that exists in each of us. The music was more of a jam session with an upbeat tempo, and as the students began to clap along and move in their seats I could tell that this was a musical experience that they could completely engage with. It made me think of the impromptu singing performances I’ve seen break out at school, and it reminded me once again that art is not an option in human lives – it’s something we need and a fundamental part of who we are.
As the performance came to a close, Lokumbe answered some questions from the audience, and one of our students got to ask the final question. Another student turned to me, out of the blue, and said, “I’m glad we came to this.â€
Some days, teaching isn’t just a holding action against all the challenges we face. Some days, you get to do something special. I’m very grateful to the Art Sanctuary, the Kimmel Center, Hannibal Lokumbe, the performers, and to the students and my colleagues at Parkway for making December 13 one of those days. And until June, I’ll be keeping my eye on the Kimmel Center site for more information about the finished version of Can You Hear God Crying?