Amendment: Pledging Allegiance (2020)
for SATB choir, cello | 00:03:00
by Melissa Dunphy | text by Stacey Abrams
About
Founding Commission by Chorosynthesis Singers, Santa Monica College, & Connecticut College.Commissioning choirs:
- Chorosynthesis Singers
- Connecticut College Choirs
- Santa Monica College Choirs
- The Dubuque Chorale
- Denver Choir League
- Eastern Connecticut Symphony Chorus
- ICantori of Walla Walla University
- Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, Indiana
- Vesper Chorale
- Susquehanna Valley Chorale
- One Voice Chorus
- Syracuse University Choirs
- Cerddorion
Excerpted from the multimovement work Amendment, this song sets text from three historical women in a message of hope for future equality.
World Premiere (virtual) by Chorosynthesis Singers, Jeremiah Selvey and Wendy Moy, Co-Artistic Directors. The live premiere of this work was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Texts curated by Melissa Dunphy, Wendy Moy, Helena Pennington, Kala Pierson, and Jeremiah Selvey. View texts at chorosynthesis.org
Related Works
Amendment: Righting Our Wrongs (SATB choir, cello)
Synopsis
[1] Francis Bellamy, “The Pledge of Allegiance.” 1971
[2] Astrid Silva, “Democratic Response to President Donald Trump’s First Congressional Joint Address.” Speech given in Spanish with an English translation made available through The Washington Post, 2017
[3] Mary Church Terrell, “The Progress of Colored Women.” Speech given at the National American Women’s Suffrage Association,1898
Curation and collection of texts and structure of work,
© Copyright 2020 Dunphy, Moy, Pennington, Pierson, & Selvey
Lyrics
Pledging Allegiance
Text by Francis Bellamy, Astrid Silva, and Mary Church
Terrell
With liberty and justice for all.[1]
We go on with hope.
We know the wind blows words away.
Actions are what matter[2]
And so, lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go.
With courage born of past success, with a keen sense of
responsibility, we look forward, to a future large with
promise and hope.[3]