Melissa Dunphy

Other Arrangements

TTBB choir

A moving choral setting of excerpts of public testimony given before the Maine Senate by WWII veteran Phillip Spooner in a hearing to discuss the Marriage Equality Bill on April 22, 2009. Nearly 4,000 people attended the hearing, with marriage equality supporters out-numbering the opposition 4 to 1. On November 2, 2009, Maine voters repealed the bill that allowed same-sex couples the right to marry.

Press Quotes

Featured on Towleroad, ChoralNet Blog, The Albany Times Union (David Griggs-Janower), Joe. My. God., Good As You, Slacktivist, KCMetropolis (plus additional interview), Instinct Magazine's "Video of the Day" (June 2, 2010).

"Melissa Dunphy’s piece What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach? is quite remarkable, not least for the choice of text... Dunphy's music is unsettling and it’s a very individual setting which respects speech rhythms very well. It’s a thought-provoking piece not least for Spooner’s very moving sentiments." [musicweb-international.com]

"You're also going to want to hear Melissa Dunphy's unique and affecting setting of - of all things - a WWII veteran's testimony on matters of sexual equality given before the Mine State Senate. 'My wife and I did not raise four sons with the idea that our gay son would be left out,' he told them. 'We raised them all to be hard-working, proud, and loyal Americans and they all did good.' Amen." [American Record Guide]

"The most individual work is Melissa Dunphy's What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?; Dunphy shows great ingenuity and individuality in this powerful setting of Philip Spooner's public testimony before the State of Maine Senate discussing the Marriage Equality Bill." [Choir & Organ]

"Dunphy's music has hints of an almost Copland-like robustness and makes effective use of imitation in a way that suggests a twenty-first-century composer with a strong sense of counterpoint." [International Record Review]

"A bold and highly effective setting of a thought-provoking text." [Simon Carrington]

“This piece demonstrates to me how a true artist is able to take even a most unlikely source of inspiration and yet create a new work of art from it,” says Barnes. “It is for others to argue the case behind Philip Spooner’s words, but Melissa Dunphy’s music certainly poses the question in a new and telling light.” [Philip Barnes]

"The final piece on the program was Melissa Dunphy’s stunning 2010 “What Do You Think I Fought for at Omaha Beach?” Excerpts from veteran Philip Spooner’s testimony before the Maine Senate, in a hearing on the Marriage Equality Bill, its music ranges from the Coplandesque to the martial. The touching text and moving music were made powerful by the SLCC’s performance." [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

"A newly commissioned work by Melissa Dunphy followed: “What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?” Dunphy’s music was exceptional, with supple lines effectively depicting the words of a veteran, and acerbic harmonies specifically setting the text 'I’ve seen so much, so much blood and guts.'" [Kansas City Star]

"Simon Carrington gave his reasoning behind selecting Dunphy's work as the winner. "There were plenty of excellent pieces in the sweet-sounding modern idiom which SCCS would make very beautiful, but the strongest (and most individual) piece was Melissa Dunphy's What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach? - a bold and highly effective setting of a thought-provoking text." [KCMETROPOLIS.org]

What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?
Excerpted from public testimony by Phillip Spooner (2009)

Good morning, committee. My name is Phillip Spooner and I live at 5 Graham Street in Biddeford. I am 86 years old and a lifetime Republican and an active VFW chaplain … I was born on a potato farm north of Caribou and Perham, where I was raised to believe that all men are created equal and I've never forgotten that.

I served in the U.S. Army, 1942-1945 … I worked with every outfit over there, including Patton's Third Army. I saw action in all five major battles in Europe … I was in the liberation of Paris.

(I have seen much, so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sadness, much sacrifice.)

I am here today because of a conversation I had last June when I was voting. A woman … asked me, "Do you believe in equality for gay and lesbian people?" I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her, "What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?"

For freedom and equality. These are the values that make America a great nation, one worth dying for.

My wife and I did not raise four sons with the idea that our gay son would be left out. We raised them all to be hard-working, proud, and loyal Americans and they all did good.

—Public testimony given before the Maine Senate by Phillip Spooner in a hearing to discuss the Marriage Equality Bill on April 22, 2009. Nearly 4,000 people attended the hearing, with marriage equality supporters out-numbering the opposition 4 to 1.

On November 2, 2009, Maine voters repealed the bill that allowed same-sex couples the right to marry.

Performances

• 02 Mar, 2024: PhilHarmonia at ACDA Eastern, Providence, RI
• 03 Dec, 2023: Tonality at Pico Union Project, Los Angeles, CA
• 01 Dec, 2023: Tonality at Grace First Presbyterian Church, Long Beach, CA
• 07 Oct, 2023: Kamarikuoro Kaamos at Kallio Church (Kallion Kirkko), Helsinki, Finland
• 30 Sep, 2023: Big Mouth Society at The Armory: Ellyn Bye Studio Lobby, Portland, OR
• 30 Sep, 2023: Big Mouth Society at The Armory: Ellyn Bye Studio Lobby, Portland, OR
• 12 Nov, 2022: Eastman Chorale at Incarnate World Lutheran Church, Rochester, NY
• 05 Jun, 2022: Harmonium at Our Lady of Sorrows, South Orange, NJ
• 03 Jun, 2022: Harmonium at Our Lady of Sorrows, South Orange, NJ
• 22 May, 2022: La Jolla Symphony at Good Samaritan Episcopal Church, San Diego, CA
• 10 Apr, 2022: Penn State University Choir at Recital Hall of the School of Music, Penn State University, University Park, PA
• 10 Nov, 2019: Coro Allegro at Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA
• 08 Nov, 2019: Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir at Kirkpatrick Chapel, New Brunswick, NJ
• 20 Oct, 2019: Te Deum at Village Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, KS
• 19 Oct, 2019: Te Deum at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, MO
• 08 Jun, 2019: Ex Ore Equi at LV21, Gravesend, Kent, UK
• 11 Nov, 2018: Chestnut Street Singers at First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA
• 09 Nov, 2018: Chestnut Street Singers at Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA
• 06 Oct, 2018: Inversion Ensemble at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Austin, TX
• 24 Jun, 2018: Resonance Ensemble at Cerimon House, Portland, OR
• 02 Jun, 2018: Ex Ore Equi at The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, London, UK
• 12 May, 2018: Big Mouth Society at Warner Pacific University, Portland, OR
• 07 Apr, 2018: University of Toledo Concert Chorale at University of Toledo, OH
• 27 Oct, 2017: University of Toledo Concert Chorale at Trinity Episcopal Church, Toledo, OH
• 17 Jun, 2017 - 18 Jun, 2017: 18th Street Singers at Luther Place Memorial Church, Washington DC
• 01 Jun, 2017: Kellogg Chamber Singers at California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, CA
• 22 Apr, 2017: Pennsylvania All State Chorus at PMEA Annual Conference, Warner Theater, Erie, PA
• 13 Mar, 2016: Musica Vocale at Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, MO
• 19 Nov, 2014: Temple University Singers at Lew Klein Hall, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
• 09 Nov, 2014: UUCB Choir at Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, IN
• 07 Nov, 2014: PhilHarmonia at Settlement Music School, Philadelphia, PA
• 09 Mar, 2014: Volti at David Brower Center, Berkeley CA
• 08 Mar, 2014: Volti at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, CA
• 07 Mar, 2014: Volti at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco, CA
• 23 Feb, 2014: Convivium at Christ Episcopal Church, Los Altos, CA
• 09 Feb, 2014: Convivium at Bing Concert Hall, Stanford, CA
• 18 Oct, 2013 - 19 Oct, 2013: San Francisco School of the Arts Chamber Choir at San Francisco School of the Arts, CA
• 14 Nov, 2012: Indiana University Contemporary Vocal Ensemble at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, IN
• 11 Nov, 2012: Saint Louis Chamber Chorus at Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, MO
• 04 Apr, 2012: Chanticleer at Menlo-Atherton High School Pac Theater, Atherton
• 03 Apr, 2012: Chanticleer at First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA
• 31 Mar, 2012 - 01 Apr, 2012: Chanticleer at Koret Auditorium, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
• 23 Apr, 2011: Whitman College Chamber Singers at Whitman College, WA
• 20 Mar, 2011: WCU Mastersingers at Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall, West Chester University, PA
• 28 May, 2010: Simon Carrington Chamber Singers at Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, MO
• 28 May, 2010: Simon Carrington Chamber Singers at First Presbyterian Church, Lawrence, KS

Awards

• Simon Carrington Chamber Singers Composition Competition 2010