Set Myself Free (2020)
for SSAA choir | 00:04:00
by Melissa Dunphy
About
Commissioned by Amuse Singers, Artistic Director Phillip Cheah, to commemorate the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.A new text by Jacqueline Goldfinger commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment in this confident feminist song for intermediate treble chorus.
Artwork by Claris Park.
Synopsis
Set Myself Free
By Jaqueline Goldfinger
Suck-in stomach.
Wet plump lips.
Paint myself,
Until I can't see myself.
Pleasing you.
I'm tired of my
Face Waist Thighs.
Tired of being the...
UnMe? Not Me?
The Never Good Enough To Be Really Seen.
I scrub the shame out of my eyes.
What to do,
with this paint left behind?
Make
Signs
Slogans
Screaming
Your rights and mine.
Laws
Re-painted
To better align
With the dreams
Our foremothers bought
on back and bent knee.
They knew the price of liberty.
They paid day after day
So I could re-paint the Constitution,
And set myself free.
Performances
- 30 May, 2026 - 31 May, 2026: The Zia Singers at Christ Church Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
- 14 Sep, 2025: Banyatank at House of Music, Budapest, Hungary
- 17 Nov, 2024: Nassau Senior Treble Choir at Adelphi University Performing Arts Center, Garden City, NY
- 13 Jul, 2024: MUSE Cincinnati Women's Choir at Minneapolis Convention Center Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
- 11 May, 2024: Amuse Singers at St. Ignatius Church, New York, NY
- 21 Apr, 2024: Lux at Prospect United Methodist Church, Lawrenceville, GA
- 24 Feb, 2024: Banyatank at House of Music, Budapest, Hungary
- 14 Jan, 2024: Lux at Brenau University, Gainesville, GA
- 22 Oct, 2023: Lux at Berry College, Mount Berry, GA
- 10 Sep, 2023: Lux at First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, GA
- 24 Apr, 2022: San Diego Opera + La Jolla Playhouse at ARTS DISTRICT - Liberty Station, San Diego, CA
- 23 Apr, 2022: San Diego Opera + La Jolla Playhouse at ARTS DISTRICT - Liberty Station, San Diego, CA
- 18 Aug, 2020: Amuse Singers at YouTube (online premiere)