Orpheus Choir of Toronto: “Raising Her Voice” Partnership

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Diaspora Dialogues is delighted to partner with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto for their “Raising Her Voice” concert in 2018/19. In this exciting project that brings our proven mentorship model to a cross discipline enterprise, we will pair poets who have published in our programs, both mentors and mentees, with established and emerging composers chosen by Orpheus Choir to produce compositions for this concert celebrating International Women’s Day in 2019. Directed by Robert Cooper, the Orpheus Choir’s mantra is “Expect Something Different”, so who better for DD to partner with? We’ll be featuring stories and progress reports as the project comes to fruition.

Orpheus Choir

Both of our organizations are seeking to invest in the ongoing nurturing of the talent that has been developed through our programs. For writers, music and text is an area that they may not have considered, or felt that they or their works were not suited to. This is an opportunity to work with the actual composers, and see their input reflected in the final composition. Both composers and authors have told us that this is an element that is missing from current modes of training, and the value that such feedback can bring to their process, as well as broadening their appeal across disciplines, can give audiences a chance to discover an artist they didn’t know about. We already have a good idea of who has agreed to be involved in this project, and we’ll share the list with you soon!

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Funeral Day in Saint John

Weeping by a fake porthole in the Hilton’s breakfast restaurant I eat seconds of bacon, and thirds My grandfather wouldn’t have minded my breaking kashrut He would have whispered “I won’t tell if you don’t tell about the cheeseburger yesterday,” and chuckled sweetly My mother is at her mother’s place not listening to the sound of the phone ring— sealing saran-wrap around a sponge cake, our Friday night leftovers soggy, teetering in the pan The ocean solution looks like all of us— in bits, floating wisps of white pollution What’s wrong doesn’t drown us We are doing dead man’s float except for grandpa My sister arrives with the breakfast vouchers I get whatever I want before I figure it won’t be out of pocket I would pay for anything today even though I’ve been on boiled beans and rice for weeks had no choices to make about money Her and cousin Jer come back from the buffet with full plates laughing about something Jeremy gets on the phone calling our younger cousins to join us We all eat as much as we can  . . .

Advice

Why be someone else When there’s no better person at being you than yourself Why change yourself for other peoples’ sake When you’ll be nothing more than a fake Why would you stress over your imperfections When there is no such thing as perfection Why cry about the crude statements When you’re in charge of your own development Why be a reproduction When you could be limited edition Why turn into someone new When many will love you for being you  . . .