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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2000)
»une 16.2000 s Ju st aMt.57 i ho hasn’t been moved by a song? There is something primal about the hum an voice expressing words and sentim ents that we otherwise might find difficult to speak. T he fame and fortune that accrue to those few who can move mil lions with their songs attest to music’s universal appeal. Joan Szymko’s music may require more ded icated listening, but it is no less inspiring. “For me, music is my spirituality,” says the Portland composer and choral conductor. Though she has turned her back on the Catholicism of her family, she has turned toward a musical expression of spirit that breaks free of the rigid confines of liturgical music. “1 left the church not so much because I was a lesbian, but because I was a feminist,” she explains over a late lunch in the Hawthorne neighborhood, where she lives. Despite devout parents who have never come to full acceptance of her sexuality, Szymko expresses a deep and pure joy in her music. “I started composing in my 20s, and that became my G od connection.... I still felt strongly connected to the Mystery, to the Source, so I knew 1 was OK,” she adds quietly, peering out from a shock of her dramatic sil very hair. O n her debut recording, Openings, the breadth of her sensitivity to the earth and its inhabitants is clearly audible. As a composer primarily of music to be sung, Szymko is drawn to some fascinating texts for this record, including some by a 19th century Igluik shaman. Openings also features four poems by Mary Oliver, and one in particu lar seems to represent the overall essence of the music. “Sunrise” concludes with this passage: “W hat is the name of the deep breath 1 would take over and over for all of us? Call it whatev er you want, it is happiness, it is another one of the ways to enter fire.” W hile some of the stings spotlight the spec tacular voice of Seattle performer Thomasa Eckert, many others on the C D are rendered by Viriditas, the choral cham ber group of about 24 women that Szymko started in Portland in 1994. These women sing in clear voices that are achingly beautiful, like sudden sunlight after a strong rain. Undoubtedly, some of the unique appeal is the quality of all female voic es, though a few songs are accompanied by cello, which adds the deeper octaves. Most of the works on Openings are em otion ally evocative and strongly melodic, as the voices rise and swoop and arch gracefully through the air. It’s music to listen to under a vault of stars, or while w atching a swallow dip Open to the music “T he focus of Aurora is women’s point of view, social justice issues and empowering women. We tend not to sing religious music, because it’s a diversity issue,” Szymko says. After an extra-busy year with three major concerts and a recording project, the Aurora Chorus is preparing for The Bramble and the Rose, a performance June 18 at the First United M ethodist C hurch in Portland. Though the group’s concerts often have a serious message, Szymko feels the time is right for a lighter theme. “T he message of The Bramble and the Rose is that love is sweet, but you can also get screwed,” she explains with a chuckle. O ne highlight is sure to be “The Brook W ithin,” composed by longtime chorus mem ber Joan Andrews. It is an Emily Dickinson poem set to music by a woman who didn’t even start composing until she was in her 60s, which speaks volumes about the empowering experience of belonging to such a group. O ther selections include “Shooting Star” by Cris Williamson, “It’s Bad for Me” by Cole Porter and “Wild W omen G et the Blues” by Ida Cox. The singers, who perform the entire concert from memory, have been trained to “sing from the seat of their pants,” says Szymko, adding that most people only speak and sing from the throat up. In honor of gay pride week, the concert will also feature a solo performance of Holly N ear’s “Simply Love” sung by the director herself. A line from the show’s closing song may sum up this exploration of love: “Somebody come up and carry me into a seven-day kiss.” Joan Szymko leads women in songs—her own and many others by O riana G reen on a breeze. It’s music that begs to be connect ed back to its source, to be heard beyond the confines of interior spaces. T he title piece will be familiar to fans of Do Jump, as it was featured in the theater compa ny’s latest show, which just finished a sold-out three-week run on Broadway to great acclaim. Szymko is Do Jump’s resident composer and performs with the company, singing and play ing several instruments. According to Szymko, the title work is about “moving from darkness into light and expansiveness.’’ As is the case with most of her compositions for Do Jump, this one was written for an aerial dance piece, and her lyrical music seems especially well-suited to the fluid move ments of bodies suspended in space. That per fect union gives a deeper meaning to music that is uplifting. O ne reason her music stands up so well to repeated listenings is the complexity and vari ety of the pieces on this CD. Much influenced by African rhythms, Szymko says she loves mixed meters, adding: “I avoid the square— language changes and shifts, so why not music?” Indeed, her music is as varied as the ways in which it comes to her. Sometimes she just hears it in her head then works it out on a piano, and other times she begins by singing, then taping what she has sung. “I wrote ‘Openings’ sitting at the marimba,” she confides, then adds, “The process is about listening— where does this want to go?” T hough most people grow up singing, whether in school or church or both, many of us have long since forgotten the elation associated with matching our voices to lines of melody and harmony. If you are a woman with that yearning still alive in you, the Aurora Chorus may be an outlet. (Men, of course, have a terrific opportunity with the Portland Gay M en’s Chorus.) Founded in 1991 by David York, the Aurora Chorus is part of the Concord Community of Choirs. After 10 years directing the Seattle Worn- en ’s Ensemble, a lesbian-identified choir, Szymko retreated to Vashon Island for two years of intensive composing. After that respite, York lured her to Portland to take over Aurora, a group that over the years has ranged from 90 to 130 women participants. "W hat I like about Aurora,” Szymko says, “is being a lesbian is no big deal— if people have any discomfort about it, they can vote with their feet. It’s a nonissue.” O ne of the reasons the group is so large is that, unlike Viriditas, no audition is required to join. Nor do women need to know how to read music or have any special training— all that will come out of the experience of being in the choir. “We really put effort into shepherding new women as they come in,” assures Szymko. “I love being in a community of women th at’s a nurturing, empowering atmosphere where there’s room for every kind of woman,” Szymko says passionately. “I like being in a place where I don’t have to wear my sexuality on my sleeve, yet it’s a place where lesbians are totally lesbians,” she adds. The women in the chorus stretch in age from 15 to 72 and enjoy celebrating one anoth er’s birthdays each month. “It’s a place where women really get to rejoice in how old they’re getting,” says their director. T he last line of the first song on Szymko’s C D is: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life.7” Joan Szymko has answered that question with a body of work that shouts to the world of creation and wonder and celebration. In this season of examining the meaning of pride, we can all he proud that she is a member of our community. ■ The Aurora Chorus performs T h e B r am ble AND THE R ose at 4 and 7 p.m. June 18 at the First United Methodist Church, 1838 S.W. Jeffer son St. Tickets are $12 from In Other Words, from chorus members or by phone at (503) 721-0262. Women interested in joining Aurora Chorus should call (503) 721-0262 now to get on the list for the new season, which begins in September. Auditions for Viriditas will be held in September. 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