»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.
OPENINGS is available at Classical Millennium
or from Amazon.com.
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