LISTEN | Our Debut Album
About the Album
It is so much better when we listen.
Listen to recognize yourself in the other.
Recognize yourself in someone else’s pain,
someone else’s laughter — struggles — singing.
Singing in spite of their struggles.
Rising in spite of the ache.
Are you listening?
—S. Renee Mitchell, Poet-in-Residence
Following a successful pre-pandemic Kickstarter campaign, Resonance Ensemble is proud to present our debut full-length album, LISTEN. The album features bold commissions and landmark works by rising stars in the choral world and is set to be released at the opening concerts of Resonance’s 15th anniversary season.
The title track, Melissa Dunphy’s LISTEN, was commissioned by Resonance Ensemble and has been performed by Resonance multiple times since its premiere in 2019. The two-movement a cappella work for treble singers sets the testimony of both Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Prof. Anita Hill.
LISTEN also features the premiere recording of another Resonance Ensemble commission by Portland-based composer Renée Favand-See. Only in Falling is a five-movement a cappella meditation on loss and transformation. Favand-See responded to the loss of her infant son Owen with settings of Wendell Berry poetry that she describes as “steadfast companions” in her time of grief, “offering understanding and insight, gradually even light, to my slowly unfolding experience. The poems in this set of pieces are ones that speak to different aspects of my grief—an ever-changing landscape of feelings and thoughts.”
As a special bonus, the album also features two live recordings from the We Dissent performances in 2022: Witch Trial, by Portland-based composer Stacey Philipps, and When the Dust Settles, by composer Mari Esabel Valverde – both Resonance favorites.
The CD also includes the solo song Brother Man, written by Historic Alberta House artistic director Vin Shambry and premiered at a 2016 Resonance performance, as well as music by Jake Runestad, Steven Sametz, and Dominick DiOrio.
The album celebrates works that inspired a turning point in Resonance Ensemble’s focus as an organization—promoting meaningful social change and building community through powerful artistic experiences. The official album release is scheduled for October 14th, 2023, in conjunction with the weekend of live performances of works from the recording.
TRACK LISTING
1. *LISTEN: 1991 - Melissa Dunphy
2. *LISTEN: 2018 - Melissa Dunphy
3. Brother Man - Vin Shambry
4. Witch Trial (Live Performance) - Stacey Philipps
5. You Do Not Walk Alone - Dominick DiOrio
6. The Peace of Wild Things - Jake Runestad
7. When the Dust Settles (Live Performance) - Mari Esabel Valverde
8. I Have Had Singing - Steven Sametz
9-13. *Only in Falling - Renée Favand-See
I. The Finches
II. For the Future
III. The Woods
IV. The Law That Marries All Things
V. The Wheel
*indicates a Resonance-commissioned work