"Mom, I'm going to college." - Amadou Diallo, 23

Soloist - Marcus Peterson

Performed by the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club under the direction of Dr. Eugene Rogers

Recorded and Mastered by David Lau, The Brookwood Studio

Score available at MusicSpoke.com

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed - Mvmt. III: Amadou Diallo, 23

"It's not real." - John Crawford, 22

Performed by the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club under the direction of Dr. Eugene Rogers

Recorded and Mastered by David Lau, The Brookwood Studio

Score available at MusicSpoke.com

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed - Mvmt. VI: John Crawford, 22

"I can't breathe." - Eric Garner, 43

Performed by the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club under the direction of Dr. Eugene Rogers

Recorded and Mastered by David Lau, The Brookwood Studio

Score available at MusicSpoke.com

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed - Mvmt. VII: Eric Garner, 43

A setting of Langston Hughes' poems, "Harlem" and "Dreams"

performed by the Atlanta Master Chorale under the direction of Dr. Eric Nelson

2016 Season Premiere: Dreamers of Dreams

Dreams: a recitative and aria for SATB chorus

Performed by the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble:

Mehrdad Gholami - flute
Juan Gabriel Olivares - clarinet
Seohee Min - violin
Benjamin Wagner - viola
Richard Narroway - cello
Hannah Weaver - percussion
Tengku Irfan - piano
Timothy Weiss - conductor

Bliss depicts my love of reading - my favorite pastime growing up - and the gleeful ignorance of youth. I also try to capture the painful irony that ignorance (and its intrinsic happiness)evaporates as one continues to learn and seek answers to "why?", and slowly, this brand of bliss becomes forever unattainable.

(Harris Concert Hall, Aspen, CO - 07/28/2017)

17065 First Glimpse Composition Program Recital I

Scenes from Childhood - I. Bliss

"If you don't use it, you'll lose it." Many consider this oft-used saying to be true as it relates to physical fitness, artistic skills, and even mental fortitude. Given the ubiquitous divisiveness and turmoil in the world over the last few years, it seems that this adage may also have other applications. Maybe I am naive, but I think our current condition can be diagnosed as a severe deficiency in empathy - our world is lacking the strength to love. We haven't been using it, so we've lost it.

This dearth in empathy is so pervasive that is now the new norm. People pride themselves in their rigid opposition of even listening to someone of differing viewpoints in a spirit of openness. So I decided to write a piece that would help me, and hopefully others, rebuild the strength necessary to love deeply, genuinely, and passionately.

This piece is essentially a battle between selfishness and empathy - pride v. love - and because one is easier than the other, the victor is clear towards the end of the piece. It is important that the decision to perform the music that follows "the end" remains a choice for each individual member of the ensemble.

Asking orchestral musicians to put down their instruments and stand up and sing is risky. The act requires a certain vulnerability. It can be perceived as cheesy. It can elicit negative reactions. Only a few people may choose to do it, and therefore be lonely. It can be uncomfortable. But such is the love that is required to truly change our current circumstance.

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An Act of Resistance (Winner of the 2017 Hermitage Prize) 
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra led by Wilson Ng
Recorded in Harris Concert Hall at the 2017 Aspen Music Festival and School

An Act Of Resistance (Second Reading)

Performed by the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble:

Mehrdad Gholami - flute
Juan Gabriel Olivares - clarinet
Seohee Min - violin
Benjamin Wagner - viola
Richard Narroway - cello
Hannah Weaver - percussion
Tengku Irfan - piano
Timothy Weiss - conductor

Lucid portrays a poignant moment as my family gathers around my paternal grandmother singing songs of comfort as her mind is being ravaged by Alzheimer's disease. This movement is dedicated to her memory.

(Harris Concert Hall, Aspen, CO - 07/28/2017)

Scenes from Childhood - II. Lucid

Joel Thompson (b.1988) is an Atlanta-based composer, conductor, pianist, and educator, best known for the choral work, Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, which was premiered November 2015 by the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club and Dr. Eugene Rogers and won the 2018 American Prize for Choral Composition. His pieces have been performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Master Chorale, Los Angeles Master Chorale, EXIGENCE, and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. Currently a student at the Yale School of Music, Thompson was also a 2017 post-graduate fellow in Arizona State University’s Ensemble Lab/Projecting All Voices Initiative and a composition fellow at the 2017 Aspen Music Festival and School, where he studied with composers Stephen Hartke and Christopher Theofanidis and won the 2017 Hermitage Prize. Thompson taught at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta 2015-2017, and also served as Director of Choral Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at Andrew College 2013-2015. Thompson is a proud Emory alum, graduating with a B.A. in Music in 2010, and an M.M. in Choral Conducting in 2013.

Joel Thompson Music

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