Our Name is Mud, Greenwich and 7th Avenue, 11/20/01
Photograph
by Martha CooperExpression – what does it mean to express the experience of our
lives? For some, expression may take the form of destruction, in
violence, war, and terror. For others, expression is in the creation of
symbols and representations, in words, sound, movement, color and shape –
what we call art.
Union Square 9/13/01
Photograph by Martha CooperFollowing the attacks of September 11, 2001, New Yorkers flooded the streets of
their city to place poems, messages, artworks and candles in makeshift shrines
and memorials at Ground Zero, Union Square, and other public places. They
spontaneously exercised their freedom of expression in a way necessary to their
grief, sorrow, and need to DO something. In turning to the mediums of the
arts to make sense of their thoughts and feelings, they chose creation in the
midst of violent destruction. The significance of this expression, for
the arts and humanity, is unmistakable.
Our
Name is Mud, Greenwich and 7th Avenue, 11/20/01
Photograph
by Martha CooperThe music contained in the CD Race for the Sky offers
a selection of songs, American songs by American composers, that reflect the
themes that surrounded us all after 9/11 – war, peace, love, loss,
tragedy, redemption, New York and others. In addition to the marvelous
setting of the three 9/11 poems found on the NYC city streets that is the song
cycle Race for the Sky, the variety of styles from classical art song to
musical theatre standard that comprise the rest of the CD capture these themes
in ways that range from arrangements of folk tunes to transcendent renderings
of complex poetry.Union
Square, 9/22/01
Photograph
by Martha Cooper
The journey of Race for the Sky has been very meaningful. It has
given me hope during a time of crisis and despair. I hope you will find
your glimpse into this journey a rewarding one. Thank you
for remembering with me the remarkable acts of expression and creation on the
New York City streets after September 11, 2001.
