Unlearning
Basic Information
Instrumentation: Soprano and fixed electronics
Duration: 2:45
Year composed: 2020
Description
Written for Rhymes with Opera's 2020 Pocket Opera Workshop. Performed by Elisabeth Halliday.
A short monodrama about a white woman's place in America's racial history.
The piece is told from a white mother's point of view. She is waking up to the racial unrest that has plagued America from its beginning, realizing that she has her own place in the story.
Lyrics
What will I tell them?
What will I tell my children?
What will I tell them?
I've got so much unlearning to do.
About our home
And its "equality"
And its "freedom"
And its "heroes"
I have to tell them about Black Wall Street
redlining
and that people hated MLK before he became a saint!
I have to tell them about sitting with discomfort
And that I and they are a part of this.
I am a part of this.
...I'm a part of this!...
I have so much unlearning to do.
Score & Recording
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