Today’s Band Music Friday comes a day early because I’ve just read a news story and I AM RAGING. Screaming hot pissed because a school board in Wisconsin is meeting to decide if the Watertown High School band will be “allowed” to perform Omar Thomas’s Mother of a Revolution. Why, you might ask? There are no questionable lyrics, as it’s a wind ensemble piece. There are no controversial theatrics, no profanity from anyone, even the conductor (which would be valid, because hot damn I was a band director for awhile and lo, the mental profanity is off the fucking charts while teaching).
So why the interference?
Because the composer dedicated the piece to transgender activist Marsha Johnson, a key figure in the 1969 Stonewall uprising against police raids in New York. From Thomas’s website, these program notes:
This piece is a celebration of the bravery of trans women, and in particular, Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson. Marsha is credited with being one of the instigators of the famous Stonewall uprising of June 28,1969 – one of the pivotal events of the LGBTQ liberation movement of the 20th century – which is commemorated annually during the worldwide Gay Pride celebrations. Existing as a trans woman, especially a trans woman of color, and daring to live authentically, creating space for oneself in a transphobic world is one of the bravest acts I can imagine. Over 20 trans women were murdered in the United States in 2018 alone. There is no demographic more deserving, and frankly, long overdue for highlighted heroism and bravery. The disco vibe in the latter half of the piece is meant to honor club culture, a sacred space held amongst LGBTQ persons in which to love, live, mourn, heal, strategize, connect, disconnect, and dance in defiance of those outside forces who would seek to do LGBTQ persons harm simply for daring to exist and take up space.
We pump our fists to honor the life, heroism, activism, and bravery of Marsha P. Johnson, to honor the legacy of the Stonewall revolution, to honor the memory of the trans lives violently ended due to fear and hatred, and in honor of trans women worldwide who continue to exist unapologetically and who demand to be seen.
This piece was commissioned by the Desert Winds Freedom Band, under the direction of Dean McDowell, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
Because this wind band piece was written about and dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community, a group of “well-meaning” individuals have now taken upon themselves to decide if it’s worth performing, never mind that the students have been working on it and have already learned the history behind it. Their fear that (le gasp!) a high schooler might learn about trans people is a little late and a whole lotta misplaced. For starters, I guaranfuckingtee that high schoolers are perfectly aware of what trans is, and compassionate education keeps kids alive. Both suicide and murder are high in the LGBTQ+ community, especially trans people. This board meeting is nothing more than censorship wrapped up in phony concern. Oh won’t someone think of the children? Yeah, I’ll believe that line when school lockdown drills are a sad footnote in a history book. LGBTQ+ people exist, always have and always will. I know and love many of them.
The band room has always been a safe place for me; I practically lived there in high school. I’ve long said that I’m more me when I’m in a band room, weaving beauty from air. Most of my friends are band geeks or were, in their younger days. I’ve met Omar Thomas and he’s an amazing man and one helluva composer. Dean McDowell, the director of the commissioning group, is a friend of my husband’s. This is personal; get your fascist bullshit the fuck out of my band room happy place.
Where does this stop? First a piece about Stonewall, then what? As I write this I’m listening to Percy Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy. Grainger’s private life was an eye-opening spicy lesson to read about in college, IYKYK…are we going to censor his music because of that? Music by women? Music by Jews, Muslims, anyone considered “other?” Are we going to end up with concerts of only dead white men? If I wanted that I’d have season tickets to the Chicago Symphony. I don’t want SausageFest concerts; I want programs bursting with the diversity that is humanity, and I fear they may be targeted. Not always directly, but by not being programmed at all. Fuck that.
So today’s Band Music Friday (on a raging Thursday) is Omar Thomas’s A Mother of a Revolution, performed by the Brooklyn Wind Symphony. Listen deeply, visit his website. Support composers writing important music and absolutely support the groups performing them.
And fuck this expanding fascism.
The travesty! I just read this to my 20YO son who is a music ed/percussion performance major at CU Boulder. He is appalled, outraged and equally pissed as you. He shared that his bestie’s fav orchestral piece is Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy (bestie is clarinetist). These guys are two band geeks to the core, with other interests like 20YOs should. I overheard them bickering the other day, and one said to the other, you don’t bring a triangle to a clarinet fight! Stay strong, Jen.
Triangle to a clarinet fight! 🤣