The Caged Bird Sings for Freedom
The New York Choral Society presents The Caged Bird Sings for Freedom, a multidisciplinary digital performance of composer Joel Thompson’s choral work The Caged Bird Sings for Freedom from Maya Angelou’s Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing? in collaboration with choreographer Marjani Forté-Saunders.
Joel Thompson 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.
Marjani Forté-Saunders is a choreographer, performer, educator, community organizer, and mother. She refers to dance and embodiment as her sorcery—revolutionary, transformative, wild, ancient, and fresh. Her practice is informed by years in anti-racist organizer training and as a lead facilitator with Urban Bush Women’s (UBW) Builders, Organizers and Leaders through Dance. She is anchored in a steady collaboration with partner and composer Everett Asis Saunders. Working together as 7NMS, their project A Prophet’s Tale has been awarded residencies at Bard College (2019), Baryshnikov Arts Center (2019), Petronio Residency Center (2019), and The Yard (2020).
The Caged Bird Sings for Freedom premieres Wednesday, January 15, 2022 on The New York Choral Society website and YouTube channel