Five Years Downriver
“It’s a long hard river. All of us wet in.”
December 5, 2016
The day I sat down with the artistic and executive directors of Third Angle New Music to talk about how we might collaborate on a project.
We talked about gentrification and restrictive covenants, and whether those things might inform a composition of some kind. We talked about the impact of discrimination on our city, and how we might grapple with it musically. We talked about doing a project focused on Portland’s history of residential redlining. We talked about cross-disciplinary collaboration and site-specific work. And then they threw out the idea of me writing an opera.
And I laughed out loud.
"Why on earth would I want to do that?" I asked.
August 27, 2021
I’m nearly five years downriver from that moment in December — a river of knowledge, wonder, delight, disappointment, and revelation. There have been long tranquil stretches of productive work, stunning vistas of creative revelation, tricky currents, fearsome rapids, and more twists and turns than I could have possibly imagined. And somehow, against all odds, we find ourselves in sight of shore. I’m grateful for the tenacity of those who have seen this journey through to this point, as I am for the opportunity to engage, as a Black composer, and a Black Portlander, with the hard truths of our past and present, in the company of such brilliant and committed artists.
Alexander Gedeon, Anis Mojgani, and Darrell Grant outside Sanctuaries rehearsals.
And somewhere along the way, I found the answer to that question about why I would want to write an opera. Several answers, in fact, drawn from the bounty of learning, collaboration, conversation, exploration, connection, and community that have filled this river. So…
After four-plus years of research, exploration, creation, and COVID delay, I'm proud to share the premiere of Sanctuaries, presented by Third Angle New Music on September 7, 8, and 9th at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum Pavilion in Portland, OR. Tickets and details can be found here.
—Darrell
“May we marvel, marvel at the river––at where we just stepped from – at what moves us, what moves beautifully before us, and behind us, and snaking beautifully to some place past what we can see.”