The Stony Brook University (SBU) Chorale and Camerata Singers presented their Spring 2025 Concert at the Staller Center Reception Hall on May 5. The event, directed by Shoshana Hershkowitz, aimed to demonstrate how music can serve as a form of resistance against authoritarianism worldwide.
"The goal of tonight is to show how music — and specifically how singing — can be a form of pushing back against authoritarianism across the world, across many movements," Hershkowitz stated to the audience. The concert featured pieces from various regions and historical periods, all united by themes of freedom and resistance.
The program opened with performances in Farsi, Spanish, and English. Songs were accompanied by piano and included elements like clapping, stomping, whispering, and percussion instruments. "Zan, Zandegi, Azadi" highlighted women's rights issues in Iran. "Hymn to Freedom," composed by Oscar Peterson, addressed the Civil Rights movement in America.
Another significant piece was "Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around," a traditional spiritual arranged by Rollo Dilworth. It incorporated lines from Langston Hughes’ poetry: “There are words like Freedom, sweet and wonderful to say. On my heartstrings Freedom sings all day every day.”
The concert also featured "Canto ‘E Libertad," based on the Afro-Puerto Rican genre "bomba." This musical style originated among enslaved people in Puerto Rico during Spanish colonial times.
After an intermission, the Camerata Singers performed reimagined pop tunes for choir. These included songs with messages about climate change and social issues such as Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.” The performance concluded with Tracy Wong's “Riuh” featuring beatboxing and Dolly Parton's “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” which carries themes of hope after hardship.
— Ellen Cooke