03/03/2026
Join us Tuesday night in Seattle & Friday in Tacoma as well for this impactful piece!
This week five choirs from Seattle University and the University of Washington come together to perform "Considering Matthew Shepard," a three-part fusion oratorio that encourages reflection and compassion.
The Grammy-nominated piece was born out of the brutal 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a college student with an interest in languages and the environment. Twenty-one years old at the time he died, Shepard was found severely injured and tied to a fence, targeted because of his sexual orientation, and died days later in the hospital. The two men who killed him received sentences of life in prison.
“This work resists offering easy answers to the complexities of discrimination and violence,” says SU Conductor Dr. Leann Conley-Holcom. “Instead, it invites both musicians and listeners to sit with the discomfort of the story, creating space for reflection, compassion and, hopefully, leading to deeper recognition of our shared humanity.”
