My art provides a path for engagement; a change of heart and mind for myself and others.

Claiming my artistry includes calling it by the name that reflects its purpose, my purpose. 

Embodied Activism. 

A Tribute to Sondheim

CW: Infant Loss

For my master's recital in 2019, I curated a program called Sueños de Esperanza (Dreams of Hope), connecting my lived experience with motherhood with the stories of mothers facing immigration. In the middle of the program was a set of Stephen Sondheim songs. The songs were a perfect connecting bridge. Sondheim was not afraid to ask the hard questions and show the raw truths of inhumanity in our lives.

"Green Finch and Linnet Bird" (Sondheim), a story of captivity and dreams of a free future, was reflected upon later in the program with "Sympathy" (Price), set to a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

I haven't shared either of these recordings previously. I was pregnant with Rowan when I sang this recital and we lost him soon after I got these recordings back. They are painful for me to watch. It was a cruel thing to perform this program with him and then lose him. We had his memorial service in this church just a few months later. And of course, there are blemishes my perfectionism wishes weren't there... I was in the throes of morning sickness and pregnancy brain and I barely got it together for this performance. But Rowan was there with me, telling the stories of motherhood in ways more meaningful than I knew at the time. And so was the music of Sondheim. Rest easy, both of you.

Green Finch and Linnet Bird - https://youtu.be/xq0tcbw3pBo

Sympathy by Florence Price - https://youtu.be/URyTS9XFQKc