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Mari Esabel Valverde

Award-winning transgender Mexican-American composer Mari Esabel Valverde has been commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association, Boston Choral Ensemble, Cantus, the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, Los Angeles Master Chorale, One Voice Mixed Chorus, Portland’s Resonance Ensemble, Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the University of Michigan Men’s Glee...

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Mari Esabel Valverde

United in Song: An Anthem for Our Time

Name: United in Song: An Anthem for Our Time
SKU: MVC-173
Availability: InStock

Mari Esabel Valverde

“What anthem would I stand for?”

Choral

mixed choir

a cappella

Difficulty: 2

Duration: 3-5 min.

MVC-173

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for solo voice or SATB chorus a cappella

“United in Song: An Anthem for Our Time” is a response to Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem. Composer Mari Esabel Valverde strives to answer the question: “What anthem would I stand for?” This short, strophic work may be interpreted in a variety of ways with or without soloists or congregation.

Composer’s Notes

“United in Song: An Anthem for Our Time” was composed in the fall of 2017 as a response to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the National Anthem. All of the discord over what patriotism is or is not led me to the question: What anthem would I stand for?

#EricGarner
#MikeBrown
#FreddieGray
#OscarGrant
#SandraBland
#TanishaAnderson
#JordanFrazier
#WalterScott
#EmmettTill
#JamarClark
#PhilandoCastile
#AltonSterling
#EricHarris
#TerenceCrutcher
#TrayvonMartin
#TamirRice
#LaquanMcDonald
#JohnCrawfordIII
#StephonClark
#CoreyJones
#BothamJean
#HeatherHeyer
#SayTheirNames
#BlackLivesMatter
#RestInPower

-Mari Esabel Valverde

Text

The blue, the red, the white, the black, the brown,
And all the colors in-between,
Women and men and everyone who breathes
Can sing along with me:
We dream of a land of a world
Brave enough, proud enough to be
United in song
To fight for justice and peace.

Your god, my god, our right to believe, or not—
We all eat from an earth that’s green.
All bodies, all minds, the young, and elderly,
We all want to be heard and seen.
We dream of a land of a world
Brave enough, proud enough to be
United in song
To fight for justice and peace.

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