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When the Caged Bird Sings was commissioned by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance as part of its Michigan Orchestra Repertoire for Equity initiative, founded in 2020 by Kenneth Kiesler, who conducts on this recording of its first performance. Part of a ten-year project to commission, premiere and record ten new orchestral works, When the Caged Bird is the fourth commission in the enterprise.
Nkeiru OKOYE (b. 1972)
When the Caged Bird Sings
Rita Coburn, Narrator • Angela Brown, SopranoChristie Dashiell, Mezzo-soprano • Issachah Savage, Tenor
Jubilant Sykes, Baritone • Cyrus Chestnut, Piano
EXIGENCE • University of Michigan Choirs
Eugene Rogers, Chorus Master
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra
Kenneth Kiesler
Composer
Nkeiru Okoye’s When the Caged Bird Sings is a large-scale contemporary concert work that follows the journey of Cerise, whose story weaves together personal and collective aspects of Black experience. Through movements such as The Beatitudes and Sometimes Life Gets Ugly, the piece explores adversity, resilience, and transformation with a musical language rooted in classical and operatic traditions and enriched with African American folk-music influences and minimalist processes. Scored for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra, the work blends elements of oratorio, opera, and communal expression to create an expansive, emotionally resonant narrative inspired in part by themes found in the life and writings of Maya Angelou.
I thought this life would protect us
Narrator
Soprano
Mezzo-soprano
Tenor
Baritone
Piano
Chorus master
Music director
Summerland
Violin Suite • Pastorela • American Suite
Schiff
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Eisenberg
– Fanfare
Negro Folk Symphony
KAY, U.:
Fantasy Variations • Umbrian Scene
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Fagen
– Fanfare
Symphony No. 3 in C minor
The Mississippi River • Ethiopia’s Shadow in America
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Jeter
– BBC Music Magazine ★★★★
– Gramophone