Matthew Shepard: Celebration and Interment

Instead of braving the crowds at Washington National Cathedral this morning, I live-streamed the memorial service that preceded the placement of Matthew Shepard's ashes in the columbarium. Here is a link to the service leaflet if you want to follow along.

Allow me to assure those of you who are allergic to liturgy that while the format is the traditional Episcopal burial service, the musical portions of the two-hour service are quite substantial, but nearly all contemporary. The Washington Gay Men's Chorus performs a set of songs as the prelude.

Two highlights: You'll get to hear quite a bit of the oratorio I've been telling you about, "Considering Matthew Shepard," performed by Conspirare, the ensemble for which its composer, Craig Hella Johnson, composed it. Johnson pretty much leads the whole service from the piano, in fact, apart from the cathedral organist's playing of the hymns.

And if you've never heard Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop to be ordained by the Episcopal Church, preach, you're in for a treat!

"Waugh"

read or listen

Serendipity

When I scheduled The Laramie Project for discussion earlier this month, I of course had the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard's murder in mind.  As it turns out, there is also a connection between that event and the book we'll be discussing at our Nov. 7 meeting, Insult and the Making of the Gay Self. Specifically, in Didier Erebon's Postscript to his Introduction, on p. 12, we find this:

At the moment that I am finishing this introduction, I read in the newspapers that a young gay man was murdered in a small town in Wyoming. He was tortured by his two attackers and left to die, tied to a barbed-wire fence. He was twenty-two. His name was Matthew Shepard. I know he is not the only gay man to have had such a tragic fate in the United States in the past few years, just as I know that numerous gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals are regularly and systematically victims of such violence. A report by Amnesty International recently provided a terrifying list—one that was, alas, far from complete.

But it is Matthew Shepard's photograph that I have in front of me today, along with the account of what he suffered. How can I not think of him as I prepare to publish this book? How can I not ask the reader to remember, in reading it, that there are more than just theoretical problems at stake?

How indeed?

The Two Harolds

"glimpses of what it was like to be
black and gay in America
when it was dangerous to be either"

Shepard at Last Laid to Rest

The Washington Post reports that Matthew Shepard's parents have decided to have their son's ashes interred in the crypt columbarium at Washington National Cathedral on Friday, Oct. 26 (I don't know the time). The service will be open to the public, and I hope to attend.

Although visitors will not have access to the crypt, National Cathedral is reportedly considering the installation of a plaque that they would be able to view and touch.

"Considering Matthew Shepard"

Two years ago, Harmonia Mundi released the world premiere recording of Craig Hella Johnson's oratorio, Considering Matthew Shepard, for which the composer conducts his own ensemble, Conspirare.  I must admit that I was initially skeptical about the work, worried that it would be maudlin, but I found it profoundly moving and have added it to the stack of CDs I make a point of listening to during Holy Week each year.  (It's on two discs, totaling 105 minutes.) I'll bring my CD to tomorrow night's meeting, but in the meantime, here is a blurb about the composition that I hope will pique your curiosity:

Led from the piano by Johnson, Considering Matthew Shepard showcases the award-winning artistry of Conspirare’s singers with a chamber ensemble of renowned instrumentalists. This three-part fusion oratorio speaks with a fresh and bold voice, incorporating a variety of musical styles seamlessly woven into a unified whole. Johnson sets a wide range of poetic and soulful texts by poets including Hildegard of Bingen, Lesléa Newman, Michael Dennis Browne, and Rumi. Passages from Matt’s personal journal, interviews and writings from his parents Judy and Dennis Shepard, newspaper reports and additional texts by Johnson and Browne are poignantly appointed throughout the work.