The Wilmington Children's Chorus presents a concert this weekend celebrating songs that speak musical truth to political power.
The concert’s title, “Do You Hear the People Sing,” borrows its name from the popular musical Les Misérables. But while the song is set in the past, its message still has resonance in the modern world.
"Do You Hear the People Sing has become a global pro-democracy anthem," says Kimberly Doucette, artistic director of the Wilmington Children's Chorus. "It's been sung all over the world — from Australia to Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Thailand — as a song that people use to unite in anthems of change."
The program brings together songs of protest and change from around the globe and across eras - the American civil rights movement, the anti-apartheid struggle, Latin American experiences of dictatorship, the push for equal education for Afghani girls, and many others.
Doucette says that the work of the chorus goes beyond teaching just notes and words. The historical context is an important part of concert preparation, she notes, and the study of the music prompts larger questions and critical thinking.
“Those are the connections that we try to make in the Wilmington Children's Chorus,” she explains. “How does music of the past, or music of the recent past, really connect to our lives now? What can we learn from our past and from the past all throughout the world? And how can we apply that to the times we are living in today?”
Many of the songs are sung in foreign languages. To help the young singers master those, the chorus leaned on an array of native speakers. A teaching fellow from Guatemala helped with Spanish diction, while for a piece from Afghanistan, a Farsi tutor joined via Zoom. And for the nuances of Bengali pronunciation a parent from India came in to lend a hand.
Doucette says the concert’s global nature and hopeful message is something she - and her singers - hope will stay with the audience after the music fades.
"No matter who or where or when you are living, music is a thing that unites us,” she says. “Music is a thing that can motivate us, and it can help us speak truth to power."
The Wilmington Children’s Chorus presents “Do You Hear the People Sing” on Friday, May 8 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, May 9 at 2:00 pm at the Resurrection Center on North Market Street in Wilmington.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
