Considering Matthew Shepard
Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 7:30pm
Metropolitan United Church, 56 Queen Street East, ON M5C 2Z3
Considering Matthew Shepard is a genre-defying oratorio by composer Craig Hella Johnson. The work offers a deeply human perspective on the tragedy of Matthew Shepard’s murder. It explores many different emotions, including shock, sorrow, rage, tenderness, and ultimately, hope. Through a wide range of musical styles and texts, including poetry, journalistic accounts, sacred writings, and reflections from Shepard’s parents, the work asks listeners to consider not only what was lost, but what kind of world we are responsible for building in its wake.
The concert will be presented by Modern Sound Collective’s youth and young adult choirs, Datsuzoku and Concreamus, a combined choir of over 100 voices. They will be joined by a professional instrumental ensemble consisting of guitar, percussion, piano, clarinet, and strings, and professional vocal soloists.
If you are unable to attend the show, or would like to support the choir financially, tickets can be purchased as a donation. These tickets will be given to students who might otherwise not be able to afford to attend the concert. Instead of your email, please put “[email protected]” as the email address on the ticket, and please write “Donation from [yourname]” in the name box. Thank you so much for supporting our choir and helping to make this concert accessible to everyone.
“Modern Sound Collective” is a registered charitable organization. If you would like to support our projects by tax-deductible donation, please email [email protected].