"The Listening": Single & Video
Composed by Cheryl B. Engelhardt
Featuring Donzaleigh Abernathy & Wes Felton
Introducing The Listening Choir
Artistic Direction Andre De Quadros
Looking for the For Your GRAMMY® Consideration: Best Choral Performance Page? Click here.
The original Virtual Choir recording:
Welcome to the page for the virtual recording of the choral piece, "The Listening", released in the height of the pandemic during Black History month on February 12th, 2021. The piece was composed by Cheryl B. Engelhardt and inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King's 1967 speech "Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence". This recording features his goddaughter, Donzaleigh Abernathy. Scroll down for more information on the origins of the piece, who is involved, and historic references.
Featured in:
Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's speech "Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break The Silence", on which "The Listening" is based. He delivered it in Riverside Church on April 4th, 1967 (exactly one year prior to his assassination). You can read the entire speech here.
Donzaleigh Abernathy, civil rights activist, actress, and daughter of Ralph David and Juanita Abernathy, is in this photo, standing in front of her godfather, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Donzaleigh and her husband, Dar Dixon, attended a performance of "The Listening" in San Diego and have generously offered to help in the production of this collaboration. Donzaleigh sings the alto solo in section B of the score.
Voices21C performing "The Listening" live at the ACDA conference in Rochester, New York, March 6, 2020.
If you're interested in "The Listening" sheet music for your choir, click here to find out how to purchase or peruse the score.
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Who's Involved?
Members and friends of VOICES 21C (Boston), Concinnity (CT), Ember (NYC), ConVal High School Select Choir (NH), and the In The Key Of Success musician community, are singing in this project. Many singers joined the leadership team for virtual zoom discussions about the piece, its origins, and its impact, both personal and cultural. [THE CHOIRS]
Donzaleigh Abernathy is a civil rights activist, actress, and daughter of Ralph David and Juanita Abernathy and goddaughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Donzaleigh and her husband, Dar Dixon, attended a performance of "The Listening" in San Diego and have generously offer to help in the production of this collaboration. Donzaleigh will be singing the alto solo in section B of the score. [SOLOIST]
Wes Felton is a singer/poet/actor/emcee born and raised in Washington DC. Son of Jazz Pianist Hilton C. Felton Jr. Younger eardrums might hear a whiff of Frank Ocean, but area fans know Felton has been crafting thoughtful R&B since Ocean was collecting Pokemon cards. His resume runs deep with collaborations with Meshell Ndegeocello, Ben Williams, Diamond D, Omar, Chris Rock and Prince Paul. Wes tours the globe as a member of The Crossrhodes with Raheem DeVaughn. Listen on Bandcamp. [SOLOIST]
Dr. Christopher L. Clark is the Director of Vocal Music with the Southern Berkshire Regional School District. He received his PhD in Music Education from the Hartt School of Music, frequently guest conducts and presents at music conferences in the US and abroad. Chris also participates as a bass in VOICES21C. [CONDUCTOR]
Cheryl B. Engelhardt is a composer and songwriter as well as a founding member of the social justice choir Voices21C. Cheryl is committed to helping other artists transform their careers through powerful communication and self-awareness. Recently, she co-wrote the musical "Boiler Room Girls", telling the untold story of the females involved with a Kennedy scandal in 1968. Her 2020 record, Luminary, is a piano/ambient mindfulness journey that landed #1 on iTunes and Amazon in the New Age category. Her newest project is A Seeker's Slumber. [COMPOSER / PRODUCER / PIANO on INSTRUMENTAL VERSION] Full composer's note below.
Damon Grant is a percussionist, educator and mentor, and will be playing percussion on "The Listening". He, as well as his group, The Damon Grant Project, have been featured in Modern Drummer and Latin Beat Magazines. Damon was also a member of the group The Bomb Squad which was featured in People Magazine and won an American Music Award. He was an original cast member of the show Blast! which won both an Emmy and a Tony award. [PERCUSSIONIST on INSTRUMENTAL VERSION]
Meet the team behind The Listening Virtual Collaboration rehearsals and preparation: your sectional leaders and conversation starters! Clockwise from top left:
Chris Clark - Bass
Sydney Mukasa - Tenor
Olivia de Geofrey - Sop 2
Brad Dumont - Conversation
Nicolette Mingels - Alto
Andre DeQuadros - Choir Director, Conversation, advisement/editing
Middle: Krystal Morin - Sop 1, Sectional Director [SECTION LEADERS & CONVERSATION STARTERS]
J Chris Griffin first collaborated with this piece on Martin Luther King Day in January 2019 when members of Ember and Voices21C came to The Engine Room studios in New York City to record the studio version of "The Listening". He was the engineer and mixer of that version, and remains the mix engineer on our virtual version. Jess Lazar is joining us as the video editor. [POST-PRODUCTION TEAM]
Halim Flowers is a social justice entrepreneur,
writer, artist, and speaker. He was on stage during the 2020 ACDA conference in Rochester as a collaborator with the social justice choir Voices 21C as they performed the Listening as part of their set on Race and Incarceration. Flowers was wrongfully incarcerated, being released 22 years into a 40-year sentence, during which time he wrote 11 books, studied entrepreneurship and is now taking the art, fashion, and social justice world by storm. Read his inspiring story here. [COVER ART]
A very special thank you to:
The Riverside Church Archives
Matt Herron / TopFoto (www.topfoto.co.uk)
Jeanine Herron
Dar Dixon
John C. Goodman (Courtesy of David Goodman)
John Kouns (Courtesy of The Tom and Ethel Bradley Center)
Diane Lara, Director of the Photographic Archives of Harry Adams
The Tom and Ethel Bradley Center at California State University Photographic Archives
Press
Donzaleigh Abernathy, MLK's Goddaughter, Reveals Memories from 'Thrilling' Civil Rights Movement - PEOPLE.COM
Donzaleigh is featured in People's Black History Month series called "Voices Against Racism" where she tells her story and talks about how she became involved in "The Listening" project.
Donzaleigh Abernathy talks race, marching and life growing up with her godfather Martin Luther King - HARPER'S BAZAAR
"Abernathy’s knack for handling universally felt challenges in the Black community shines bright in The Listening - a vital project inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 speech, 'Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence' – which uses the power of choral music to reflect on the bigger picture of discrimination and silent racism."
Donzaleigh Abernathy discusses growing up the goddaughter of MLK Jr, the future of the civil rights movement - THE HILL
An amazing feature on The Hill, featuring Donzaleigh and new stories about her past, and thoughts on where the civil rights movement is headed.
Donzaleigh Abernathy: Soloist on 'The Listening' Inspired by 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. Speech - EURWEB
Dig in to The Listening with this in great write-up on the project!
Martin Luther King's goddaugher continues his dream - EVOKE
‘I sat beside Gloria Steinem and I told her I was writing a book about Dad and Uncle Martin and she asked, “What about you?” And I said, “Oh I’m not important.” And she said “No, no, no. It’s about you. You matter too.”
MLK's goddaughter 'stil scarred' by KKK attacks - METRO
This is an extraordinary interview that highlights Donzaliegh's early childhood experiences as well as her participation in The Listening.
"The Bill King Show" hosted on MixCloud: Interview with Donzaleigh Abernathy
A fabulous interview and conversation between Donzaleigh Abernathy and Bill King. January, 2021.
Review by Aaron Cloutier & Staff at "Please Pass The Indie"
Listeners are greeted with flawless vocal performances, angelic harmonies, piano stabs and scant hip hop instrumentation upon stepping into the musical experience that is “The Listening.”
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Kaytee Becker | [email protected] | 303.619.8571
A note from the composer...
This piece was written in December 2017, commissioned by Andre DeQuadros for VOICES21C. After careful study of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech titled “Beyond Vietnam- A Time To Break The Silence” the text was crafted. The speech was given on April 4th, 1967, a year before his assassination, at Riverside Church in New York City. It was a denunciation of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, in addition to a cry for the American people to listen to the unheard voices. King was criticized for bringing politics to his civil rights platform.
What intrigued me most about this speech is “the silence” to which he refers. The world, certainly, was not silent. There was madness (as he states, “somehow this madness must cease”), there was war, there were atrocities being committed both abroad and at home in the United States. The “silence” was not that of global society and events, it was personal. In breaking the silence, King was not, in my opinion, encouraging revolutionaries and anti-war supporters to grow louder than their opposition. No, he was suggesting to those who have not spoken up to speak. He was encouraging those who could speak to break the silence for those who could not.
Dr. King urged listeners to embrace “unconditional love for all mankind” and made clear that love is not something weak or sentimental, but rather access to making history.
In my opinion, Dr. King started truly listening. He was listening to the oppressed, the abused, the poor, the scared, and the unloved. In “The Listening”, I set out to recreate how he listened. This is the recreation of the listening.
Musically, I pulled rhythmic inspiration from Dr. King’s speech. Though straight-forward in nature, it was extremely poetic. With lines dripping with alliteration, such as “…rendering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war”, there was a heartbeat pulsing through it. I wanted to translate this to the staff.
“The Listening” has been performed by choirs around the globe after its debut in Mexico City by the Boston-based social justice choir Voices21C. It was the piece chosen by the All New England Choir competition where 250 high school students sang together after a discussion of what their experience of singing the song meant for them.
~Cheryl B. Engelhardt
