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7:30 PM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
MARTIN THEATRE
CONSPIRARE
†
CRAIG HELLA JOHNSON,
artistic director and conductor
CRAIG HELLA JOHNSON
Considering Matthew Shepard
*
Prologue
Cattle, Horses, Sky, and Grass
Ordinary Boy
We Tell Each Other Stories
Passion
Recitation I
e Fence (before)
Recitation II
e Fence (that night)
Recitation III
A Protestor
Keep It Away from Me ( e Wound of Love)
Recitation IV
Fire of the Ancient Heart
Recitation V
We Are All Sons (part )
I Am Like You / We Are All Sons (part )
e Innocence
Recitation VI
e Fence (one week later)
Recitation VII
Stars
Recitation VIII
In Need of Breath
Recitation IX
Deer Song (Mist on the Mountains)
Recitation X
e Fence (a er) / e Wind
Pilgrimage
Epilogue
Meet Me Here
anks
All of Us
Reprise: is Chant of Life (Cattle, Horses, Sky, and Grass)
.
†
Ravinia debut
*
Chicago premiere
Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of
Sponsors the
Rudy Juarez Family
and
Welz Kau man and Jon Teeuwissen
.
TONIGHT’S CONCERT IS PERFORMED IN COMMEMORATION OF THE
20TH ANNIVERSARY OF MAT THEW SHEPARD’S DEATH.
THE LEGACY OF MATTHEW SHEPARD
Because of what I do, I’m o en asked to share
what Matthew Shepard’s life, death, and legacy
mean to me and to our community and nation
today. e passage of time has made it harder to
give a short answer.
Matt—as his friends invariably called him—
was a friend, one of several I have lost over the
years to one tragedy or another. His larger-than-
life presence made him hard to forget, and his
continuing life as a historic gure and symbol
stands alone among those of my loved ones who
le us too soon. In that sense, his legacy means
to me what it means to so many—a xed point
in the path toward LGBT acceptance in our so-
ciety, ultimately being achieved despite, or be-
cause of, fallen heroes.
What means the most to me to say, though, is
that the importance of Matt Shepard was his hu-
manity. He was a man who lived. He had a fam-
ily, aspirations, friendships, dates, photographs,
diaries, foods he disliked, politicians he disliked
more, and always, the opinions. So many opin-
ions, so rich, so passionately advanced and skill-
fully defended in debate. He was also gay. It’s sad
that’s all so many people ever knew of him.
Matt loved the theater, lms, and music, and
so it is tting that a growing part of how he is
honored and remembered is through the artistic
achievements of those who, like myself, mourn-
ed his passage and refused to fully heal from the
shock we all felt at his violent, needless death.
His life and the scar that holds its place for many
of us is also a wellspring for our noblest inten-
tions and inspirations. It is a gateway to action, a
tting place of pilgrimage for our passion.
Matt’s life tells us, live yours as you. Be authentic.
Follow your head and your heart and celebrate
where it leads.
What we will hear in this performance is the
sound of a place that went undiscovered for
a long time. It lived in a composer’s heart and
mind and it took nourishment from the life of
one young man who once was here among us.
Matt’s legacy is many things.
is event, this
moment, us together here, is one of its faces. I
hope when you leave here, you take this mo-
ment with you, and look for the next one. Keep
Matt and his story in your heart, and you will
surely nd it.
Jason Marsden
Executive Director
Matthew Shepard Foundation
SEPTEMBER 10 – SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE
103