<div dir="ltr"><p style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">The 2023/24 Ninth Season of
the Cleveland Chamber Choir, Northeast Ohio’s leading professional choral
ensemble,</span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><span style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"> opens with Craig Hella Johnson’s
concert-length modern oratorio,<strong> </strong><em><b>Considering Matthew Shepard.</b></em></span> Twenty-five
years ago, on Oct. 6, 1998, two men offered to give Matthew Shepard, a gay
student at the University of Wyoming, a ride home from the Fireside Lounge in
Laramie. Instead, they drove him to the middle of nowhere, pistol-whipped and
tortured him, tied him to a fence, and left him for dead. After Shepard lay in
a coma for eighteen hours, a passing cyclist–who at first thought Shepard was a
scarecrow–called for aid. Six days later, Shepard died from the brain damage.<b><span style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"></span></b></span></p>

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<p style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Craig Hella Johnson seamlessly weaves
together passages from Shepard’s personal journal, interviews with his parents,
texts from Rumi, Hildegard of Bingen, and a panoply of musical styles to create
a work that <i>The Washington Post </i>says “demonstrates music’s capacity to
encompass, transform and transcend tragedy.” <span style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">The
Choir will be joined by Lakewood Symphonic Mixed Choir for these performances,
under the direction of Rayna Brooks.</span></span></p>

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<p style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">“Matthew Shepard’s story
touched so many of us, and remains shockingly timely even as we approach the
25th anniversary of his death,” said Gregory Ristow, the Choir’s newly
announced Artistic Director. “Johnson’s remarkable telling of it invites us all
to a place of compassion and understanding, that is only heightened by his
music.”</span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"></span></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">Saturday, October 21, 2023
at 7:00pm, Avon Lake United Church of Christ, </span><span style="color:black;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">32801 Electric
Blvd., Avon Lake</span></p>

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4:00pm, Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave., Cleveland</span></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">Both concerts are presented
free of charge, with the choir’s philosophy that choral music is a vehicle for
good in the world that should be accessible and welcoming to all. Free-will
donations accepted. Register for your FREE tickets at <a href="http://clevelandchamberchoir.org">clevelandchamberchoir.org</a></span></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">A portion of donations
collected will be directed to QYou, a program supporting queer youth through
the LGBT Center of Cleveland. A pre-concert talk will be presented by Charles
Edward McGuire, PhD, from Oberlin College & Conservatory, 45 minutes before
each performance. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">This concert is presented with generous grants from The
Cleveland Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, and Local 4 Music Fund and in
collaboration with Avon Lake UCC and Trinity Cathedral Cleveland.</span></p>

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