for Keith Cooper and Chicago’s 793 Homicide Victims in 2021

Memoria de Memoria—loosely, “Memory of the Heart”—is an hour-long meditative composition for twelves voices. The memoria de memoria text is sung on troubadour melodies, which are based on the church modes and are related to jazz scales. All 793 names will be spoken in time—January through December—with each day represented by ten seconds of the score. As a meditation, audience members are encouraged to come and go quietly during the performance, light memorial candles, offer photos and mementos to remember those lost, or to call out the name of a family member or friend who they wish to remember. As each person killed is unique, each of the twelve voices is a soloist, positioned around Augustana’s sanctuary.