Courtney Bryan's Blessed takes its inspiration from the righteous uprisings of 2020, when the Bible verse from Matthew 5, "blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth," kept running through her head.
"I spent some time really thinking about why the word 'meek,'" Bryan said, "and what it means to me is those who are humbly focused on standing up for what is right, for the good of all."
Inspired by the protests in response to police brutality against Black men and women, and conceived in the leadup to the November election, the creation of the piece was also impacted by the pandemic. The work was composed, recorded, and filmed by the creative team from around the country, working individually in COVID-safe environments.
Bryan improvised her musical responses to the Matthew 5, and the themes she sensed in the text of darkness and light, and her piano improvisation became the basis of the work. Some of the material draws on her musical experiences in the Anglican church, Bryan said, including a musical meditation on hope and love in the middle of uncertain times.
Allowing for improvisation in the piece created space for the singers to express their responses to the themes and inspiration. Bryan worked remotely with soprano
Janinah Burnett and vocalist
Damian Norfleet, as well as sound designer
Robert Kaplowitz, to record and layer each part together digitally in a process she described as "sonic quilting."
Likewise, the deeply collaborative film by conceptual artist and filmmaker
Tiona Nekkia McClodden weaves together footage from New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia. The film mirrors Bryan's musical themes of light and dark while also exploring the process of creating Blessed.
"This piece has both been a chance for me to have an artistic and emotional outlet while going through this pandemic and the political turmoil of this time, and a chance to experiment with new ways of creating music and also analyze collaboration approaches that relate to these other projects, and to my process in general," Bryan said. "And it has been a chance to work with artists who I really find amazing and to create something really special together."
Bryan has also been working with Opera Philadelphia on Awakening, a project in partnership with FringeArts and the International Contemporary Ensemble that is set to premiere in 2022.
"Courtney is an artist unlike any other and welcomes you with an emotive language unique to her," said
Sarah Williams, Opera Philadelphia's Director of New Works & Creative Producer. "She demands your attention without you even realizing it and expresses it all through an array of genres and traditions. She's really special and I couldn't be more grateful that she was equally interested in responding and exploring in this way."
Blessed premieres on the Opera Philadelphia Channel at 8 p.m. on Friday, February 26, 2021. It is available with a Season Pass, as a seven-day rental for $10, or as part of the $25 Digital Commissions Bundle.
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