By Mackenzie Shields

On April 8, Resistance Revival Chorus, a group of women and non-binary singers, performed in the Sheldon Ballroom, hosted by ARTSwego. 

The Resistance Revival Choruss website describes the group as, “musicians exploring activism and activists exploring music.”  Much of their repertoire for the concert focused on social justice, freedom and equality.

The “chorus is made up of more than just musicians,” a chorus member, Arin Maya Lawrence said at a talk prior to the show. She described that some members were professional musicians, others were mothers, educators, filmmakers and other professions.

The performance included six members of the chorus who sang both original works and well-known pieces.

One example of an original song was performed by Treya Lam, who accompanied themself and the chorus with a guitar. Lam is one of several songwriters in the chorus.

In three songs, audience members were invited to join along in song with chorus members. Attendees were taught a short piece of a song and invited to repeat after the performers.

One song involved a call and response format, where the audience sang the words, “We want justice.” As the song progressed, its leader provided new lyrics, turning the call into “we want freedom,” “we want childcare,” and “we want honor.”

When not singing along, many audience members decided to participate in other ways, such as by clapping or snapping along to the beat.

In addition to music, the group spoke out about recent events and read some written works. Chorus member Ali Fenwick stepped up to speak against racism in Ukraine, stating that “racism doesn’t take days off.” In addition to calling attention to this situation, she also celebrated the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson, which had happened the day before.

The group was introduced by ARTSwego’s director of arts programming, Miranda Traudt, who shared that due to pandemic-related circumstances, not all members of the chorus were able to perform that night. Despite missing some members, the performance was still able to happen. 

Prior to the show, three chorus members answered questions from the audience and the panel host Alaces Sarmiento, a graduate student at SUNY Oswego.

Sarmiento said one question that was frequently asked wondered what the chorus was resisting. Lam, who was part of the panel as well as a performer, spent some time describing their thoughts.

“All systems of oppression are linked together,” Lam said.

They mentioned several movements which chorus members felt passionate about, including highlighting their own emphasis on the LGBTQ movement. One of the songs that Lam performed realated to this, entitled “Queer and Quiet.”

Discussing what the group was resisting, Lam said that “we need to resist the exhaustion and the burnout that capitalism and white supremacy rely on.”

All three panelists placed an emphasis on their views of the transformative power of music.

Meah Pace, another panelist, chorus member, and songwriter, said that “the fact that we can touch hearts and minds right in our neighborhoods and globally with the same music” was “very cool” to her.

 “Our voices are tools for hearing,” Lawrence said. 

Resistance Revival Chorus has also recorded an album, entitled “This Joy.” Several songs from the album were performed at the event.

Prior performances that the chorus has done have been at the Grammys in 2018 with Kesha, on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon, and at Carnegie Hall.

The performance was funded via the “Mid Atlantic Tours program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts” according to the show’s virtual program.

Image via Mackenzie Shields