by Mike Telin
On October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, accepted a ride home from two men at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie. Instead, Shepard was driven to a remote area where he was pistol-whipped, tortured, tied to a fence, and left for dead. Shepard died six days later from brain damage.
Shepard’s murder would later become the inspiration for Craig Hella Johnson’s oratorio Considering Matthew Shepard.
On June 26 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, Lisa Wong will lead selections from Johnson’s haunting work featuring bass-baritone Dashon Burton, members of The Cleveland Orchestra, and participants in the new Summer Choral Institute. Tickets are available online.
During a recent telephone conversion, Cleveland Orchestra Director of Choruses Lisa Wong said that this is the first time they have hosted the summer institute.