Resisting Hate, Finding Hope

The brutal 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a college student with an interest in languages and the environment, set off a global reckoning of violence against the LGBTQ+ community.

In two performances this week, March 3 in Seattle and March 8 in Tacoma, five choirs from Seattle University and the University of Washington—140 singers in total—will join together to perform Considering Matthew Shepard, a three-part fusion oratorio written by Craig Hella Johnson as a musical response to the Wyoming student’s death. 

Twenty-one years old at the time he died, Shepard was found severely injured and tied to a fence, targeted because of his sexual orientation, and died days later in the hospital. The two men who killed him received sentences of life in prison. 

The Grammy-nominated piece that has found a global audience is in its 10th year of being performed. Funded in part by the Pigott Family Endowment for the Arts, Considering Matthew Shepard encourages reflection but offers no simple answers beyond its hopeful theme of resisting hatred.

“It really drives home the message that we are all united and it’s important to tell stories even if they can be painful to remember," says Hope Onstad, ‘26, a creative writing major and music minor who is a member of the University Chorale. “It’s still good to tell them because it reminds us we are human and we are not alone."

Onstad, who uses they/them pronouns, was first excited about the piece because of the size of the group and the intricacies of the music, but over time began to see themselves in Shepard and found themselves especially affected with a part in the second movement called “Ordinary Boy” that uses excerpts from Shepard’s journals.

The joint SU-UW performance comes at a time of increasing division in society and an uptick in hateful rhetoric and legislation against members of the LGBTQ+ community, something that Conductor Dr. Leann Conley-Holcom says makes the piece even more relevant. 

“This isn’t just history—it speaks to the ongoing reality of prejudice-driven violence and the fact that it helped inspire federal hate crime legislation still in place today makes it as educational as it is emotionally and artistically powerful,” she says.

Though Dr. Conley-Holcom is an Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Choral & Vocal Activities and Music Program Director, she is also an accomplished professional soprano and performed the piece last summer at the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene under the direction of the composer. Seeing the piece from the perspective of a performer as well as a conductor has given her insight into its power.   

“This work resists offering easy answers to the complexities of discrimination and violence,” she says. “Instead, it invites both musicians and listeners to sit with the discomfort of the story, creating space for reflection, compassion and, hopefully, leading to deeper recognition of our shared humanity.”

In addition to two choirs from UW, all three of the Seattle University Choirs will perform: University Chorale and Chamber Singers, made up of students, and University Singers, which is comprised of students as well as staff, faculty, community members and alumni.

Choirs at both schools began exploring the work last fall and have been meeting regularly with composer Craig Hella Johnson over the past six months. Professional director Rod Caspers, who staged the premiere of the work in 2016, has given staging direction and in the performance students will be joined by a professional nine-piece band, projection designer Camilla Tassi and professional tenor Haitham Haidar in the role of Matthew.

Lauren Ghrist, ‘26, an environmental studies major who is a member of both the University Singers and the Chamber Singers and will perform in two ensemble solos in the piece, described the rehearsal process leading up to the performances as a journey, one that has required vulnerability and a willingness to consider how she lives her life.

“The beautiful thing is it’s a journey for the singers, but we want to bring the audience on the journey, too,” she says. “In some ways it's an unexpected thing we are finding out when the audience finds out.”

It’s been an emotionally moving experience for Joseph Orlando, EdD, Special Assistant to the Provost for Strategic Initiatives and member of the University Singers, who sees the message of Considering Matthew Shepard as an invitation for the audience to ponder what it means to be a light in darkness in a world that is too often prone to violence and hatred.

“For us to present this, it feels like an expression of what it means to be a Jesuit university and having a mission of preparing leaders for a just and humane world,” he says.

The first performance is at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 3, at the Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington. Information and tickets.

The second performance is at 8 p.m., Friday, March 6, at the Pantages Theater in Tacoma. Information and tickets.