Performances

World Premiere performances by Voices of Silicon Valley, Cyril Deaconoff, Music Director, St. Timothy Lutheran Church, San Jose, California on May 30, 2015, and First Presbyterian Church, Oakland, California, May 31, 2015

Nevada Chamber Singers, with soloists Julie Lenz, Olga Perez and Brittney May, Paul Torkelson, conductor, Nightingale Hall, University of Nevada Reno, November 6, 2017

Text

The text of this work is a conflation by the composer of actual writings by women enrolled in an ESL class in Silicon Valley.

My name is Rosa, Margarita, Estela
I have three children, two daughters, a son
I came from Mexico, El Salvador, Bolivia

I lived on a farm,
I lived in the countryside, where people grow corn and have animals,
I lived in a big city

In my country there are problems with gangs
In my country there is no work
I left because of violence,
because of poverty and crime

I work cleaning houses
Taking care of the elderly
I worked for a family for 23 years, I raised their kids

My husband works in a chrome-plating factory,
my husband works in landscaping
I am waiting for my husband to come

We work hard and pay rent!

We traveled by bus,
I took a plane,
we walked

I was very nervous
I felt very strange
I felt excited

I left a lot of family behind
my husband, my parents, my daughter

I study English,
I have studied English for five years,
for two years.

It is safer here,
I have more food
there are jobs here for women, education for my kids,
my children will be professionals.

I am sad sometimes, thinking about my home,
my brothers, my sister,
I haven’t seen my mom in thirteen years

Program Note

This work was commissioned by Voices of Silicon Valley and calls for three female soloists.

Solo 1  light lyric soprano voice
Solo 2  lyric or dramatic soprano voice
Solo 3  dramatic mezzo soprano voice