Honoring our homeless neighbors with Street Requiem

In this video, LGCSF singer Pax Ahimsa Gethen shares their thoughts on homelessness in San Francisco and our upcoming performance of Street Requiem.

Honoring our homeless neighbors with Street Requiem
10/21/2019 0 Comments
 
In this video, LGCSF singer Pax Ahimsa Gethen shares their thoughts on homelessness in San Francisco and our upcoming performance of Street Requiem.

Transcript:
Hi, I’m Pax. I sing with the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco.

I’ve lived in San Francisco for over 16 years, and I’ve been happy to make this city my home for many reasons. But despite our great tolerance and tremendous wealth, hundreds of my neighbors are living and dying out on the streets. The plight of our homeless population is so dire that the United Nations has characterized it as a human rights violation. I am ashamed.

Last December, I attended a processional organized by the Skywatchers, in memory of those who had died on the streets. We met at the Kelly Cullen Community, a center in the Tenderloin that provides housing and social services for homeless individuals. I had performed with LGCSF in the auditorium of this building at our Pride concert in 2014.

I learned of this processional from Melanie DeMore, who was the featured guest in our concert “Rise!” last November. Melanie taught us the songs we would be singing as we marched. Many of those songs, like “One Foot in Front of the Other”, were familiar to me from our concert and past events.

We marched to City Hall, holding signs bearing the names of the departed. We continued on to United Nations Plaza, where we joined an interfaith vigil. Local religious leaders, homeless people, and others took turns reading aloud the names of 240 people who had died on the streets of San Francisco that year.

On November 2, LGCSF will be remembering and honoring our departed homeless neighbors in our performance of Street Requiem, a choral work by Kathleen McGuire, Andy Payne, and Jonathon Welch. A portion of our ticket sales will benefit Larkin Street Youth Services, a nonprofit provider for young people experiencing homelessness. Please join us at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for this moving tribute.

Credits:
Voice, video editing, and piano: Pax Ahimsa Gethen
(text by Pax, adapted from their December 2018 story on Medium)
Audio editing: Ziggy Tomcich
Music: "Agnus Dei" (piano part only) from Street Requiem, by Kathleen McGuire and Andy Payne

Images:
LGCSF logo
LGCSF rehearsal group photo, August 2019 by Calliope’s Mom
San Francisco skyline, January 2007 by Pax Ahimsa Gethen
San Francisco City Hall, November 2015 by Pax Ahimsa Gethen
Headlines from Curbed San Francisco, January 2018 and October 2018
Solstice processional, December 2018 by Pax Ahimsa Gethen
ABD Productions - Skywatchers website home page
Pride Concert, June 2014, both photos by Ziggy Tomcich
Melanie DeMore workshop, September 2018 by Michael Reilly
Melanie DeMore, December 2018 by Pax Ahimsa Gethen
“One Foot in Front of the Other” from Rise!, November 2018, video by San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Vigil at UN Plaza, December 2018, both photos by Pax Ahimsa Gethen
Signs at Kelly Cullen Community Center, December 2018 by Pax Ahimsa Gethen
Street Requiem poster
Larkin Street Youth Services website home page
Street Requiem poster

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LGCSF presents Street Requiem on November 2, 2019, 7:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Tickets on sale now.