Mission
Hear Us, Hear Them is a Black-led Cincinnati-based ensemble dedicated to performing, engaging with, and inspiring all identities of artistry in order to enrich and progress the choral community.
Vision
The vision of Hear Us, Hear Them is to develop an inclusive and welcoming environment in the choral space that is accessible to artists, composers and audience members of all backgrounds. We aspire to surround ourselves with a community that adequately reflects the demographic of Greater Cincinnati by adhering to and acknowledging the city’s history and needs of individuals to produce more informed events and initiatives.
In addressing the importance of inclusivity, we involve ourselves in the discussion and action needed to normalize repertoire from composers who are traditionally considered non-canonic. This is accomplished by taking part in open forums with groups in the community that align with the backgrounds of the composers we perform, allowing our ensemble and audience members to learn how we can create a sustainable and long term solution for equitable practice in the choral community.
We also aim to cultivate a learning environment for high school students to bridge the gap between their education and the path towards a professional career in the performing arts. Through introducing them to Black leadership, we encourage them to pursue their aspirations in this field.
About Us
History
America has a history of many courageous people fighting for change, justice, and equality. A surge in activism and social justice reform peaked in Summer of 2020, triggered by the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor. Calls for equity spilled over to all facets of life, including the arts. The sustained cries for responsible and sensitive programming, more diverse repertoire, and the direct challenge to the current structures of Western music were finally beginning to resonate. From this environment which begged for an evolution, Hear Us, Hear Them was born.
Hear Us, Hear Them started as a reaction. Co-founded by two Black graduate students, Harry Mathurin-Cecil and Jaime Sharp, following a musicology class discussion in Fall 2020. Richard Wagner, the German Romantic composer who unapologetically expressed anti-semitic and hateful views throughout his influential career, was the focus of that day. The question of Wagner’s music and its appropriateness in the new world order was being volleyed across the virtual space. Neither Sharp nor Cecil held back their grievances about the antiquated norms of so-called classical music and their desire to fight for inclusion in our industry. Separately, they both wanted to do something that would disrupt the traditional canon of Western music – a canon which elevates White Euro-Centric (or European-influenced) male composers. Together they envisaged a chorus whose sole focus would be programming and sharing the music of composers of all identities.
Cecil and Sharp, co-founders
Our ensemble is dedicated to performing phenomenal music and educating audiences and artists alike. Similar to most choral groups, quality repertoire is paramount to this ensemble. Where Hear Us, Hear Them differs is our intentional effort to celebrate the fine compositions of BIPOC, women/transgender/non-binary and non-conforming gender persons, LGBTQIA+, Latinx/e, and the disability community. We aim to expose this significant art to fellow musicians and listeners. As a practice of equity, Hear Us, Hear Them is determined to promote these composers, while responsibly selecting repertoire that confronts, combats, and challenges structural exclusion in all forms.
We are grateful to the folks who made the launch of Hear Us, Hear Them possible. Thank you to Mother Paula Jackson, Risa Kaneko, and the congregation of Church of Our Saviour/ La Iglesia de Nuestra Salvador for allowing us to safely rehearse. Thank you to the faculty at the College-Conservatory of Music for their support.
This ensemble is organized exclusively for charitable, and educational, purposes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code. All donations made to the organization are tax exempt.
We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, weight, or veteran status in its membership.
Land Acknowledgement
Hear Us, Hear Them Ensemble performs and rehearses on the stolen territories of the Indigenous Algonquian-speaking tribes, including the Delaware, Miami, and Shawnee tribes who have continuously lived upon this land since time immemorial. Hear Us, Hear Them. We honor and recognize their historical and continued contributes to the land on which we reside. Visit the Ohio Native Land Initiative to learn how you can support Indigenous peoples and protect their sacred sites in the Greater Cincinnati Area.