STATIONS OF THE LOST

ABOUT TRANS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE & RESILIENCE

November 20 is the transgender day of remembrance, a day of commemoration begun in 1999 by trans activist Gwendolyn Ann Smith as vigil to commemorate trans lives lost to violence – particularly trans women of color, the most frequent targets of transphobic violence. In the years since, it has expanded further into a dual day of remembrance and resilience: to remember the lost, certainly, but also to honor the life, spirit, and contributions of the living trans community, too, through art, music and poetry. Art (and particularly music) is a powerful medium for social change and in recognition of that, today’s performance is dedicated to the trans activists and artists who committed their time and energy to creating a more equitable society — one in which we can stand here in front of you today and sing openly and freely.

The fourteen stations displayed today were created to memorial fourteen different trans activists and artists — many of whom were lost to violence and societal neglect, and all of whom were foundational to the existence of trans visibility and culture today. Their names are Rita Hester, Billy Tipton, Sophie Xeon, Lorenza Bottner, Claude Cahun, Angela Morely, Virginia Prince, Wilmer Broadnax, April Ashley, Lili Elbe, Greer Lankton, Mark Aguhar & Maxine Feldman.

To read the full text of the Requiem, please click here for the libretto.

PROGRAM

  1. Introit - Requiem / Unto Them From Whose Eyes

    Crysta Song, soloist

  2. Kyrie - Term of All That Liveth

    Alex Mulligan, duet
    Kae Peterman, duet

  3. Gradual - In Memoria Aeterna / Unto Them From Whose Eyes

    James Factora, soloist

  4. Tract - Absolve, Domine / But Ye, O My People, Arise & Awake!

  5. Sequence - Dies Irae / Let Fire & Air Make Sweet the World

    Izzy Ehrhard, duet
    Joe Tesoro, duet
    Skye Arnold, quartet
    Marcos Ospina, quartet
    Atlas Reid, quartet
    Gabriel Fussell, quartet

  6. Offertory - Domine Jesu Christe / Make Open Paths of Creation

  7. Offertory - Hostias / Thou Who Art Beyond All I Am

  8. Sanctus - Thou That Art One

  9. Agnus Dei - O Circle of Stars

    Sarian Sankoh, trio
    Theo Kolbrener, trio
    Eve Schaaf, trio

  10. Lux Aeterna - Lord, Visible & Sensible

    Atlas Reid, duet
    Stevie Goughnour, duet
    Skye Arnold, soloist

  11. Pie Jesu - Secret & Most Holy

    Sarian Sankoh, duet
    Marcos Ospina, duet

  12. In Paradisum - Mysterious Energy

Some Words from the Director
& Benedictus

Felix Graham, Director
Joseph Tesoro, Assistant Dir. & Guitar
TJ Peterman, percussion

ENSEMBLE

Alex Mulligan

Ariel Tian

Ash Tsaboukas

Atlas Lee-Reid

Crysta Song

Eve Schaaf

Gabriel Fussell

Izzy Ehrhardt

James Factora

Kae Peterman

Leila McClain

Marcos Ospina

Sarian Sankoh

Scottie Harvey

Skye Arnold

Stevie Goughnour

Theo Kolbrener

Zii Field

PERFORMERS

OUR THANKS TO

  • Fr. Napier & the St. John’s community, for their support and kindness!

  • Randy Polumbo, for the gracious contribution of his time, talent and ingenuity.

  • Martin Murphy, for lending his talents towards capturing this process.

  • Pete Gibson, for the amazing photography of the choir.

  • All of the kind folks who have donated to our GoFundMe campaign. Your donations are making all of this possible and we appreciate your support.

Stations of the Lost is a secular/gnostic requiem, a theatre piece written by Dr. Felix Graham in collaboration with TRANScend, New York's trans/gender-expansive vocal ensemble, and Randy Polumbo, visual artist. The requiem, in oratorio form, is performed alongside an installation of 14 panels, replacing the traditional stations of the cross with commemorative art pieces honoring the lives of trans artists (both past and present).

Traditionally, memorial works for marginalized people have posed as a mea culpa - looking back in sorrow. While looking back is important, we believe that looking forward is just as important...and a lot more beneficial to the people still living. As such, we are creating new art music in the classical tradition in honor of the national trans day of remembrance/resilience. Not just to celebrate the trans artists who have been lost to violence or societal neglect, but to uplift the trans artists who are with us now.

In the spirit of Dr. Graham’s composition, Polumbo painted a series of images of birds from life. These were re-imagined by his studio from 3-D scans of TRANScend members hands and faces. Each bird is made of Reishi Mushroom mycelium grown into a mold made from elements gathered from TRANScend members and is associated with an important trans artist or activist, many of whom were lost to violence or societal neglect, and all of whom contributed significantly to trans art, culture and visibility. Soaring fiercely, with wings made of human hands, and witnessing through over-scaled blown glass eyes. They draw a line between the tragic past and celebration of living trans people and mark that we are all watching and demand a just and inclusive future.

About the Work & Artists’ Statement