Transcripts

KARL GEHRKE: In a church a few blocks north of where I-94 cut through the Rondo neighborhood, a small interracial choir is rehearsing its parts for Stephen Newby's Rondo Oratorio. When the oratorio was performed this weekend, this small choir will be joined by some 70 other singers along with chamber orchestra, rhythm section soloists, and narrators to tell the story of Rondo in a multi-movement work drawing on a variety of musical styles. The project is a collaboration between the American Composers Forum and the Walker West Music Academy in St. Paul. Seattle composer and Detroit native Stephen Newby was selected from a pool of applicants to write the work.

STEPHEN NEWBY: I hope that this music serves a purpose to bring healing and to get people excited about their history and to celebrate who they are today.

KARL GEHRKE: The heyday of the Rondo neighborhood was the 1920s through the '50s. It's remembered as a close-knit, vibrant, primarily African-American community. It had churches, schools, stores, and restaurants. When the bulldozers came to make way for the freeway, former St. Paul Police Chief William Finney was around 10 years old.

WILLIAM FINNEY: I watched my house being ripped down, the old house. The house that I knew, and the backyard that you played in. And you see all that just ripped off, and the whole neighborhood. And you say, it was like it never existed. This project, the oratorio, is an encapsulation of all those wonderful events, people, and places that existed prior to 1959.

KARL GEHRKE: William Finney's father, like many residents of Rondo, worked for the railroad. He was a waiter on the Northern Pacific. Others worked for the packing house in South St. Paul.

These were tough jobs. But Finney says people were able to make good livings. In writing The Rondo Oratorio, composer Stephen Newby wanted to help younger generations of African-Americans understand what their forebears went through to provide for their families.

STEPHEN NEWBY: So I wrote this libretto that had this element of rap and hip-hop to it. So black waiters, black elevator operator's average wage, the money makers packing house as employment goes need a job. Work the railroads, a regular routine--

KARL GEHRKE: Former residents of Rondo remember the neighborhood as one that was culturally rich with art, literature, and most of all, music. It was also strongly rooted in the church. The gospel sound is one of the many musical styles Newby uses in The Rondo Oratorio. Twin Cities composer and educator Keith McCutchen coached the small choir that will be a part of this weekend's premiere. He says it's not an easy piece of music.

KEITH MCCUTCHEN: I told the choir, I said, the last movement, Stravinsky meets gospel. And that-- I think that is quite an accurate depiction. He's quite a wonderful composer. And yet, he's quite rooted in the gospel tradition as well.

MARY K. BOYD: Dr. Newby is a very accomplished musician.

KARL GEHRKE: Retired school superintendent Mary K. Boyd grew up in Rondo. She says Newby has captured the rhythm and feeling of the bygone neighborhood. And she hopes The Rondo Oratorio will help her descendants understand where they came from.

MARY K. BOYD: I want my grandson to know that he comes from such a rich legacy, and he has a connectedness through this history. And I want to make sure that he's grounded in the understanding of what this was all about. And he's part of it.

KARL GEHRKE: Mary K. Boyd's story of growing up in St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood was one of many that inspired Stephen Newby and the composition of The Rondo Oratorio. The work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra will be premiered Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at Concordia University in St. Paul. I'm Karl Gehrke, Minnesota Public Radio News.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

(SINGING) The [INAUDIBLE] and your children's children [INAUDIBLE]

Halllelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah