Anthems are musical repositories for an entire country’s hopes, dreams, ambitions, fears, frustration and anger. They serve as an of emotional foil of a whole society through song. Everyone knows the tune, and usually the lyrics, and some anthems are well known far beyond a nation’s borders, for better or for worse. As I wrote this piece in the weeks leading up to and just past the 2020 US election, I was—like many people around the world—utterly unable to focus on much else. Fortunately, those moments are in our rear-view mirror (for how long?) but the era will live with us forever, as should our musical reimagining of it.
| PREMIERE | September 26, 2021. |
| LOCATION | Pollack Hall, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec |
| PERSONNEL | The Graham Sommer Trio: Amy Hillis, violin, Chloé Dominguez, cello, Meagan Milatz, piano |
| DURATION | 10:04 |
| COMMISSIONER | The Graham Sommer Competition |
| TECHNOLOGY | none |