NEW RELEASE:

behind the craft:

On May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of white citizens launched attacks n the black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. No one is entirely sure of all of the inciting action, but the next morning, the ruins of approximately thirty-six blocks of, at that time, the wealthiest black community in the United States, smoldered as hundreds of black men and women were injured or killed and thousands were detained. As a student in Oklahoma, I never heard about this part of Tulsa's history. The Race Riot Commission, formed in 1996 to investigate the events of the massacre, did not release its report until after I had entered college in 2001. Today, this tragic event is finally being both acknowledged and remembered by some, while others deny or ignore the massacre of 1921. 36 Blocks was commissioned by the Bixby High School Wind ensemble in Bixby, Oklahoma, to be premiered at the 2019 Oklahoma Music Educators Association Convention. The piece's influence include ragtime, gospel, 1920's jazz and the spiritual "Hold on Just a Little While Longer". The last chord remains unresolved in hopes that a new ending can be written someday when resolution and reconciliation is achieved in Tulsa. Performed at the Oklahoma Music Educator's Association 77th Winter Conference, January 18, 2019 at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, OK Composer: Heather Koehn Conductor: Jeremy Parker Featuring Poetry by Quraysh Ali Lansana Copyright 2019 ViaMedia Professional Recordings, LLC