We are more connected than ever before

Instrumentation: a capella choir - SSSAATTBB

Text: assembled by Liza Sobel

World Premiere: Bienen Contemporary and Early Choir, Donald Nally (conductor); March 15, 2019; Galvin Recital Hall, Northwestern University

Duration: 7 minutes

Program notes and text down below

Program Notes:

I’ve been fascinated by the research showing the disconnect between people’s social media personas versus reality and how it negatively affects people’s perceptions of their own unfiltered lives. The most striking examples of this disconnect are the seemingly “ordinary” and even positive social media posts that several people posted only a few days (and sometimes even the day of) before committing suicide. These social posts are not suicide notes. In fact, they are the opposite: seemingly ordinary posts on pictures, memories, and memes. In my piece, the choir sings these final posts of suicide victims to highlight this disconnect.

Text:

Spoken: female, age 19, her final post on her the day she died:

Sung: Rittenhouse Square

Spoken: male, age 36, friend’s final post one day before death:

Sung: Andrew shared a link to his timeline -

Cats running in slow motion

Sung: We are more connected than ever before

Spoken: male, age 32, his final post two days before death

Sung: Wow, do I still remember that night!

Spoken: female, age 19, three days before her death, she posted a meme of a sleeping cat that said,

Sung: When you wake up and can’t motivate yourself to get ready

Sung: We are more connected than ever before.