VIDEO: Met Opera Chorus Collaborates With Grammy-Winning Artist Rhiannon Giddens On 'Cry No More'

The Met Opera Chorus, undaunted by the cancellation of the 2020-21 Metropolitan Opera season, has released a project with Rhiannon Giddens in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and the recent events that have shaken the country.

In June Rhiannon Giddens, newly appointed Artistic Director of Silkroad, approached the Met Opera Chorus about collaborating on a reworking of her 2015 song "Cry No More", created in response to the massacre at Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. Members of both the Full-Time and Extra Chorus worked closely with arranger Michael Abels, best known for his score of Get Out, individually filming their parts before submitting them for sound and video editing. Members of the Met Opera Chorus joined a star-studded lineup of artists participating in the video, including Tahirah Whittington, Alex Al, Sydney Hopson, Imani Sailers, and director David Miller of Il Divo.

Watch the video:

The result is a stirring denunciation of racism, a testament to overcoming isolation and adversity, and a call to action and change.

"As we have seen from the Civil Rights Movement, music has a unique way of bringing people together, and being an emotional voice for what's going on." Rhiannon Giddens said of the aim of "Cry No More". "I don't know who I will reach with this, but if one person is moved, comforted, and inspired to keep it going, that's enough for me."

"The Met's season may be canceled but the Met Opera Chorus has pledged to continue to find ways to perform that are innovative, safe, and important." said Ned Hanlon, Chair of the Met Chorus Committee. "There is so much work to be done; stories must be heard, action must be taken, and change must be enacted, but in the midst of the troubles we are facing, let this be our resounding affirmation that Black Lives Matter."

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