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There Arises Light In The Darkness

The composer that Smithsonian Magazine named one of ‘Ten Innovators To Watch in 2021’ has released a new album commemorating the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

For the Tulsa Race Massacre’s 2021 centennial observance, native Tulsan Barron Ryan wanted to show listeners that there was reason for hope despite the evil of the past. So the pianist composed There Arises Light in the Darkness, a three-movement work for violin, cello, and piano. The recording of the work, also titled There Arises Light in the Darkness, was released on June 7, 2024.

Originally commissioned by Chamber Music Tulsa, Ryan found inspiration in the account of Mary E. Jones Parrish. Parrish endured the massacre with her daughter and later wrote, “When it dawned upon me what was really happening I took my little girl in my arms, read one or two chapters of Psalms of David and prayed that God would give me courage to stand through it all.”

Ryan wrote a three-movement chamber music work, with each movement taking its name and character from verses in the Psalms: “My Soul Is Full of Troubles,” “Unto Thee Have I Cried,” and “The Heavens Shall Praise Thy Wonders.”

“I wanted this music to express hope,” Ryan explains. “Tulsa’s 1921 massacre was an horrific moment in our history. But we can try to learn from it and become a more loving community than we’ve ever been. There Arises Light in the Darkness is my attempt to encourage a spirit of hope.”

The recording features Ryan on piano, Christopher Whitley (two-time Canada Music Instrument Bank winner and member of the Thalea String Quartet) on violin, and Sterling Elliott (Avery Fisher Music Career Grant and Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient) on cello. It was produced by GRAMMY winner Dan Merceruio, engineered by GRAMMY nominee Daniel Shores, and recorded at Sono Luminus in Boyce, VA.