Privilege

Privilege is a collection of five short pieces, to be performed individually or as a set. The first and third movements are settings of little texts questioning a contemporary privileged life. The second and fourth movements are set to portions of Bill Moyers' 2009 interview with David Simon. Casino sets Simon's response to Moyers' question: "Why do you think that we tolerate such gaps between rich and poor?" The final movement, We Cannot Leave, is set to an English translation of As' Kwaz' uKuhamba, a Xhosa anti-Apartheid song. South Africa has a strong tradition of music being used as a tool to fight societal oppression and inequality. The setting is a tribute to that practice.