Trial By Fire

Sidebar Stories requested that Joshua Shoemaker compose this music. Sidebar Stories is a religious non-profit that focuses on spiritual healing via art therapy. Art therapy allows the storyteller healing, because the art displays the storyteller's experience(s) in a new light. Sidebar Stories located the storyteller Karl Westerhof. Karl was the first director of the Christian Reformed Church's Race Relation's Committee. This job was incredibly trying, and challenged his faith. Because of Karl's stressful ministry job, Sidebar Stories recognized that Karl was an ordinary person with an extraordinary story. Furthermore, he could benefit from art therapy. Joshua Shoemaker was one of three artists assigned to Karl, and Joshua was to accurately compose music representing Karl's ministry story. This composition is a three-part song cycle. Each part is a new song, with appropriate transitions in between. The charming opening song, "This New Life, This New Way" represents his beginning optimism, as he holds many dreams of racial reconciliation. However, his optimism quickly fades with an aggressive and dark middle song, "Crucible of Flames", where Karl first begins to doubt his calling. Finally, the cycle ends with a positive Asianic sounding song, "Let Me Burn", as Karl comes to terms with his past hurts, and sees them in a positive light. There are vocal solos for each part, symbolic quotations from J.S. Bach during song transitions, and times for the piano to shine on its own. Joshua Shoemaker has added his own original and unique compositions to the modern repertoire. (For a reference recording, please locate the solo version of this arrangement.)