Back to All NewsCleveScene - Cleveland Composer's Oratorio Shines Musical Light on Lake Erie Plight
By Eric Sandy
In a new oratorio titled Voice of the Lake, Cleveland composer Margaret Brouwer presents the beauty and the toxic challenges flowing through Lake Erie. It's an exceptionally timely piece.
Brouwer's work was first reported by Great Lakes Today's Elizabeth Miller, and aired on regional public radio stations this week. The composition premiered last month at the Breen Center for the Performing Arts.
At the heart of the oratorio is the drama and reality of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Cleveland Port Authority fighting over how and when the Cuyahoga River should be dredged. (Scene has covered this issue extensively.) There's even a section of Brouwer's work entitled The Public Hearing, which places the audience right in the heart of the debate.
From Brouwer: "The conflict concerns the current toxicity of the lake bottom and whether it is safe to dump the dredged Cuyahoga River bottom into the lake. The choir voices lively opinions."