Crown of Hummingbirds (2023)

for SSAATTBB chorus & organ
13 minutes

Score and Recording Available Upon Request

Libretto by Safiya Sinclair
Commissioned by the Cincinnati May Festival

WORLD PREMIERE
The May Festival Chorus
Robert Porco, conductor
Michael Unger, organ
Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati, OH
October 21, 2023

Crown of Hummingbirds
by Safiya Sinclair

From darkness we came,
in search of colour, in search of another
reaching for meaning from the mud.

O love, a lost girl outdreaming
out loneliness, starlight we trace
to the golden river of family.

O life, a tender woman, the bright wind speaking:
No one is ever lost. No one is ever lost.
Together, we will gather. Where love still

blossoms breath from wonder,
each voice a sky opening,
a crown of hummingbirds.

Mother. Sister. Brother. Father

They sing our names.
They sing our names.
They sing us home!