To Right Our Wrongs FLEX - Full score

PROGRAM NOTES
To Right Our Wrongs aims to reflect on the complex, multi-faceted impact that privilege has on the American
experience, and on the way that disparities of privilege play a role in both the fight for and prevention of social
and systemic equality and equity. There is an extensive history of vast systemic violence and injustice towards
women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other minority groups in the United States.
Those who are not a part of these communities and, thus, have not experienced these communities' discrimination
are privileged; if they know about the injustices of our country, it is most likely because they have learned from
others. But members of these communities must both learn from others and live these injustices. Additionally, this
societal privilege is not binary. It is intersectional, meaning that different people experience different amounts of
privilege based on the communities they are a part of. A white, cisgender woman is privileged in the sense that
she is both white and cisgender; however, she does not have the privilege that men have. A transgender, disabled
man does have that privilege; but he, in turn, does not have the privilege held by those who are cisgender or ablebodied.
This complex role that privilege plays in the systemic discrimination of our country led me to the guiding
questions of this work: What does it mean to work against the wrongdoings of our country's past and present?
How can privilege be utilized for good? As those who hold privilege, what does it mean to right our wrongs?
A crucial part of the fight for true equality in our country is the utilization of privilege to make an impact on the
system, which requires privileged people to be aware of and understand privilege and its meaning. As a
privileged person myself in most primary ways privilege presents itself in America (I am white, male, cisgender,
and able-bodied), there's probably little that I can say to those who do not experience these privileges that they
have not already learned through their own experiences. I feel that the best thing I can do is to speak to those who
are privileged like me, but who lack awareness or understanding of what this means. This work serves as an
honest, encouraging, and emotionally vulnerable message to the privileged, without accusation or condescension.
With it comes this message: If you are privileged, it is not an insult. It is not an accusation. It does not mean that
you are bad, or that your life accomplishments are not valid. It does not mean that you haven't struggled or fought
to get to where you are now. Having privilege simply means that you are part of a system that treats some people
better than it treats others in many different ways, and you are one of the people who are treated better in one or
more of those ways. This issue of privilege affects all of us, and we should all care. You can use the privilege you
have, in any form, to support those who do not have it.
In addition to an original melody, To Right Our Wrongs respectfully utilizes The Star-Spangled Banner, the US
national anthem, and Lift Every Voice and Sing, known to many as the African American national anthem, to reflect
the varied and complicated nature of the American experience.
--program notes by Harrison J. Collins
ABOUT THIS VERSION
Like Harrison, I am white, able-bodied, and privileged. The privilege that I possess protects me from a system
that, in reality, is entirely unjust, unfair, discriminatory, and biased. Like Harrison, I will never truly understand
what it is like to experience the horrifiying systemic racism, violence, and injustices that women, people of color,
members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other minority groups in the United States have experienced. And, like
Harrison, I've only begun to learn that, as a white American, I must acknowledge that there is a difference - that
there are two different Americas, one which favors the privileged and one that has enacted centuries of
systemically violent, racist, sexist, and misogynistic injustices.
To not acknowledge any of these things is grossly harmful, ignorant, and racist. To be silent is to be complicit.
One of Harrison's goals when composing To Right Our Wrongs was to use his platform and privilege to directly
speak to other white Americans - to those with similar or equal privilege who are unaware of, or who have also
not experienced, such disparities and injustices, as well as to those who have not even begun to acknowledge the
differences in privilege and experience prevalent in this country. I approached this adaptable ensemble
arrangement of To Right Our Wrongs with exactly the same goals in mind.
This version, arranged for 6 parts, is carefully curated from all of the musical resources Harrison originally created
in collaboration with the project coordinators, advisors, and members of The Kneel Consortium. The intentions of
the original version of the piece for symphonic band (including its optional choral music) have been preserved as
much as possible. Additional (and optional) parts for keyboard synthesizers have also been created exclusively for
this arrangement.
As an ally, I have so much to learn and a long way to go. I am still learning and always will be learning. It is
therefore my goal, and hope, with this arrangement that more white Americans will begin to recognize the
importance of not only speaking out against the inequalities and injustices prevalent in our society, but also
recognize the importance and necessity of fighting for equitable, systemic change in our greater society.
My sincerest gratitude goes to Harrison, Rachel Maxwell, and Josh Johnson for the opportunity to create this
adaptable ensemble version of To Right Our Wrongs for The Kneel Consortium.
--arrangement notes by Josh Trentadue