Elegy to the Twelve (2019)

For Wind Symphony

Score sample here.

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The Flint Water Crisis began in April of 2014 after the decision was made to switch the water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a measure to save money, during the time that the city was under the control of an emergency manager. However, that decision quickly escalated into something catastrophic in a matter of days. 12,000 children in Flint were exposed to dangerous levels of lead, and an outbreak of Legionnaires Disease swept through the city, affecting 87 people and killing 12 of them. This act of environmental racism sparked national outrage, and several lawsuits followed once residents in the city realized what hand had been dealt to them by the State of Michigan and the emergency manager that the state had appointed.

On the day that this piece received its premiere, nearly five years later, the issue of clean water in Flint still wasn’t completely solved, and had been almost completely swept aside from the public eye. No amount of media attention or aid for Flint will ever undo those 12 deaths, or the effects that the lead poisoning had and will have on those 12,000 children for the rest of their lives. This piece is meant to pay homage to all of these people and the suffering that they have had to, and will continue to, endure.