{"id":229044,"date":"2026-01-09T12:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/229044\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T12:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:03:08","slug":"chamber-orchestra-of-the-springs-to-perform-local-composers-work-honoring-victims-of-club-q-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/229044\/","title":{"rendered":"Chamber Orchestra of the Springs to perform local composer\u2019s work honoring victims of Club Q shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new piece, \u201cSomewhere Bluebirds Fly,” by local Colorado Springs composer Erin Spencer, was written in memory of the victims of the 2022 Club Q shooting<\/a>. It\u2019s one of four works on the weekend program for the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs\u2019 concerts titled \u201cThe Human Equation: Uncovering Silent Battles Through Sound<\/a>\u201d at the Ent Center for the Arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomewhere Bluebirds Fly” was inspired by the classic song \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow,\u201d and uses that melody as a starting point. Spencer writes in the program notes that bluebirds are often symbols of hope and joy, along with a connection between the living and the dead.<\/p>\n

The title, she wrote, is meant to \u201csuggest a place where hope can still be found if we look closely, even in the midst of grief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spencer used specific musical notes to represent each of the people who died in the shooting<\/a>. The opening melody is composed from those notes.<\/p>\n

As written in the program, the piece moves through emotions like anguish in an effort to match the community\u2019s experiences. Spencer then omits the notes representing the victims to convey loss and reverses the melody of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” to say \u201cthat even in a world that feels backwards, we can still find hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end, the notes representing the victims return and are the last thing heard as a reminder to keep their memories alive.<\/p>\n

\"CLUBHart Van Denburg\/CPR NewsA makeshift memorial grows outside of Club Q on Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump and Raymond Green Vance were killed in the shooting.<\/p>\n

The orchestra’s executive director, Jacob Pope, said concertgoers don\u2019t have to have a personal connection to the Club Q tragedy in order to feel moved by the music.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou still can just appreciate the beauty of it and be brought into a better understanding, perhaps of what those individuals or what that community is going through,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

Three other pieces fill out the program, including \u201cConcerto for Electric Cello\u201d by Colorado composer Dylan Fixmer, \u201cSymphony No. 2 in B-flat major” by Franz Schubert and \u201cMy Name is Amanda Todd,\u201d by Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock. Pope said they selected the music to speak to the resilience and vulnerability of the human heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this concert, we wanted to say that music has this very unique power to transform pain and tragedy into beauty and hope,\u201d said the orchestra’s executive director, Jacob Pope. \u201cThere’s something very beautiful about that transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

An exhibit called \u201cBe Mindful, it Matters\u201d will be presented by Centennial Area Health Education Center during the concerts at the Ent Center for the Arts \u2013 along with other mental health resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new piece, \u201cSomewhere Bluebirds Fly,” by local Colorado Springs composer Erin Spencer, was written in memory of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[124897,6854,146,85,46,409,6858],"class_list":{"0":"post-229044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-club-q-shooting","9":"tag-colorado-springs","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-southern-colorado"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}