Ekklesia
Program Note
The Greek word ekklesia means a coming-together, a political gathering in their original usage, later coming to mean a spiritual gathering to the early Christians that soon also came to include the body of the church. All gatherings move in storytime: the beginning, which is the coming together, the togetherness itself, and the going-away, the end of the gathering. One of the most important things about story—and about any and every coming-together—is that the world is forever changed by each one. The Universe is the sum total of all the stories that have come before. There is no better example, in our view, than the performance of music, which is always a coming-together. Indeed, music that is done only by the individual we call practice; the minimum for music is at least one player and one listener. When we make music, we become part of a whole that is greater than ourselves, and when we’re done, when the final measure has been played, we leave richer than when we began.
Notable Performances
Premiere Performance by The Pittsburgh Camerata
Mark A. Anderson, artistic director
Video Score
Text
EKKLESIA!
by Andy Wilkinson
Here we are, the final measure
Before tonight turns yesterday.
We will leave forever better
As we go,
As we go, our separate ways
We have gathered, one and another,
In this moment, for this song,
Voices joining all together.
Now the many,
Now the many become the one
Ekklesia! Ekklesia!
We are each part of the other.
Ekklesia! Ekklesia!
Every other is part of us,
As we go,
As we go.
About Andy
Andy Wilkinson is a poet, song writer, singer, playwright, and visual artist whose particular interest is the history and peoples of the Great Plains. He has recorded a dozen albums of original music and has written seven plays. In addition to magazine articles and chapters in various non-fiction books, he has written four monographs: “A Family of the Land: the Texas Photography of Guy Gillette” (University of Oklahoma Press, 2013); “Storyline” (Dry Crik Press, 2017); “Surprise, Texas” (a novel, Zenchilada Press, 2018); “Mystery Mechanics: the Creative Process” (Zenchilada Press, 2020); “Llanero: a boyhood on the 360-of-180” (a memoir, Zenchilada Press, 2021); and “Raw + Ripe, Collected Poems 1965-2023” (Zenchilada Press, 2023). He has been recognized with several awards, among them the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk Contest (1985), the Texas Historical Foundation’s John Ben Shepperd Jr. Craftsmanship Award, and seven National Western Heritage Wrangler Awards in five different categories. His visual art works are principally done in gouache, pencil, or pastel. Since 2001, he has been affiliated with Texas Tech University, having served as Artist in Residence at the Southwest Collection, as an instructor in songwriting in the School of Music, and as a teacher in the Honors College. Retired from his regular duties with the University, he continues to teach.
Dedication
For Dr. Jeffery Wall and the Vox Solaris Chamber Choir
Premiere
Ekklesia premiered on February 9, 2025 at Shadyside Presbyterian Church (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) performed by the Pittsburgh Camerata conducted by Mark A. Anderson.
View program here.
Publisher
Markowski Creative (ASCAP)
Instrumentation
SATB Choir (with divisi)
Errata
No known errata.
Year Completed
2025