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Out of Deep Waters: Cathedral hears new music in storm's aftermath
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
9/23/2005
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[Episcopal News Service]
A project long simmering in the hearts and minds of the dean of New Orleans' Episcopal cathedral and one of the city's quintessential musicians will become a reality, thanks to Hurricane Katrina's devastation of their city.
The Very Rev. David duPlantier and Irvin Mayfield, Grammy-nominated trumpet artist and founding artistic director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, met a few years ago when Mayfield and others played jazz at a wedding at which the dean officiated. They became friends and soon began talking about whether the cathedral might commission Mayfield to compose a piece of music.
DuPlantier was looking ahead to November 17, 2005, the bicentennial anniversary of the first service held at Christ Church, the first non-Roman Catholic Church in the Louisiana Purchase territories.
The dean said the two were being "very Episcopalian," moving slowly, looking to make sure all their i's were dotted and t's crossed. "Suddenly, this thing changed our whole existence," he said.
The inspiration for "All the Saints" came to the dean, in part, from two people. At one of the first Eucharists Louisiana Bishop Charles Jenkins celebrated after Katrina, the dean heard him remind the congregation that when the world sees death, the Church sees resurrection. DuPlantier also heard Mayfield tell a National Public Radio interviewer that water cannot drown out the music which is the soul of New Orleans.
Mayfield and duPlantier, along with New Orleans Jazz orchestra president and CEO Ronald Markham, wound up living near each other after they evacuated to Baton Rouge. Mayfield's record company had already asked him about composing a response to Hurricane Katrina, the dean said. They were looking for corporate sponsors and duPlantier and his vestry moved quickly to become the sole sponsors.
"All the Saints" will be offered as a gift to the city of New Orleans, the dean said, and to all those people all over the world who are worried about the future of New Orleans.
Commissioning "All the Saints" is what the dean called a secondary response to Katrina but one that fits within the Church's historic role of patronizing the arts. DuPlantier said he hopes "All the Saints" will point to the future of the cathedral's relationship with the city and its culture.
Plans now are for "All the Saints" to premiere on Thursday, November 17, at the cathedral.
-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.
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