Saint Mary’s College to Host 9/11 Event “We Remember”

Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Ind.
(574) 284-4579

August 31, 2011 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Saint Mary’s College will host a performing arts event by faculty called “We Remember”, a commemoration in music, dance and poetry on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The event will take place in Little Theatre at 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 11. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

Laurel Thomas, professor and chair of the Department of Music, is the coordinator for the commemoration. “I’d like to think of it less as a performance than as a community gathering with music, poetry and dance,” said Thomas. “The idea was to involve more than just music professors and invite other faculty members of Saint Mary’s to participate.”

In “We Remember”, musical works will alternate with readings of poems. Librarian Robert Hohl and Department of English faculty members Sister Eva Marie Hooker, Jessica Maich and Max Westler will recite poems. The commemoration will feature various musical pieces of music professors Jeffrey Jacob, Daniel Party and Thomas. Dance professor Indi Dieckgraf is also expected to dance. Cellist Lara Turner and clarinetist Jason Gresl will perform “Dust” by Belinda Reynolds, written specifically to recall 9/11.

“We really want to capture the mood of meditation. I will sing a song by Peter Lieberson entitled ‘Amor mio, si muero y tu no mueres’, with text by poet Pablo Neruda. It talks about how love is eternal. While we want to remember 9/11, we also want to send a message of hope and looking forward,” said Thomas. “It’s the idea that love extends forever as life lives on. We’re not trying to relive, we’re trying to remember.”

“We expect everyone to experience it in a different way,” said Thomas. “The people who have lost someone in the past year, the students with a direct connection to 9/11, anyone who has experienced a loss will have the chance to remember and to meditate on where life is taking them. It’s just remembering that is important.”

The commemoration itself is expected to last an hour. Students and the public are encouraged to attend and remember 9/11 through the works of beauty and words of comfort.

About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” in the U.S. News & World Report 2011 College Guide. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.