At our May performance, we will share the story of the nine souls who lost their lives in the 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

CYO commissioned Dr. Dana Hall, Director of Jazz Studies at DePaul University, to craft an orchestral work based on composer Chris Coles’ Nine Lives Project. To heighten awareness of racial injustice, Cole created a multi-movement jazz suite featuring animation, dance, and spoken word. It is our honor to work with Dr. Hall on this reimagined project for orchestra, and we are humbled to carry on the light of these nine lives lost, through music.