This article highlighted the idea that composers can and should "tell historical and social narratives" with their music. The author touches on the ongoing war with terrorism, and the opera The Canticle of the Black Madonna which Ethan Ganse Morse wrote about a soldier struggling with PTSD. It goes on to talk about Joan Szymko's work Shadow and Light, a choral work telling the stories of Alzheimer's patients. The article goes on to discuss different outreach programs that are happening with ensembles in America today and the power that music has to "heal." I think this article made a lot of important points, music traditionally has a way of connecting people from all walks of life and if more pieces started to focus on specific stories and events I think that music would stand out in history and help tell our communal stories to our future listeners.
http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/composing-advocacy-social-voices/
