Featuring the brilliant coloratura soprano Julie Cavalieri along with tenor Eric Francoiseau
The song "Yaweh" (Hebrew for "God") is not in reference to any specific religion, but more a calling for all good people to rise up collectively and fight injustice together in the face of the blind hatred of others. I was particularly inspired here by Dr. King's focus on and his articulation of the Civil Rights issues in the Montgomery Bus protest, and how he let the power of his religious convictions flow through his speeches and writings so beautifully yet ever so sparingly directly mentioning his Christian beliefs. 
The reggae groove of "Yaweh" in Peace Oratorio is inspired by the music of the great Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley as well as his universal approach to  spirituality. Although personally a devout Rastafari, Bob Marley's did not impose his religious beliefs on his fans and allowed the spiritual side of his lyrics to inform and flow through his music. Surely Bob Marley knew of MLK, and was perhaps referring to him when he sang in his iconic "Redemption Song" "How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?" In the 2009 performance of Peace Oratorio, we did an arrangement of this song as an encore to underline the point that for Peace between people to exist, there must first be forgiveness.
 
NARRATION : On December 1st, 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks was arrested  on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama  for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her selfless act tested the jurisprudence of unjust segregation laws and inspired the 50,000  black people  of Montgomery to rise up together. For over a year, from December 5th, 1955 to December 21st, 1956  the buses were empty of  black passengers.